Evidence of the exploitation of marine resource by the terrestrial insect Scapteriscus didactylus through stable isotope analyzes of its cuticle

BACKGROUND: About 4 × 10(5 )eggs in more than 5000 marine turtle nests are deposited every year on a 3.6 km long beach in French Guiana (South America). The dry biomass of eggs is estimated to be 5 × 10(3 )kg, yet only 25% of this organic matter will return to the ocean in the form of hatchlings. Such amounts of organic matter are supposed to drive the functioning of the beach ecosystem. Previous studies have shown that egg predators and detritivorous organisms dominate the trophic relationships and the dynamics of the system. The role of a terrestrial insect Scapteriscus didactylus (Latreille), which damages up to 40% of the eggs of the marine turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), was unexpected. However it was impossible from direct observations to prove that the mole cricket consumed a significant amount of these eggs. Therefore, the precise place of the mole cricket in the nitrogen and carbon cycles of the beach ecosystem could not be determined. In order to answer this question, we looked for a marine signature of carbon and nitrogen source metabolized by the mole cricket. RESULTS: This study estimated the individual variability of δ(13)C and δ(15)N in the cuticle of Scapteriscus didactylus. The isotopic signature was compared between individuals collected at two sites: a village where mole crickets fed on human food scraps and the nearby Awala-Yalimapo beach, where food availability depends seasonally on the nesting sea turtles. The mole crickets collected near the habitations garbage showed no significant variations in the stable isotopic signature, within-and between age groups. On the contrary, isotopic values shifted from a signature of a terrestrial herbivorous diet in the mole crickets during early developmental stages, to isotopic values in adults in accordance with the exploitation of marine animal resources. CONCLUSION: The heterogeneity of individual signatures during the year is due to a selective exploitation of the food sources, differing in space and time. Some individuals, from the beach sample consumed a sufficient quantity of turtle eggs to induce the increase of isotopic enrichment observed in the cuticle. Scapteriscus didactylus is an opportunist feeder and plays a role in the turn over of the beach organic matter

Mechanical control of morphogenesis at the shoot apex

Morphogenesis does not just require the correct expression of patterning genes; these genes must induce the precise mechanical changes necessary to produce a new form. Mechanical characterization of plant growth is not new; however, in recent years, new technologies and interdisciplinary collaborations have made it feasible in young tissues such as the shoot apex. Analysis of tissues where active growth and developmental patterning are taking place has revealed biologically significant variability in mechanical properties and has even suggested that mechanical changes in the tissue can feed back to direct morphogenesis. Here, an overview is given of the current understanding of the mechanical dynamics and its influence on cellular and developmental processes in the shoot apex. We are only starting to uncover the mechanical basis of morphogenesis, and many exciting questions remain to be answere

Herbivorie/omnivorie chez Praephippigera pachygaster Lucas, 1849 (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae), dans l'est algérien

Praephippigera pachygaster Lucas, 1849 (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) causes damage to cereals and fodder plants in east Algeria. Change from herbivory to omnivory during growth is compared to changes in food availability in the habitat. Plant species consumed by P. pachygaster are compared for three fallows of different plant species composition. Pollen and insect fragments appear in diet of the VI instar and young adults. A diet enriched in animals proteins at the time of the imaginal moult, may be related to the physiological needs of the sexual maturation.Praephippigera pachygaster Lucas, 1 849 (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae) fait des dégâts sur les cultures céréalières et fourragères dans l’est algérien. Le passage de l’herbivorie à l’omnivorie au cours du développement est mis en parallèle avec les changements de disponibilités trophiques dans l’habitat. Les espèces végétales consommées par P. pachygaster sont comparées entre trois jachères différant par leur composition floristique. Du pollen et des fragments d’insectes apparaissent dans le régime au VIème stade et chez les jeunes adultes. Un régime enrichi en protéines animales au moment de la mue imaginale, peut être en relation avec les besoins physiologiques de la maturation sexuelle.Fellaouine R., Louveaux Alain. Herbivorie/omnivorie chez Praephippigera pachygaster Lucas, 1849 (Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae), dans l'est algérien . In: Ecologia mediterranea, tome 19 n°3-4, 1993. pp. 9-18

