Ecology of the Scorpion, Microtityus jaumei in Sierra de Canasta, Cuba

An assessment of the population dynamics of Microtityus jaumei Armas (Scorpiones: Buthidae) on the slopes south of Sierra de Canasta, Guantánamo Province, Cuba show an increase in activity over the year (≤ 0.05). The activity peak is related to the reproductive period from June to November. The abundance of scorpions was significantly related to density of the canopy and thickness of the substrate

Vetufebrus ovatus n. gen., n. sp. (Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) vectored by a streblid bat fly (Diptera: Streblidae) in Dominican amber

This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by BioMed Central Ltd. and can be found at: http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/.Background: Both sexes of bat flies in the families Nycteribiidae and Streblidae (Diptera: Hippoboscoidea) reside in\ud the hair or on the wing membranes of bats and feed on blood. Members of the Nycteribiidae transmit bat malaria\ud globally however extant streblids have never been implemented as vectors of bat malaria. The present study\ud shows that during the Tertiary, streblids also were vectors of bat malaria.\ud Results: A new haemospororidan, Vetufebrus ovatus, n. gen., n. sp., (Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) is described\ud from two oocysts attached to the midgut wall and sporozoites in salivary glands and ducts of a fossil bat fly\ud (Diptera: Streblidae) in Dominican amber. The new genus is characterized by ovoid oocysts, short, stubby\ud sporozoites with rounded ends and its occurrence in a fossil streblid. This is the first haemosporidian reported from\ud a streblid bat fly and shows that representatives of the Hippoboscoidea were vectoring bat malaria in the New\ud World by the mid-Tertiary.\ud Conclusions: This report is the first evidence of an extant or extinct streblid bat fly transmitting malaria.\ud Discovering a mid-tertiary malarial parasite in a fossil streblid that closely resembles members of a malarial genus\ud found in nycteribiid bat flies today shows how little we know about the vector associations of streblids. While no\ud malaria parasites have been found in extant streblids, they probably occur and it is possible that streblids were the\ud earliest lineage of flies that transmitted bat malaria to Chiroptera

Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Carnivorous Plant Family Sarraceniaceae

The carnivorous plant family Sarraceniaceae comprises three genera of wetland-inhabiting pitcher plants: Darlingtonia in the northwestern United States, Sarracenia in eastern North America, and Heliamphora in northern South America. Hypotheses concerning the biogeographic history leading to this unusual disjunct distribution are controversial, in part because genus- and species-level phylogenies have not been clearly resolved. Here, we present a robust, species-rich phylogeny of Sarraceniaceae based on seven mitochondrial, nuclear, and plastid loci, which we use to illuminate this family's phylogenetic and biogeographic history. The family and genera are monophyletic: Darlingtonia is sister to a clade consisting of Heliamphora+Sarracenia. Within Sarracenia, two clades were strongly supported: one consisting of S. purpurea, its subspecies, and S. rosea; the other consisting of nine species endemic to the southeastern United States. Divergence time estimates revealed that stem group Sarraceniaceae likely originated in South America 44–53 million years ago (Mya) (highest posterior density [HPD] estimate = 47 Mya). By 25–44 (HPD = 35) Mya, crown-group Sarraceniaceae appears to have been widespread across North and South America, and Darlingtonia (western North America) had diverged from Heliamphora+Sarracenia (eastern North America+South America). This disjunction and apparent range contraction is consistent with late Eocene cooling and aridification, which may have severed the continuity of Sarraceniaceae across much of North America. Sarracenia and Heliamphora subsequently diverged in the late Oligocene, 14–32 (HPD = 23) Mya, perhaps when direct overland continuity between North and South America became reduced. Initial diversification of South American Heliamphora began at least 8 Mya, but diversification of Sarracenia was more recent (2–7, HPD = 4 Mya); the bulk of southeastern United States Sarracenia originated co-incident with Pleistocene glaciation, <3 Mya. Overall, these results suggest climatic change at different temporal and spatial scales in part shaped the distribution and diversity of this carnivorous plant clade