Papilio vanessa Fabricius, 1793, nomen oblitum, is a synonym of Liptena septistrigata (Bethune-Baker, 1903), nomen protectum (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)

The nominal taxon Papilio vanessa Fabricius, 1793, for long thought to be an unrecognised species of Riodinidae from the Americas, is shown to be a synonym of the West African lycaenid butterfly Liptena septistrigata (Bethune-Baker, 1903), syn. nov. Papilio vanessa is however a nomen oblitum, as it has not been applied to any recognised taxon since 1889. Thus Liptena septistrigata has priority so long as this subjective synonymy is considered valid and, within this context, L. septistrigata should be treated as a nomen protectum

A specimen of Tirumala hamata hamata (Macleay, 1826) (Lepidoptera: Danainae) from Captain Cook’s first voyage

On 29 May 1770 Joseph Banks described a spectacular swarming of ‘milions’ [sic] ‘of one sort’ of butterfly at Thirsty Sound, near what is now Rockhampton, Queensland, comparing it to a species from China that had been named by Linnaeus. Discovery of what appears to be an Endeavour voyage specimen of this Australian butterfly in the Hunterian Zoology Museum, Glasgow, allows us to confirm its long-suspected identity as Tirumala hamata hamata (Macleay) – a species unnamed and unknown at the time of Cook’s first voyage. Investigations into several collections that include eighteenth-century Australian Lepidoptera and associated literature have not positively identified any further specimens taken from the swarm, although a pair in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History could be from the same source. Taxonomic confusion due to mimicry, convergence and/or non-divergence affecting blue tiger patterned butterflies is most likely the principal reason such a specimen has previously gone undetected

A hypothesis to explain accuracy of wasp resemblances

Mimicry is one of the oldest concepts in biology, but it still presents many puzzles and continues to be widely debated. Simulation of wasps with a yellow-black abdominal pattern by other insects (commonly called “wasp mimicry”) is traditionally considered a case of resemblance of unprofitable by profitable prey causing educated predators to avoid models and mimics to the advantage of both (Figure 1a). However, as wasps themselves are predators of insects, wasp mimicry can also be seen as a case of resemblance to one's own potential antagonist. We here propose an additional hypothesis to Batesian and Müllerian mimicry (both typically involving selection by learning vertebrate predators; cf. Table 1) that reflects another possible scenario for the evolution of multifold and in particular very accurate resemblances to wasps: an innate, visual inhibition of aggression among look-alike wasps, based on their social organization and high abundance. We argue that wasp species resembling each other need not only be Müllerian mutualists and that other insects resembling wasps need not only be Batesian mimics, but an innate ability of wasps to recognize each other during hunting is the driver in the evolution of a distinct kind of masquerade, in which model, mimic, and selecting agent belong to one or several species (Figure 1b). Wasp mimics resemble wasps not (only) to be mistaken by educated predators but rather, or in addition, to escape attack from their wasp models. Within a given ecosystem, there will be selection pressures leading to masquerade driven by wasps and/or to mimicry driven by other predators that have to learn to avoid them. Different pressures by guilds of these two types of selective agents could explain the widely differing fidelity with respect to the models in assemblages of yellow jackets and yellow jacket look-alikes

Diversity of Chironomidae (Diptera) breeding in the Great Stour, Kent: baseline results from the Westgate Parks non-biting midge project

Chalk rivers and streams are of conservation importance due their ecological diversity, historical relevance and economic value. With more than 200 chalk watercourses, England is considered unusual in having the most chalk rivers in the world. However, due to increasing anthropogenic activities, many English chalk rivers and streams are becoming badly degraded. The non-biting midges or chironomids (Diptera, Chironomidae) are considered key-stone taxa in aquatic food webs, and have been used as ecological indicators of freshwater quality and environmental stress. Here we determined the generic richness, diversity, and community structure of Chironomidae across six sites in the mid-section of the Great Stour in Kent, a chalk river for which concern has been expressed regarding both water and habitat quality. Based on the morphological identification of 1336 insect larvae from the six sites (four in Westgate Parks, Canterbury, and two at nearby locations upstream and downstream from Canterbury City), a total of 20 genera of Chironomidae were identified, including some taxa indicative of freshwater habitats with low levels of organic pollution. There were different levels of generic richness and diversity among sites, and while there was little variation in the community composition among the sites within Westgate Parks, there were noticeable generic differences among Westgate Parks sites compared with those upstream and downstream, showing the highest complementarity and Beta diversity values. Overall, the results were comparable with other studies on chironomids in chalk rivers and other river systems. Although spatially limited to a small stretch of river, this represents the first study on chironomids in the Great Stour and provides baseline information on the diversity and structure of this important insect group with aquatic larvae, useful for the objective interpretation of any future biological assessments and monitoring programmes on the Kentish Stour, and also for comparisons with other chalk rivers

Papilio hermione Linnaeus, type species of Hipparchia Fabricius (Lepidoptera, Satyrinae): restoring stability to the application of these names

This paper discusses three problems concerning the Woodland Grayling, Hipparchia fagi Scopoli, 1763, with respect to the identity and application of the junior name Papilio hermione Linnaeus, 1764. In 1977, the late Otakar Kudrna designated a specimen of the Rock Grayling, Hipparchia alcyone [Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775, to become the lectotype of Papilio hermione – as a result of which hermione supplanted alcyone as the senior epithet for this species. Because P. hermione is the nominal type species of Hipparchia Fabricius, 1807, Kudrna’s action rendered this a genus based on a misidentified species. Third, while a majority of lepidopterists have ignored Kudrna’s action and continue to apply the name H. alcyone to the Rock Grayling, and still regard P. hermione as a junior subjective synonym of H. fagi, the formal nomenclature for the Rock Grayling has become unstable because a large minority have nonetheless accepted Kudrna’s lectotype designation and all that follows from it. It is demonstrated here that no syntypes of Papilio hermione (or Papilio fagi) have survived; consequently, Kudrna’s lectotype designation for P. hermione is invalid. By designation of a single specimen of the Woodland Grayling as neotype for both P. fagi and P. hermione, the two names are rendered objectively synonymous, thereby restoring stability to the species name for the Rock Grayling (as Hipparchia alcyone), and to the application of Papilio hermione (= Hipparchia fagi) as nominal type species of the generic name Hipparchia