Catalogue des Orthoptères Acridoidea d'Afrique du nord-ouest

Louveaux Alain, ben Halima Thami. Catalogue des Orthoptères Acridoidea d'Afrique du nord-ouest. In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 91 (3-4), Mars-avril 1986. pp. 73-87

Catalogue des Orthoptères Acridoidea d'Afrique du nord-ouest

Louveaux Alain, ben Halima Thami. Catalogue des Orthoptères Acridoidea d'Afrique du nord-ouest. In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 91 (3-4), Mars-avril 1986. pp. 73-87

Bolivaremia domenichi Morales Agacino 1949

El Kantara: Rio de Oro, type locality of Bolivaremia domenichi Morales Agacino, 1949 El Kantara is the Arabic name for a bridge, a pass; this toponym is unknown on the Spanish maps of the 1940s and in today’s Moroccan maps. To find out that Al Gantra means a bridge in the Sahrawi language has been a challenge! Interpretation of the route followed by Morales Agacino in 1946 showed that he went through Al Gantra (Fig. 3). Al Gantra is a broad, flat strip of land, 20 × 5 kilometres wide, which separate the Aridal and Aarred sebkhats, a pass for caravans to the sea, confirmed on a 1926 map of the French army available on the website of the Université Montaigne, Bordeaux. The translation of El Kantara by Al Gantra on modern maps is explained by the fact that the Sahrawi pronounce the ‘k’ as a ‘g’ (Taine-Cheikh 1989: 2). So, the type locality has to be labelled El Kantara = Al Gantra (26°03’24”N, 14°04’17”W). El Kantara is the origin of a large and rich Acridomorpha community (Tables 6; 7). Two localities named Aserifa Aserifa (SH) is the name given by Morales Agacino to the paratype locality of Bolivaremia domenechi var. laevigata Morales Agacino, 1949. It is also the collection site of 32 species of Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. The location of Aserifa near Cap Boujdour, as deduced from the 1943 mission schedule in the Saquia Al Hamra region, is supported by two sketch maps (Giner Marí 1944; Mateu Sanpere 1947). The relevant toponym on the 1:500 000 map of 1949 is Asreifa to the north-east of the Sebkhat Arridal. Asreifa is a diminutive of Aserfa, which, according to the booklet attached to the map, means a hard terrain covered with a layer of loose soil, which could represent wind-blown sand deposits, on which the stones of the Aftout plain are outcropping. On the topographic map of 1993 (1/250 000 scale), the toponym Asserfa replaces Asreifa in the north-east of the Sebkhra Aridal. Aserifa (SH) in the Saquia Al Hamra region is homonym of a place visited by Mateu Sanpere in the Oued Dra region named Aserifa (D) by Morales Agacino. These two homonymous localities have led to confusions over collection dates (Morales Agacino 1947a). On May 24th, 1944, during his visit to this place, Mateu Sanpere collected 12 species, including Glauia (Glauvarovia) mendizabali (Table 6). The route followed by Mateu Sanpere, detailed in Giner Marí (1945), is consistent with the toponyms Asreifa mentioned on the Spanish map and Asrifa on the 1/250000 Moroccan map. Asrifa is near the coast and north of the mouth of the Cheibeca wadi. It is the steeply sloping edge of the Hameidia El Gueblia (meaning a small hammada).To differentiate the two Aserifa localities, their proper toponyms should be retained: Aserifa (SH) = Asserfa (26°19’00”N, 13°41’60”W); Aserifa (D) = Asrifa (28°17’24”N, 11°24’37”W), 300 km away to the north (Table 6).Published as part of Louveaux, Alain, Garcin, Annie & Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2022, A comprehensive analysis of Morales Agacino entomological expeditions in Spanish Sahara 1941 - 1946, with an updated checklist of collection sites and collected insect species (Insecta Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera Carabidae and Tenebrionidae), pp. 227-258 in Zoosystema 44 (10) on pages 237-239, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2022v44a10, http://zenodo.org/record/657379

