Early stages and feeding ecology of loopers (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in a south Ecuadorian montane rainforest

Während eines viermonatigen Geländeaufenthaltes im Gebiet der Reserva Biológica San Francisco in den Anden Südost Ecuadors, wurden die Raupen von 64 Spannerarten (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) im Bergregenwald zwischen 1800 und 2800 m Höhe aufgesammelt und im Labor vor Ort aufgezogen. Die so erhaltenen Daten über Wirtspflanzenbeziehungen werden hier aufgelistet und mit bereits bekannten und publizierten Daten auf Art- und Familienniveau verglichen. Daten zur Larval- und Puppenmorphologie sowie zu Zuchterfolg und Parasitierungsraten werden vorgestellt. Charakteristika von Larvalmorphologie und -verhalten der einzelnen Arten werden beschrieben. Für 56 Arten handelt es sich dabei um die erstmalige Erfassung von Informationen zu den Präimaginalstadien, für fünf weitere Arten erweitern diese Daten das bekannte Futterpflanzenspektrum deutlich. Der Großteil der Raupen (64 % der Arten) wurde auf Gehölzpflanzen gefunden. Besonders bemerkenswert war der hohe Anteil an Farn- und Flechtenfressern. Die starke Wirtspflanzenbindung der Gattung Eois an Pflanzen aus der Gattung Piper konnte bestätigt werden. Die beobachtete Parasitierungsrate lag bei 17 % aller Raupen (bzw. 34 % der Raupen, welche bis zum Schlupf eines Falters oder eines Parasitoiden überlebten). Bei den Parasitoiden handelte es sich zumeist um Wespen aus der Familie Braconidae (41 %) und Fliegen der Familie Tachinidae. Insgesamt decken die Wirtspflanzendaten aus dieser Studie zusammen mit verfügbaren Literaturdaten gegenwärtig 9,1 % der 1266 aus dem Untersuchungsgebiet bekannten Geometridenarten ab. Farbtafeln im Anhang zeigen sowohl die Präimaginalstadien von 63, als auch die Imaginalstadien von 64 Arten um die langfristige Vergleichbarkeit der Daten zu gewährleisten und als Hilfsmittel für Artbestimmungen zu dienen

