Systematics of genus Merodon (Meigen, 1803) (Diptera: Syrphidae) based on morphological and molecular characters

Taksonomija  i  sistematika  su  okosnica  nauke  o biodiverzitetu,  obzirom  da  su  osnova  za identifikaciju  i  razdvajanje  jedinstvenih filogenetskih  entiteta  (vrsta),  ali  i  viših taksonomskih  kategorija.  Rod  Merodon  Meigen,1803  pripada  familiji  Syrphidae,  podfamiliji Eristalinae,  tribusu  Merodontini.  Vodeći  je  rod osolikih muva po bogatstvu vrstama u Evropi (124 vrsta).  Sirfide  predstavljaju  veoma  važnu  grupu organizama  i  njihov  značaj  u  prirodi  je  višestruk (polinacija,  regulatori  brojnosti  štetnih  insekata bioindikatori  staništa,  razlagači  materija  u raspadanju  itd).  Iako  su  se  istraživanjima  roda Merodon  bavili  brojni  autori,  dosadašnje filogenetske  analize  nisu  u  potpunosti  rasvetlile njegovu sistematsku poziciju, kao i položaj taksona na  filogenetskom  stablu.  U  cilju  što  boljeg razumevanja sistematike i filogenije roda  Merodon, neophodno  je  analizirati  genske  regione  koji evoluiraju različitim mutacionim stopama, kao i što veći  broj  filogenetski  informativnih  morfoloških karaktera. U  ovom  radu  su  u  cilju  istraživanja sistematike  roda  Merodon  analizirani  molekularni (mtDNK, 18S rRNK, 28S rRNK) i 250 morfoloških karaktera  (pomoću  binokularne  lupe  i  Skening elektronskog  mikroskopa),  pojedinačno  i kombinovano  a  upotrebom  metoda  za  filogenetsku analizu-  maximum  parsimony  (MP)  i  maximumlikelihood (ML). Analizirano je ukupno 329 jedinki. Pokazalo  se  da  je  u  ovakvom  tipu  istraživanja neophodan  integrativni  pristup,  odnosno kombinacija  što  više  karaktera  poreklom  iz različitih  izvora.  Na  osnovu  ML  stabla  svih  gena tribus  Merodontini  je  monofiletski  gde  se  vrsta Nausigaster  meridionalis  pojavljuje  kao  sestrinska ostalim rodovima tribusa (Azpeytia, Platynochaetus, Megatrigon,  Eumerus   tricolor  kladi  i  ostalim vrstama  roda  Eumerus).  Rod  Eumerus  je parafiletski  i  sastoji  se  iz  dve  monofiletske  linije: Eumerus  tricolor  klade  (potencijalnog  roda)  i ostalih  vrsta  roda  Eumerus.  Rod  Merodon  je monofiletski  prema  analizama  kombinovane matrice   molekularnih  i  morfoloških  podataka,  5' kraja  mtDNK  COI  i  analize  matrice  morfoloških karaktera.  U  okviru  roda  Merodon  detektovano  je ukupno  pet  klada  (aureus,  albifrons,  desuturinus, natans  i  avidus),  odnosno  četiri  glavne  evolutivne linije,  potencijalna  podroda:  aureus,  albifrons  + desuturinus,  natans  i  avidus.  Mitohondrijalni  geni pokazali su se veoma informativnim u sagledavanju filogenetskih odnosa i izdvajanja većine klada, kao i grupa  vrsta,  što  ukazuje  na  veću  varijabilnost sekvenci  COI  gena  u  odnosu  na  nuklearne  gene. Nuklearni  geni  samostalno  nisu  doprineli rasvetljavanju  filogenetskih  odnosa  između  klada (28S  rRNK  izdvaja  samo  natans  kladu)  u  okviru roda  Merodon,  ali  su  izdvojili  tribus  Merodontini,kao  i  Eumerus  tricolor  liniju.  Nuklearni  geni  su izdvojili  i  pojedine  grupe  vrsta  u  okviru  roda Merodon,  što  govori  u  prilog  tome  da  nuklearni geni mogu biti informativni kako na višim, tako i na nižim  taksonomskim  nivoima.  Mala  varijabilnost nuklearnog  gena  u  okviru  roda  Merodon,  naročito slučaju  18S  rRNK,  govori  o  njegovoj konzervativnosti.  Utvrđeno  je  da  morfološki karakteri genitalija mužjaka nose važan filogenetski signal  za  izdvajanje  klada  i  grupa  vrsta  te  upravo kombinacija  različitih  morfoloških  struktura  i njihova uloga sa različitim stepenom selekcije koja deluje  na  njih,  uslovljava  i  njihovu  evolucionu diverzifikaciju.  