Glauvarovia mendizabali Morales Agacino 1945

<p> <i>* Glauvarovia mendizabali</i></p> <p> is known from the localities indicated in the description of the species, i.e., Taguerzimet = Taguerzimt, 24°07’19”N, 15°06’42”W (type locality), and Bu Kerch = Boukarche, 24°55’16”N, 14°44’23”W (MNCN); three additional specimens from the lower valley of the Oued Dra are preserved in the MNHN (Morales Agacino & Descamps 1968). This species has been collected however during three field trips (1944, 1945 and 1946: see infra), but these data were not considered by Morales Agacino & Descamps (1968) who limited the distribution of <i>G. mendizabali</i> to the region north of the Oued Dra valley. Recently, Massa (2012) checked the identity of a male collected at Pozo Mesit (Saquia Al Hamra region, 6.XI.1944, Mateu J. col., MNHN), further extending the distribution of the species.</p> <p> Morales Agacino (1947a) mentioned eight additional localities for <i>G. mendizabali</i>, from the lower Oued Dra Valley to the Sebkhat Ad-Dame (Rio de Oro bay) over 600 km of coastline: Aserifa (D) = Asrifa, 28°17’24”N, 11°24’37”W; Taruma = Touaroum, 26°46’15”N, 13°30’58”W; Dora = Dawra, 27°25’14”N, 12°59’21”W; Sebja Tah = Sebkhat Tah, 27°41’60”N, 12°48’00”W; Sebja Echaiba = Lajcheb, 27°16’12”N, 13°06’36”W; El Kantara =Al Gantra, 26°03’24”N, 14°04’17”W; Pozo Tuf = Ayn Touf, 24°36’13”N, 14°59’17”W; Sebja Dam = Sebkhat Ad-Dame, 23°55’48”N, 15°35’60”W.</p>Published as part of <i>Louveaux, Alain, Garcin, Annie & Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2022, A comprehensive analysis of Morales Agacino entomological expeditions in Spanish Sahara 1941 - 1946, with an updated checklist of collection sites and collected insect species (Insecta Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera Carabidae and Tenebrionidae), pp. 227-258 in Zoosystema 44 (10)</i> on page 239, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2022v44a10, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/6573792">http://zenodo.org/record/6573792</a&gt

Paracinipe exarata

* The type locality of Paracinipe exarata , i.e., Sidi Ifni, is located south of Agadir, where the species is relatively common up to the Oued Dra. According to Descamps & Mounassif (1972), the southernmost locality documented for that species is Tarfaya, Hassi-Zhar. Massa (2013) mentioned that the species ‘is distributed in the western area of Morocco’. Morales Agacino (1945a, b; 1947a) listed this species in five localities hinterland from Genei Ali to Bu Kerch, extending the distribution of P. exarata to the south of Boujdour: Genei Ali = Jeneig Aali = Khenigat Al, 28°15’28”N, 10°37’09”W; Dora = Dawra, 27°25’14”N, 12°59’21”W; Aserifa = Asserfa, 26°19’00”N, 13°41’60”W; Imiricli Lebiad = Imirikli Labya, 25°30’00”N, 14°03’00”W; Bu Kerch = Boukarche, 24°55’16”N, 14°44’23”W.Published as part of Louveaux, Alain, Garcin, Annie & Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2022, A comprehensive analysis of Morales Agacino entomological expeditions in Spanish Sahara 1941 - 1946, with an updated checklist of collection sites and collected insect species (Insecta Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera Carabidae and Tenebrionidae), pp. 227-258 in Zoosystema 44 (10) on page 239, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2022v44a10, http://zenodo.org/record/657379

