Occurrence of Different Gynandromorphs and Ergatandromorphs in Laboratory Colonies of the Urban Ant, Monomorium floricola

Colonies of Monomorium floricola (Jerdon) in laboratory conditions showed gynandromorphic and ergatandromorphic specimens, the former with nine different combinations of male and female tissues and the latter with 6 different combinations. Their development from egg to adult was around 74.6 days for gynandromorphs, and 87.5 days for ergantandromorphs

New record for the army ant Labidus mars (Formicidae: Ecitoninae) in the Atlantic Rain Forest of São Paulo State, Brazil

The occurrence of the army ant Labidus mars in Mogi das Cruzes (SP, Brazil) is recorded and includes additional information about the area, diet and foraging schedule of this rare army ant. This species of Ecitoninae was collected from two mature fruits of the Syagrus romanzoffiana (Arecaceae) and were probably in the foraging phase

Non-Specific Interaction between Ants (Hymenoptera; Formicidae) and Fruits of Syagrus romanzoffiana (Arecaceae) in an Area of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

On the forest floor of a fragment of the Atlantic Forest which is considered to be in a stage of recuperation, located in southeastern Brazil, we recorded 54 species of ants interacting with the fruits of Syagrus romanzoffiana (Arecaceae). Myrmicinae was the subfamily which was the richest in species, followed by Ponerinae, Formicinae, Ecitoninae, Dolichoderinae, Pseudomyrmecinae and Cerapachyinae. The fruits of S. romanzoffiana can be classified according to whether or not they are preyed by the squirrel Sciurus ingrami, and the ant fauna that visits the fruits has an average similarity. Regarding diversity, the data suggest that there is no significant difference between ant assemblages at preyed and non-preyed-upon fruit falls. The results also indicate that there is no specific interaction between the ant fauna that visits the fruits of S. romanzoffiana, as it consists largely of species with omnivorous feeding habits

The transcriptome of the novel dinoflagellate <it>Oxyrrhis marina </it>(Alveolata: Dinophyceae): response to salinity examined by 454 sequencing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The heterotrophic dinoflagellate <it>Oxyrrhis marina </it>is increasingly studied in experimental, ecological and evolutionary contexts. Its basal phylogenetic position within the dinoflagellates make <it>O. marina </it>useful for understanding the origin of numerous unusual features of the dinoflagellate lineage; its broad distribution has lent <it>O. marina </it>to the study of protist biogeography; and nutritive flexibility and eurytopy have made it a common lab rat for the investigation of physiological responses of marine heterotrophic flagellates. Nevertheless, genome-scale resources for <it>O. marina </it>are scarce. Here we present a 454-based transcriptome survey for this organism. In addition, we assess sequence read abundance, as a proxy for gene expression, in response to salinity, an environmental factor potentially important in determining <it>O. marina </it>spatial distributions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sequencing generated ~57 Mbp of data which assembled into 7, 398 contigs. Approximately 24% of contigs were nominally identified by BLAST. A further clustering of contigs (at ≥ 90% identity) revealed 164 transcript variant clusters, the largest of which (Phosphoribosylaminoimidazole-succinocarboxamide synthase) was composed of 28 variants displaying predominately synonymous variation. In a genomic context, a sample of 5 different genes were demonstrated to occur as tandem repeats, separated by short (~200-340 bp) inter-genic regions. For HSP90 several intergenic variants were detected suggesting a potentially complex genomic arrangement. In response to salinity, analysis of 454 read abundance highlighted 9 and 20 genes over or under expressed at 50 PSU, respectively. However, 454 read abundance and subsequent qPCR validation did not correlate well - suggesting that measures of gene expression via <it>ad hoc </it>analysis of sequence read abundance require careful interpretation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Here we indicate that tandem gene arrangements and the occurrence of multiple transcribed gene variants are common and indicate potentially complex genomic arrangements in <it>O. marina</it>. Comparison of the reported data set with existing <it>O. marina </it>and other dinoflagellates ESTs indicates little sequence overlap likely as a result of the relatively limited extent of genome scale sequence data currently available for the dinoflagellates. This is one of the first 454-based transcriptome surveys of an ancestral dinoflagellate taxon and will undoubtedly prove useful for future comparative studies aimed at reconstructing the origin of novel features of the dinoflagellates.</p