Ipak,  analize  molekularnog  i morfološkog  seta  karaktera  pojedinačno  nisu  u potpunosti  rasvetlili  filogenetske  odnose  u  okviru roda  Merodon,  što  opravdava  potrebu  za kombinovanom analizom. Taxonomy  and  systematics  provide  the  framework  for  biodiversity  research, since  they represent a foundation for identification  and  delimitation  of  phylogenetic  units  (species), as well as higher taxonomic ranks. Genus  Merodon  Meigen,  1803  belongs  to family  Syrphidae,  subfamily  Eristalinae, tribus  Merodontini.  Hoverflies  play  crucial  ecological  roles  (pollination,  decomposition  and  recycling  of  a  vast  range  of  materials, bioindicators  etc).  Despite  the  fact  that genus  Merodon  is  the  species  richest hoverfly  genus  in  Europe  (124  described  species so far), only few authors have dealt with  its  systematics  and  phylogenetic  relationships  of  this  large  phytophagous genus. In order to understand the systematics and  phylogeny  of  genus  Merodon,  it  is  necessary to analyze comprehensive number of  gene  regions  known  to  evolve  with various  mutational  rates,  and  as  many  feasible,  phylogenetically  important  morphological  characters.  In  this  thesis, molecular (mtDNA, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA)and  250  morphological  characters  (with  the aid  of  binocular  and  scanning  electron microscope)  were  analyzed,  separately  and combined,  with  phylogenetic  methods maximum  parsimony  (MP)  and  maximum likelihood  (ML).  In  total  329  specimens were  analyzed.  It  has  been  proven  that  in these types of research integrative approach is crucial, as it considers a large  amount of data from various sources. In ML analysis of all  genes  tribus  Merodontini  is monophyletic,  with  Nausigaster meridionalis  grouping  as  a  sister  to  the remaining  Merodontini  (Azpeytia, Platynochaetus,  Megatrigon,  Eumerus  and Eumerus  tricolor  lineage). Genus  Eumerus is  paraphyletic,  and  within  this  genus  two main  monophyletic  lineages  can  be identified:  Eumerus  tricolor  clade  (putative genera)  and  the  remaining  taxa  of  genus Eumerus.  Genus  Merodon  monophyly  is confirmed,  based  on  all  data  analysis  5' mtDNA  COI  and  morphological  dataset. Within  genus  Merodon  five  monophyletic clades  can  be  identified  (aureus,  albifrons, desuturinus,  natans  and  avidus),  or  four evolutionary  lineages,  putative  subgenera: aureus,  albifrons  +  desuturinus,  natans  and avidus.  Mitochondrial DNA is proved to be very  informative  in  resolving  systematic position  of  clades,  species  groups  and  taxa, which confirms the higher variability of COI mtDNA  sequences  compared  to  nuclear genes. Nuclear genes alone didn't resolve the systematic  position  and  phylogenetic relationships  between  most  clades  (28S rRNA  identified  only  natans  clade)  within genus  Merodon,  but  these  genes  confirmed the  monophyly  of  tribus  Merodontini  and putative  genera  Eumerus  tricolor.  Nuclear genes  were  also  informative  for  some species  groups,  which  implies  that  nuclear genes  could  be  beneficial  in   resolving systematic position of both lower and higher taxonomic ranks. Low  variability of nuclear genes within genus Merodon, especially 18SrRNA,  proves  the  fact  that  they  are  conservative  genes.  Morphological  characters  of  male  genitalia  carry  the strongest  phylogenetic  signal,  since  they show a great evolutionary divergence in the shape  and  structural  complexity,  as  a  result of  sexual  selection.  As  molecular  nor morphological  characters  alone  couldn't fully  resolve  the  phylogenetic  relationships  within genus  Merodon,  all data  approach is proven  to  be  necessary  in  this  type  of  research.

