Eupeodes luniger (Diptera, Syrphidae) a new record to Greece and a key for the genus Eupeodes in this country

To Eupeodes luniger (Meigen, 1822) (Diptera: Syrphidae) αποτελεί ένα από τα κατ' εξοχήν αφιδοφάγα είδη της Οικογένειας των Συρφίδων κατά το προνυμφικό στάδιο, ενώ ως ενήλικο επισκέπτεται άνθη για λήψη νε'κταρος και γύρης που είναι απαραίτητη για την αναπαραγωγική ωρίμανση των θηλυκών. Το είδος αυτό βρεθηκε για πρώτη φορά στην Ελλάδα ως ανθικός επισκε'πτης του φυτοΰ Phacelia tanacetifolia Bentham στο αγρόκτημα του Αριστοτελείου Πανεπιστημίου στη Μίκρα, 14 χιλιόμετρα ανατολικά της πόλης της Θεσσαλονίκης. Με την εργαοία αυτή αυξάνονται οι γνώσεις μας επί της κατανομής του Eupeodes luniger, καθώς η Ελλάδα αποτελούσε την χώρα όπου παρετηρείτο ασυνέχεια στην κατανομή του είδους αυτού στην περιοχή της Μεσογειακής Ευρώπης και των Βαλκανίων. Τόσο η αφιδοφάγος όσο και η επικονιαστική δραστηριότητα τουεντόμου αυτού, καθιός και των ομογενιόν του (Eupeodes Osten Sacken, 1877), είναι σημαντικές για τον άνθρωπο από άποψη βιολογικής καταπολέμησης και επικουρικής επικονίασης για αύξηση της παραγωγής και διαχείριση νοικοσυστημάτων. Παρουσιάζουμε εδώ την πρώτη κλείδα για τα 3 είδη του γένους στην Ελλάδα, που διαφοροποιείται ελαφρώς από τις συναφείς κλείδες άλλων χωρών.Eupeodes luniger (Meigen, 1822) (Diptera, Syrphidae), an aphidophagous hoverfly species that acts also as pollinator, was recorded for the first time in Greece. Based on the Greek records, we provide the first identification key for the genus Eupeodes Osten Sacken, 1877 in Greece

Identifying family correlates of adolescents’ subjective health complaints: evidence from a Greek cross-sectional study

Distinct aspects of family life have been suggested to influence adolescent psychosomatic health. The aim of the present study was to investigate family factors associated with adolescents’ Subjective Health Complaints (SHC)

The role of perceived well-being in the family, school and peer context in adolescents’ subjective health complaints: Evidence from a Greek cross-sectional study

Background During adolescence children are usually confronted with an expanding social arena. Apart from families, schools and neighbourhoods, peers, classmates, teachers, and other adult figures gain increasing importance for adolescent socio-emotional adjustment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent to which Greek adolescents’ perceived well-being in three main social contexts (family, school and peers) predicted self-reported Subjective Health Complaints. Methods Questionnaires were administered to a Greek nation-wide, random, school-based sample of children aged 12–18 years in 2003. Data from 1.087 adolescents were analyzed. A hierarchical regression model with Subjective Health Complaints as the outcome variable was employed in order to i) control for the effects of previously well-established demographic factors (sex, age and subjective economic status) and ii) to identify the unique proportion of variance attributed to each context. Bivariate correlations and multicollinearity were also explored. Results As hypothesized, adolescents’ perceived well-being in each of the three social contexts appeared to hold unique proportions of variance in self-reported Subjective Health Complaints, after controlling for the effects of sex, age and subjective economic status. In addition, our final model confirmed that the explained variance in SHC was accumulated from each social context studied. The regression models were statistically significant and explained a total of approximately 24% of the variance in Subjective Health Complaints. Conclusions Our study delineated the unique and cumulative contributions of adolescents’ perceived well-being in the family, school and peer setting in the explanation of Subjective Health Complaints. Apart from families, schools, teachers and peers appear to have a salient role in adolescent psychosomatic adjustment. A thorough understanding of the relationship between adolescents’ Subjective Health Complaints and perceived well-being in their social contexts could not only lead to more effective tailored initiatives, but also to promote a multi- and inter-disciplinary culture in adolescent psychosomatic health

Adolescents' subjective health complaints in their social contexts

The aim of the study was to investigate the extent to which Greek adolescents' perceived wellbeing in their family, school and peer context predicted Subjective Health Complaints (SHC)

Moderation is best: Effects of grazing intensity on plant-flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities

The structure of pollination networks is an important indicator of ecosystem stability and functioning. Livestock grazing is a frequent land use practice that directly affects the abundance and diversity of flowers and pollinators and, therefore, may indirectly affect the structure of pollination networks. We studied how grazing intensity affected the structure of plant-flower visitor networks along a wide range of grazing intensities by sheep and goats, using data from 11 Mediterranean plant-flower visitor communities from Lesvos Island, Greece. We hypothesized that intermediate grazing might result in higher diversity as predicted by the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, which could in turn confer more stability to the networks. Indeed, we found that networks at intermediate grazing intensities were larger, more generalized, more modular, and contained more diverse and even interactions. Despite general responses at the network level, the number of interactions and selectiveness of particular flower visitor and plant taxa in the networks responded differently to grazing intensity, presumably as a consequence of variation in the abundance of different taxa with grazing. Our results highlight the benefit of maintaining moderate levels of livestock grazing by sheep and goats to preserve the complexity and biodiversity of the rich Mediterranean communities, which have a long history of grazing by these domestic animals.The research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund—ESF) and Greek National funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF)—Research Funding Program: THALES: Investing in knowledge society through the European Social FundPeer Reviewe