Caterpillar communities on shrubs in the montane forest zone of southern Ecuador

Die Raupengemeinschaften auf 16 Straucharten aus der Familie Asteraceae und der Gattung Piper (Piperaceae) im Bergregenwald in den Anden Südecuadors wurden untersucht. Die angewandte Sammelmethode erwies sich im Zuge einer Evaluierung als gut geeignet für das Sammeln von Raupen auf Sträuchern, insbesondere im Hinblick auf zeitliche Replikation der Aufnahmen an denselben Strauchindividuen. Im Rahmen von 11 standardisierten Aufnahmezyklen zwischen August 2007 und Juni 2009 wurden 18890 präimaginale Schmetterlingsindividuen erfasst. Insgesamt wurden die erhobenen Daten stark von gregären Jungraupen und Eigelegen einer Tagfalterart, Altinote dicaeus albofasciata (Nymphalidae), auf der Asteraceae Erato polymnioides dominiert. Diese und alle weiteren Raupengruppen und Eigelege wurden für die Analysen herabgewichtet und durch ihre dritte Wurzel ersetzt, da sie im Verhältnis zum Gesamtdatensatz stark überrepräsentiert waren. Die trophische Beziehung zur Wirtspflanze wurde durch Fraßexperimente überprüft. Hierbei stellte sich heraus, dass sich ein beträchtlicher Anteil von über 22% der Individuen (und bis zu 80% auf einzelnen Straucharten) nicht von der lebenden Biomasse des Strauches ernährt, auf dem die Raupe gefunden wurde, sondern von Totlaub, Flechten und Epiphyllen („Nicht-Herbivore“). Die Abundanz von Nicht-Herbivoren unterschied sich stark zwischen den Strauchfamilien, war jedoch auf Sträuchern unterschiedlicher Arten innerhalb der Familien weitestgehend konstant. Die Abundanz von herbivoren Lepidopteren waren dagegen im Mittel auf beiden Strauchfamilien sehr ähnlich, wies aber starke Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Straucharten auf. Herbivore Raupen waren zum weit überwiegenden Teil ektophage Folivore, während Florivore (2,3%) und semi-endophage Folivore (in Blattrollen, -tüten oder Gespinsten; 6,0%) selten waren. Der Gesamtartenreichtum herbivorer Lepidopteren war mit 191 Arten auf 16 untersuchten Straucharten hoch, variierte aber zwischen einzelnen Straucharten bis zu 40fach. Nach Anwendung einer Rarefaction-Analyse verringerten sich diese Unterschiede erheblich, die Differenz der Artenzahl zwischen artenreichster und artenärmster Gemeinschaft lag jedoch immer noch beim 15fachen. Charakteristisch für Artengemeinschaften auf Piper waren eine niedrige effektive Artenzahl (gemessen als exponentielle Shannon-Entropie) und hohe Dominanz durch Arten der Geometridengattung Eois. Bei den Asteraceenarten wies die Raupengemeinschaft auf E. polymnioides mit A. dicaeus albofasciata als dominanter Art eine ähnliche Struktur auf, wohingegen die Gemeinschaften auf den übrigen beiden Asteraceenarten (Ageratina dendroides und Baccharis latifolia) von hoher effektiver Artenzahl und niedrigen Dominanzwerten geprägt waren. Daraus lässt sich ableiten, dass Raupengemeinschaften auf Piper-Arten und E. polymnioides von einem kleinen, vorhersagbaren Set an Kernarten definiert werden, während solche Kerngemeinschaften auf den verbleibenden beiden Asteraceenarten fehlen. Gemeinschaften auf Piper wiesen außerdem mit 62,8% als monophag eingestuften Schmetterlingsarten einen höheren Grad an Spezialisierung auf als auf Asteraceen mit 11,6% monophagen Schmetterlingsarten. Die beobachteten Diversitätsmuster deuten am ehesten auf einen formenden Einfluss durch (chemische) Herbivorenabwehr hin, während Größe des Verbreitungsgebiets und lokale Häufigkeit der Pflanzenarten eher eine untergeordnete Rolle für die assoziierten Raupengemeinschaften zu spielen scheint.Caterpillar communities were studied on 16 shrub species from the family Asteraceae and the genus Piper (Piperaceae) in the Andean montane rainforest zone of southern Ecuador. The applied sampling methodology was evaluated and found well suited for sampling of caterpillars, especially with focus on resampling. During standardized sampling, a total of 18890 specimens were collected in 11 field surveys between August 2007 and June 2009. Overall, samples were dominated by gregarious early instars and egg clutches of Altinote dicaeus albofasciata (Nymphalidae) on Erato polymnioides (Asteraceae). Those and all other such groups and egg clutches were down-weighted for analyses to their cubic root to balance against their overrepresentation in the data set. Trophic associations of caterpillars were confirmed by feeding trials. A substantial fraction of more than 22% of the encountered caterpillars (and up to 80% on individual shrub species) was found not to be trophically linked to the living biomass of the shrubs themselves (“non-herbivores”), but rather feed on dead leaves and epiphylls. Abundance of non-herbivores differed strongly between the two studied plant families, but was very similar on different shrub species within these families. Abundance of herbivorous caterpillars, to the contrary, differed hardly between plant families, but varied strongly between individual plant species. Herbivores were almost entirely comprised of ectophagous folivores, while florivores (2.3%) and semi-endophagous folivores (leaf rollers and tiers; 6.0%) were unexpectedly rare. Absolute species richness of herbivorous caterpillars was high, with a total of 191 Lepidoptera species on the studied 16 shrub species, but varied up to 40fold between individual plant species. Rarefied species numbers were more similar among plant species, but still showed a 15fold difference between the most species rich and most species poor community. Communities on Piper species were characterized by low effective species numbers (measured as exponential Shannon entropy) and high dominance of one or two species of the Geometridae genus Eois. E. polymnioides featured a similar structure dominated by A. dicaeus albofasciata. Communities on the other two Asteraceae (Ageratina dendroides and Baccharis latifolia), to the contrary, were found to have high effective species numbers and low dominance. In conclusion, while Piper species and E. polymnioides feature caterpillar communities defined by small, predictable sets of core herbivores, these defining sets do not exist for the other two of the studied Asteraceae species. Communities on Piper were also more specialized, with 62.8% of the caterpillar species considered monophagous at plant species level, than on Asteraceae with only 11.6% monophagous species. The observed diversity patterns point mainly to shaping by (chemical) plant-herbivore-defense, while geographic range and local abundance of host plants appear to have only limited and varying influence on the associated caterpillar communities

Surfactant doped polyaniline coatings for functionalized gas diffusion layers in low temperature fuel cells