City of Zagreb Spatial Data Infrastructure

Osnivanjem Koordinacije za izradu Informacijskog sustava prostornog uređenja Grada Zagreba i Grad Zagreb se aktivno uključio u mnogobrojnu globalnu zajednicu u uspostavi svoje lokalne Zagrebačke infrastrukture prostornih podataka (ZIPP-a). U Gradu Zagrebu mnoga tijela gradske uprave svakodnevno u svom radu koriste i izrađuju različite skupove prostornih podataka i usluga. Svi su oni subjekti ZIPP-a i sigurno je kako međusobno te podatke moraju učiniti dostupnima i dijeliti ih. Bez prostornih podataka i usluga nemoguće je kvalitetno gospodariti prostorom, planirati razvoj Grada, pratiti stanje u prostoru i obavljati mnoge druge zadaće. U ovom radu je dan pregled dosadašnjih aktivnosti na uspostavi ZIPP-a kao i planovi budućih aktivnosti.Through the establishment of the Coordination Group for the City of Zagreb Spatial Management IT System, the City of Zagreb has become actively involved in the wider global community by setting up the Zagreb Spatial Data Infrastructure (ZSDI) service. In the City of Zagreb, many bodies of city administration use and create spatial data and services daily in their work. All are ZSDI users and obviously have to make data mutually available. Without spatial data and services, it would be impossible to manage space effectively, plan city development, monitor the situation on the ground, or carry out many other activities. This paper gives an overview of ZSDI set-up activities so far, as well as plans for the future

Zagrebačka infrastruktura prostornih podataka

Through the establishment of the Coordination Group for the City of Zagreb Spatial Management IT System, the City of Zagreb has become actively involved in the wider global community by setting up the Zagreb Spatial Data Infrastructure (ZSDI) service. In the City of Zagreb, many bodies of city administration use and create spatial data and services daily in their work. All are ZSDI users and obviously have to make data mutually available. Without spatial data and services, it would be impossible to manage space effectively, plan city development, monitor the situation on the ground, or carry out many other activities. This paper gives an overview of ZSDI set-up activities so far, as well as plans for the future. Osnivanjem Koordinacije za izradu Informacijskog sustava prostornog uređenja Grada Zagreba i Grad Zagreb se aktivno uključio u mnogobrojnu globalnu zajednicu u uspostavi svoje lokalne Zagrebačke infrastrukture prostornih podataka (ZIPP-a). U Gradu Zagrebu mnoga tijela gradske uprave svakodnevno u svom radu koriste i izrađuju različite skupove prostornih podataka i usluga. Svi su oni subjekti ZIPP-a i sigurno je kako međusobno te podatke moraju učiniti dostupnima i dijeliti ih. Bez prostornih podataka i usluga nemoguće je kvalitetno gospodariti prostorom, planirati razvoj Grada, pratiti stanje u prostoru i obavljati mnoge druge zadaće. U ovom radu je dan pregled dosadašnjih aktivnosti na uspostavi ZIPP-a kao i planovi budućih aktivnosti.

Novel Modifications of Parallel Jacobi Algorithms

We describe two main classes of one-sided trigonometric and hyperbolic Jacobi-type algorithms for computing eigenvalues and eigenvectors of Hermitian matrices. These types of algorithms exhibit significant advantages over many other eigenvalue algorithms. If the matrices permit, both types of algorithms compute the eigenvalues and eigenvectors with high relative accuracy. We present novel parallelization techniques for both trigonometric and hyperbolic classes of algorithms, as well as some new ideas on how pivoting in each cycle of the algorithm can improve the speed of the parallel one-sided algorithms. These parallelization approaches are applicable to both distributed-memory and shared-memory machines. The numerical testing performed indicates that the hyperbolic algorithms may be superior to the trigonometric ones, although, in theory, the latter seem more natural.Comment: Accepted for publication in Numerical Algorithm

Three-Level Parallel J-Jacobi Algorithms for Hermitian Matrices

The paper describes several efficient parallel implementations of the one-sided hyperbolic Jacobi-type algorithm for computing eigenvalues and eigenvectors of Hermitian matrices. By appropriate blocking of the algorithms an almost ideal load balancing between all available processors/cores is obtained. A similar blocking technique can be used to exploit local cache memory of each processor to further speed up the process. Due to diversity of modern computer architectures, each of the algorithms described here may be the method of choice for a particular hardware and a given matrix size. All proposed block algorithms compute the eigenvalues with relative accuracy similar to the original non-blocked Jacobi algorithm.Comment: Submitted for publicatio

A GPU-based hyperbolic SVD algorithm

A one-sided Jacobi hyperbolic singular value decomposition (HSVD) algorithm, using a massively parallel graphics processing unit (GPU), is developed. The algorithm also serves as the final stage of solving a symmetric indefinite eigenvalue problem. Numerical testing demonstrates the gains in speed and accuracy over sequential and MPI-parallelized variants of similar Jacobi-type HSVD algorithms. Finally, possibilities of hybrid CPU--GPU parallelism are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in BIT Numerical Mathematic

Review of the Merodon natans group with description of a new species, a key to the adults of known species of the natans lineage and first descriptions of some preimaginal stages