Identifying the sociodemographic determinants of subjective health complaints in a cross-sectional study of Greek adolescents

Background: Experience of common health symptoms without a clear physical or psychological cause, such as headache or dizziness, is often reported in adolescence. The present study attempted to investigate associations of self-reported subjective health complaints (SHC) with a number of sociodemographic factors of Greek adolescents. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to a Greek nationwide random school-based sample of adolescents aged 11 to 18 years and their parents in 2003. Data from 922 adolescent-parent pairs were analyzed (response rate = 63%). Adolescents’ reported subjective health complaints were assessed for their association with a number of sociodemographic factors: age, sex, type of area of residence according to level of urbanization, immigration background, parental education and employment status, family socioeconomic status and perceived quality of financial resources (PQFR). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess the association of the aforementioned factors with subjective health complaints as the dependent variable. Results: Most sociodemographic variables, apart from area of residence and immigration background, were independently associated with subjective health complaints in the univariate analyses. The multiple linear regression analysis, however, limited the factors that could predict adolescents’ subjective health complaints to four (age, sex, Family Affluence Scale score and perceived quality of financial resources). Some considerations regarding parental employment status and immigration background are highlighted. Conclusions: Our study highlights the sociodemographic components of subjective health complaints in the Greek adolescent population. The need to include adolescent-specific measures when collecting information on adolescents’ social background is underlined. Identifying vulnerable adolescent populations could lead to effective health promoting and preventive interventions

Deux nouvelles espèces du genre Merodon Meigen 1803 (Diptera : Syrphidae) de l’île de Lesbos (Grèce), dans la Méditerranée Orientale

Descriptions are given of two new species of Merodon Meigen (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the island of Lesvos (Greece): Merodon papillus Vujić, Radenkovic & Pérez-Bañón n. sp. from the ruficornis group species and Merodon sapphous Vujic, Pérez-Bañón & Radenkovic n. sp. from the aureus group. In addition to classical morphological characters, partial sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene are generated for each taxon as DNA ‘barcodes’. Main characteristics of the species habitats are reported. The zoogeographical significance of these endemic taxa to the biodiversity of the island is discussed.European Commission Framework 6 Integrated project ALARM (Assessing LArge scale environmental Risks for biodiversity with tested Methods) (GOCE-CT-2003-506675) & Ministry of Science, Technology and Development of Republic Serbia (project number 143037)

Phylogeographic patterns of Merodon hoverflies in the Eastern Mediterranean region: revealing connections and barriers

We investigated the phylogeographic patterns of Merodon species (Diptera, Syrphidae) in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ten species were sampled on five different islands and mainland sites as a minimum. All samples were screened for their mtDNA COI barcode haplotype diversity, and for some samples, we additionally generated genomic fingerprints. The recently established zoogeographic distribution categories classify these species as having (1) Balkan distribution; (2) Anatolian distribution; (3) continental areas and large islands distribution; and (4) with wide distribution. The ancestral haplotypes and their geographical localities were estimated with statistical parsimony (TCS). TCS networks identified as the ancestral haplotype samples that originated from localities situated within the distributional category of the species in question. Strong geographical haplotype structuring was detected for many Merodon species. We were particularly interested to test the relative importance of current (Aegean Sea) and past Mid-Aegean Trench) barriers to dispersal for Merodon flies in the Aegean. We employed phylogenetic β-diversity (Pβ total) and its partition in replacement (Pβ repl) and richness difference (Pβ rich) to test the importance of each explanatory variable (interisland distance, MAT, and island area) in interisland differences using partial Mantel tests and hierarchical partitioning of variation. β-Analyses confirmed the importance of both current and past barriers to dispersal on the evolution of group. Current interisland distance was particularly important to explain the replacement of haplotypes, while the MAT was driving differences in richness of haplotypes, revealing the MAT as a strong past barrier whose effects are still visible today in the phylogenetic history of the clade in the Aegean. These results support the hypothesis of a highly restricted dispersal and gene flow among Merodon populations between islands since late Pleistocene. Additionally, patterns of phylogeographic structure deduced from haplotype connections and ISSR genome fingerprinting data revealed a few putative cases of human-mediated transfers of Merodon spp

Effects of patch size and density on flower visitation and seed set of wild plants: a pan-European approach

1. Habitat fragmentation can affect pollinator and plant population structure in terms of species composition, abundance, area covered and density of flowering plants. This, in turn, may affect pollinator visitation frequency, pollen deposition, seed set and plant fitness. 2. A reduction in the quantity of flower visits can be coupled with a reduction in the quality of pollination service and hence the plants’ overall reproductive success and long-term survival. Understanding the relationship between plant population size and⁄ or isolation and pollination limitation is of fundamental importance for plant conservation. 3. Weexamined flower visitation and seed set of 10 different plant species fromfive European countries to investigate the general effects of plant populations size and density, both within (patch level) and between populations (population level), on seed set and pollination limitation. 4. Wefound evidence that the effects of area and density of flowering plant assemblages were generally more pronounced at the patch level than at the population level. We also found that patch and population level together influenced flower visitation and seed set, and the latter increased with increasing patch area and density, but this effect was only apparent in small populations. 5. Synthesis. By using an extensive pan-European data set on flower visitation and seed set we have identified a general pattern in the interplay between the attractiveness of flowering plant patches for pollinators and density dependence of flower visitation, and also a strong plant species-specific response to habitat fragmentation effects. This can guide efforts to conserve plant–pollinator interactions, ecosystem functioning and plant fitness in fragmented habitats