Gas diffusion layers (GDLs) are essential for the proper distribution of the reaction gases, the removal of excess water as well as electrical contact in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). The production of state-of-the-art GDLs consists of many steps such as graphitization at high temperatures and hydrophobic treatments with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which increase the cost. In this study, an electrically conductive and hydrophobic polyaniline (PANI) coating was deposited on carbon paper via dip-coating and electropolymerization to fabricate PTFE-free GDLs. As a proof-of-concept, PANI-coated GDLs were tested as a cathodic GDL in a single cell PEFC and achieved a 42% higher maximum power compared to the reference measurement with a commercial GDL. Furthermore, these PTFE-free GDLs achieved contact angles up to 144° which is in the range of commercial GDLs. The chemical composition of the PANI-coating was investigated via infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and the morphology was examined via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Hence, the proposed method emerges as a possible strategy to simultaneously substitute PTFE and apply a protective and durable coating.</p

Sacrospinous Hysteropexy Versus Prolapse Hysterectomy with Apical Fixation: A Retrospective Comparison over an 18 Year Period

Background. Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a common health problem, with a high lifetime risk for prolapse surgery. Uterine-preserving procedures such as vaginal sacrospinous hysteropexy (SSH) have become an increasingly utilized surgical option for the primary treatment of POP. We wanted to evaluate peri- and postoperative outcome parameters of SSH as an alternative to vaginal hysterectomy with apical fixation. Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted (2003–2021). All patients who underwent primary SSH (study group) for symptomatic POP were matched 1:1 by age and BMI with patients who underwent primary prolapse hysterectomy with apical fixation (control group). Results. A total of 192 patients were included with 96 patients in the each of the SSH and hysterectomy groups. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics. The SSH group show a significantly shorter mean surgery time (p < 0.001), significantly fewer hospitalization days (p < 0.001), and significantly less intraoperative blood loss (p = 0.033) in comparison to the control group. Neither group had any intraoperative complication, or an intraoperative conversion to other surgical management options. No statistically significant difference was found in postoperative complications as categorized by the Clavien–Dindo classification or in postoperative urogynecological issues (UTI, de-novo, incontinence, residual urine, voiding disorders). Through log regression, none of the confounding factors such as age, BMI, or preoperative POP-Q stage could be identified as independent risk factors for the occurrence of postoperative complications. Conclusions. Our results confirm that a uterus-preserving technique has many benefits and, thus, should be considered as an additional intermediate step in a long-term treatment plan of pelvic organ prolapse

Executive Functions in Chronic Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

There is no consensus as to whether mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) leads to executive function deficits. In this study, we adopted an extensive neuropsychological test battery and assessed different executive functions in chronic, unilateral MTLE. Performance of MTLE patients was compared with that of healthy peers and with normative data. Several MTLE patients had scores below cut-off or below the 10th percentile of normative data. Scores of the whole patient group were overall in the average range of normative data. Relative to controls, MTLE patients performed poorly in tests of working memory, cognitive flexibility, categorical verbal fluency, set-shifting, categorization, and planning. These findings raise an important methodological issue as they suggest that executive function deficits in chronic MTLE may be individually variable and that their assessment should include different tests. Deficits in chronic MTLE are not limited to temporal lobe functions, such as memory, but may extend to extra temporal cognitive domains, such as executive functions

Feasibility of a combined sampling approach for studying caterpillar assemblages - a case study from shrubs in the Andean montane forest zone

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Caterpillars and Host Plant Records for 59 Species of Geometridae (Lepidoptera) from a Montane Rainforest in Southern Ecuador

During four months of field surveys at the Reserva Biológica San Francisco in the south Ecuadorian Andes, caterpillars of 59 Geometridae species were collected in a montane rainforest between 1800 and 2800m altitude and reared to adults. The resulting data on host plant affiliations of these species was collated. The preimaginal stages of 58 and adult stages of all 59 species are depicted in colour plates. Observations on morphology and behaviour are briefly described. Five species, documented for the first time in the study area by means of larval collections, had not been previously collected by intensive light-trap surveys. Together with published literature records, life-history data covers 8.6% of the 1271 geometrid species observed so far in the study area. For 50 species these are the first records of their early stages, and for another 7 the data significantly extend known host plant ranges. Most larvae were collected on shrubs or trees, but more unusual host plant affiliations, such as ferns (6 geometrid species) and lichens (3 geometrid species), were also recorded. Thirty-four percent of the caterpillars were infested by wasp or tachinid parasitoids

Bilateral mesial temporal polymicrogyria: a case report

Polymicrogyria is a malformation of cortical organisation morphologically marked by an irregular brain surface with multiple excessively folded small gyri. Cortical thickness is reduced but appears increased in some areas as a result of the fusion of small gyri. On magnetic resonance imaging polymicrogyria is delineated by an abnormal gyral pattern, increased cortical thickness and irregularity of the cortical–white matter junction