Merodon natans group (Diptera, Syrphidae) taxa are reviewed using an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphological, morphometric and molecular techniques. The approach substantiates recognition of the three species: M. calcaratus (Fabricius, 1794), M. natans (Fabricius, 1794) and M. pulveris Vujić & Radenković in Radenković et al. 2011, and reveals the existence of a new species, M. makrisi Vujić, Radenković & Tot sp. nov., which is described. It also highlights the existence of a series of natans group populations, especially on some of the Mediterranean islands, in the Levant and in the Afrotropical Region, for which more comprehensive data are required to clarify their status. A key is provided to the natans lineage species currently recognised, and preimaginal stages of some natans-group species are described for the first time. Redescriptions for M. calcaratus and M. natans are provided. A neotype is selected for M. natans. Lectotypes are designated for M. annulatus (Fabricius, 1794) and M. melancholicus (Fabricius, 1794). Merodon annulatus is recognised as a synonym of M. natans.The authors acknowledge financial support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Grant No. 451-03-9/2021-14/200125 and Grant No. 451-03-9/2021-14/200358). André van Eck was financially supported for research in Cyprus by the Dutch Uyttenboogaart-Eliasen Foundation (UES), with grant nrs. SUB.2016.12.12 and SUB.2018.12.03

The puzzling mitochondrial phylogeography of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens), the commercially most important insect protein species

Abstract Background The black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae, Hermetia illucens) is renowned for its bioconversion ability of organic matter, and is the worldwide most widely used source of insect protein. Despite varying extensively in morphology, it is widely assumed that all black soldier flies belong to the same species, Hermetia illucens. We here screened about 600 field-collected and cultured flies from 39 countries and six biogeographic regions to test this assumption based on data for three genes (mitochondrial COI, nuclear ITS2 & 28S rDNA) and in order to gain insights into the phylogeography of the species. Results Our study reveals a surprisingly high level of intraspecific genetic diversity for the mitochondrial barcoding gene COI (divergences up to 4.9%). This level of variability is often associated with the presence of multiple species, but tested nuclear markers (ITS2 and 28S rDNA) were invariant and fly strain hybridization experiments under laboratory conditions revealed reproductive compatibility. COI haplotype diversity is not only very high in all biogeographic regions (56 distinct haplotypes in total), but also in breeding facilities and research centers from six continents (10 haplotypes: divergences up to 4.3%). The high genetic diversity in fly-breeding facilities is mostly likely due to many independent acquisitions of cultures via sharing and/or establishing new colonies from field-collected flies. However, explaining some of the observed diversity in several biogeographic regions is difficult given that the origin of the species is considered to be New World (32 distinct haplotypes) and one would expect severely reduced genetic diversity in the putatively non-native populations in the remaining biogeographic regions. However, distinct, private haplotypes are known from the Australasian (N = 1), Oriental (N = 4), and the Eastern Palearctic (N = 4) populations. We reviewed museum specimen records and conclude that the evidence for introductions is strong for the Western Palearctic and Afrotropical regions which lack distinct, private haplotypes. Conclusions Based on the results of this paper, we urge the black soldier fly community to apply molecular characterization (genotyping) of the fly strains used in artificial fly-breeding and share these data in research publications as well as when sharing cultures. In addition, fast-evolving nuclear markers should be used to reconstruct the recent invasion history of the species

Ecosytem services: A rapid assessment method tested at 35 sites of the LTER-Europe Network

The identification of parameters to monitor the ecosystem services delivered at a site is fundamental to the concept’s adoption as a useful policy instrument at local, national and international scales. In this paper we (i) describe the process of developing a rapid comprehensive ecosystem service assessment methodology and (ii) test the applicability of the protocol at 35 long-term research (LTER) sites across 14 countries in the LTER-Europe network (www.lter-europe.net) including marine, urban, agricultural, forest, desert and conservation sites. An assessment of probability of occurrence with estimated confidence score using 83 ecosystem service parameters was tested. The parameters were either specific services like food production or proxies such as human activities which were considered surrogates for cultural diversity and economic activity. This initial test of the ecosystem service parameter list revealed that the parameters tested were relatively easy to score by site managers with a high level of certainty (92% scored as either occurring or not occurring at the site with certainty of over 90%). Based on this assessment, we concluded that (i) this approach to operationalise the concept of ecosystem services is practical and applicable by many sectors of civil society as a first screen of the ecosystem services present at a site, (ii) this study has direct relevance to land management and policy decision makers as a transparent vehicle to focus testing scenarios and target data gathering, but (iii) further work beyond the scale investigated here is required to ensure global applicability