Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology

notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations

Behavioral responses to specific prey and host plant species by a generalist predatory coccinellid (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant)

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri is a generalist coccinellid used in the biocontrol of soft scale insects and mealybugs. However, the success of biocontrol field releases is variable. In the native range of the beetle, a close geographical and temporal association between C. montrouzieri and native pseudococcids on Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine) has been demonstrated. We investigated the feeding and behavioral responses of C. montrouzieri to various combinations of prey and host plants. These experiments included orchard trees and the pest species against which the beetle is released as a biocontrol agent, as well as endemic plant and prey species with which it is associated in its native range. Beetle oviposition rate was reduced but not prevented by the absence of prey of a suitable life stage. In no-choice tests C. montrouzieri fed more readily on Pseudococcus sp. mealybugs, the genus with which it is most regularly associated in its native range. Olfactometer trials demonstrated that C. montrouzieri responds more quickly to the Australian native mealybug, Ps. araucariarum, than other species. In the same trials C. montrouzieri actively avoided Citrus sp. fruit. Olfactometer trials did not otherwise show a clear response to any prey or host plant combination. This is in contrast to the associations recorded in long term field observations of the beetle in its native range. We conclude that behavioral investigations of generalist predators should include the prey and plant associations that are most commonly recorded within the original distribution of the predator

Landscape Processes and Eucalypt Dieback Associated with Bell Miner Habitat in South-Eastern Australia

In this paper, we review current knowledge concerning the relationship between bell-miner-associated dieback and landscape- scale processes. We consider land clearing and fragmentation, logging and associated disturbances, fire and grazing regimes, weed establishment, nutrient changes, pathogenic factors and hydrological factors, while recognising that these factors interact. A case study from Toonunbar State Forest illustrates the complexity of factors involved in this form of dieback