Independent evolution of sexual dimorphism and female-limited mimicry in swallowtail butterflies (Papilio dardanus and Papilio phorcas)

Several species of Swallowtail butterflies (genus Papilio) are Batesian mimics that express multiple mimetic female forms, while the males are monomorphic and non-mimetic. The evolution of such sex-limited mimicry may involve sexual dimorphism arising first and mimicry subsequently. Such a stepwise scenario through a non-mimetic, sexually dimorphic stage has been proposed for two closely related sexually dimorphic species; P. phorcas, a non-mimetic species with two female forms, and P. dardanus, a female-limited polymorphic mimetic species. Their close relationship indicates that female-limited polymorphism could be a shared derived character of the two species. Here we present a phylogenomic analysis of the dardanus group using 3964 nuclear loci and whole mitochondrial genomes showing that they are not sister species, and thus that the sexually-dimorphic state has arisen independently in the two species. Non-homology of the female polymorphism in both species is supported by population genetic analysis of engrailed, the presumed mimicry switch locus in P. dardanus. McDonald-Kreitman tests performed on SNPs in engrailed showed the signature of balancing selection in a polymorphic population of P. dardanus, but not in monomorphic populations, nor in the non-mimetic P. phorcas. Hence the wing polymorphism does not balance polymorphisms in engrailed in P. phorcas. Equally, unlike in P. dardanus, none of the SNPs in P. phorcas engrailed were associated with either female morph. We conclude that sexual dimorphism due to female polymorphism evolved independently in both species from monomorphic, non-mimetic states. While sexual selection may drive male-female dimorphism in non-mimetic species, in mimetic Papilios natural selection for protection from predators in females is an alternative route to sexual dimorphism

Strong suppression of Coulomb corrections to the cross section of e+e- pair production in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions

The Coulomb corrections to the cross section of $e^+e^-$ pair production in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions are calculated in the next-to-leading approximation with respect to the parameter $L=\ln \gamma_A\gamma_B$ ($\gamma_{A,B}$ are the Lorentz factors of colliding nuclei). We found considerable reduction of the Coulomb corrections even for large $\gamma_A\gamma_B$ due to the suppression of the production of $e^+e^-$ pair with the total energy of the order of a few electron masses in the rest frame of one of the nuclei. Our result explains why the deviation from the Born result were not observed in the experiment at SPS.Comment: 4 pages, RevTe

Does litter input determine carbon storage and peat organic chemistry in tropical peatlands?

Tropical peatlands hold large amounts of carbon but the influence of litter inputs and variation in peat properties with depth on carbon storage are poorly understood. Here we present a stratigraphy of peatland carbon stocks and accumulation through the peat profile in a tropical ombrotrophic wetland and assess shifts in vegetation inputs and organic matter degradation using n-alkane distributions and Rock-Eval 6 pyrolysis. Mixed forest (including canopy palms and tropical hardwood trees) contained the greatest total carbon stock in the soil (1884 Mg C ha−1), followed by Rhizophora mangle (mangrove, 1771 Mg C ha−1), Campnosperma panamensis (hardwood, 1694 Mg C ha−1) and Cyperus (sawgrass) bog plain (1488 Mg C ha−1). The long-term apparent rate of carbon accumulation, determined by 14C dating of the carbon stored in different layers in the peat profile, decreased from the edge to the interior of the peatland, with the highest accumulation rate in at the Rhizophora site (102.2 g C m−2 y−1) and the lowest in the deeper peat layers at the Cyperus site (45.6 g C m−2 y−1). High molecular weight n-alkanes dominated in surface peat in all four phasic communities, while deeper in the peat profile n-alkane profiles differed more among sites, suggesting contrasting litter inputs or decomposition environments. Deeper peat was depleted in carbohydrates and had a relatively larger thermostable C pool. Taken together our findings show (i) that different forest types hold varying C stocks and have different peat accumulation rates, even over relatively small distances, and (ii) progressive depletion of carbohydrates and thermolabile compounds with depth, despite strong variation in litter inputs throughout the peat profile

Pervasive genetic associations between traits causing reproductive isolation in Heliconius butterflies

Ecological speciation proceeds through the accumulation of divergent traits that contribute to reproductive isolation, but in the face of gene flow traits that characterize incipient species may become disassociated through recombination. Heliconius butterflies are well known for bright mimetic warning patterns that are also used in mate recognition and cause both pre- and post-mating isolation between divergent taxa. Sympatric sister taxa representing the final stages of speciation, such as Heliconius cydno and Heliconius melpomene, also differ in ecology and hybrid fertility. We examine mate preference and sterility among offspring of crosses between these species and demonstrate the clustering of Mendelian colour pattern loci and behavioural loci that contribute to reproductive isolation. In particular, male preference for red patterns is associated with the locus responsible for the red forewing band. Two further colour pattern loci are associated, respectively, with female mating outcome and hybrid sterility. This genetic architecture in which ‘speciation genes’ are clustered in the genome can facilitate two controversial models of speciation, namely divergence in the face of gene flow and hybrid speciation