The personal and contextual contributors to school belongingness among primary school students

School belongingness has gained currency among educators and school health professionals as an important determinant of adolescent health. The current cross-sectional study presents the 15 most significant personal and contextual factors that collectively explain 66.4% (two-thirds) of the variability in 12-year old students' perceptions of belongingness in primary school. The study is part of a larger longitudinal study investigating the factors associated with student adjustment in the transition from primary to secondary school. The study found that girls and students with disabilities had higher school belongingness scores than boys, and their typically developing counterparts respectively; and explained 2.5% of the variability in school belongingness. The majority (47.1% out of 66.4%) of the variability in school belongingness was explained by student personal factors, such as social acceptance, physical appearance competence, coping skills, and social affiliation motivation; followed by parental expectations (3% out of 66.4%), and school-based factors (13.9% out of 66.4%) such as, classroom involvement, task-goal structure, autonomy provision, cultural pluralism, and absence of bullying. Each of the identified contributors of primary school belongingness can be shaped through interventions, system changes, or policy reforms

Invasive Phytophagous Pests Arising Through a Recent Tropical Evolutionary Radiation: The Bactrocera Dorsalis Complex of Fruit Flies

The Bactrocera dorsalis complex of tropical fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae) contains 75 described species, largely endemic to South-east Asia. Within the complex are a small number of polyphagous pests of international significance, including B. dorsalis s.s., B. papayae, B. carambolae and B. philippinensis. The majority of species within the complex were first described in 1994 and since then substantial research has been undertaken in developing morphological and molecular diagnostic techniques for their recognition. Such techniques can now resolve most taxa adequately. Genetic evidence suggests that the complex has evolved in only the last few million years and development of a phylogeny of the group is considered a high priority to provide a framework for future evolutionary and ecological studies. As model systems, mating studies on B. dorsalis s.s. and B. cacuminata have substantially advanced our understanding of insect use of plant-derived chemicals for mating, but such studies have not been applied to help resolve the limits of biological species within the complex. Although commonly regarded as major pests, we note that there is very little published evidence documenting economic losses caused by flies of the B. dorsalis complex. Quantification of economic losses caused by B. dorsalis complex species is urgently needed to prioritise research for quarantine and management. Although documented invaders, relatively little work has been done on the invasion biology of the complex and this is a further area warranting wor