Pamphagulus mateui Morales Agacino 1949

Synonymy of Pamphagulus mateui Morales Agacino, 1949 and Pamphagulus vicinus Ramme, 1931 Descamps (1970) compared two paratypes of Pamphagulus mateui with the female type of Pamphagulus vicinus Ramme, 1931 and studied eight males and three females of P. vicinus from the Sebkhat Tah preserved at the MNHN. He concluded that Pamphagulus mateui Morales Agacino, 1949 is a synonym of Pamphagulus vicinus Ramme, 1931: “(…) aucune différence de nature à justifier des divisions spécifiques n’a pu être relevée. P. vicinus est cependant très variable quant à la rugosité tégumentaire et l’ampleur de la saillie pronotale.” [(…) no differences that could justify specific divisions could be found. P. vicinus is, however, highly variable for integument roughness and for the extent of pronotal projection.] (our translation). Also, the subspecies, Pamphagulus mateui audebdidetensis Morales Agacino, 1949, was collected in six localities. In two of these six localities, viz. Bu Kerch and Agli Ben Ali, it was collected the same day with P. mateui mateui; it was also collected the same day at Jatuta el Bar with P. vicinus (Table 5). Descamps (1970) did not raise the issue of Pamphagulus mateui audebdidetensis. But mapping the distributions of the three Pamphagulus taxa shows a consistency between the data of Morales Agacino & Descamps (Fig. 4; Table 5). On the basis of these distributional data, the synonymy of the two subspecies of P. mateui should be reconsidered, as they occur together in the same collecting sites. In the same way, the examination of the specimens collected by Morales Agacino should help considering if P. mateui should be synonymized with P. vicinus, as suggested by Descamps (1970): a single species, Pamphagulus vicinus, could actually be present along the coast of Atlantic Sahara from the Sebkhat Tah (27°40’N, 12°48’W) to the Cap Blanc peninsula (21°06’N, 17°03’W).Published as part of Louveaux, Alain, Garcin, Annie & Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2022, A comprehensive analysis of Morales Agacino entomological expeditions in Spanish Sahara 1941 - 1946, with an updated checklist of collection sites and collected insect species (Insecta Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera Carabidae and Tenebrionidae), pp. 227-258 in Zoosystema 44 (10) on pages 236-237, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2022v44a10, http://zenodo.org/record/657379

Orthoptera

DATA FOR ORTHOPTERA One of us (AL) focused on Orthoptera Acridomorpha.The data summarized in Table 4 were used to produce distributional maps by species or groups of species, which proved reasonably accurate to interpret their distributions according to environmental data, or confirmed taxonomic hypotheses. 33 species of Caelifera have been recorded (Table 4). Among these, three Pamphaginae Burmeister, 1840, viz. Paracinipe exarata (Bolivar, 1936), Glauvarovia mendizabali Morales Agacino, 1945 and Glauia saharae Morales Agacino & Descamps, 1968, were found to be the southernmost of the 83 species of Pamphaginae known from North Africa (Morales Agacino & Descamps 1968; Descamps 1970; Chobanov & Massa 2022). All the four genera of Dericorythidae known from North Africa are present in the studied area, including one genus represented by a single endemic species, Bolivaremia domenechi Morales Agacino, 1949. In contrast to the many species originating from the Mediterranean border of Sahara, only three taxa, Anacridium melanorhodon melanorhodon (Walker, 1829), Poekilocerus bufonius hieroglyphicus (Klug, 1829) and Sphingonotus canariensis Saussure, 1884, are Sahelian species that extend occasionally to Rio de Oro. Morales Agacino (1945a) collected eight nymphs of Poekilocerus bufonius hieroglyphicus, 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ nymphs (15. IV.1943) at Leglat = Derramán and 6 larvae (14.XII.1941) close to Zug. One of us (AG) observed also one larva at Derramán, west of Aousserd (22°36’N, 14°28’W; 360 m, 19-20. XII.2017). Such breeding, in localities where the obligatory host plant, i.e., Calotropis procera Aïton, 1811, has not been found, is unlikely to result in fertile population (Popov & McE Kevan 1979). We detailed below some of the questions that the inventories of Morales Agacino could help reanalysing, namely the synonymy between Pamphagulus mateui Morales Agacino, 1949 and Pamphagulus vicinus Ramme, 1931 (Dericorythidae); the type locality of Bolivaremia domenechi Morales Agacino, 1949; the location of Aserifa, a paratype locality of Bolivaremia domenechi laevigata Morales Agacino, 1949; and the extension of the distributions of pamphagid grasshoppers in the Atlantic Sahara as documented by Morales Agacino collections.Published as part of Louveaux, Alain, Garcin, Annie & Desutter-Grandcolas, Laure, 2022, A comprehensive analysis of Morales Agacino entomological expeditions in Spanish Sahara 1941 - 1946, with an updated checklist of collection sites and collected insect species (Insecta Polyneoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera Carabidae and Tenebrionidae), pp. 227-258 in Zoosystema 44 (10) on page 236, DOI: 10.5252/zoosystema2022v44a10, http://zenodo.org/record/657379