Distribution, phylogeography and hybridization between two parapatric sibling ant species of the genus Temnothorax

The present-day range distribution of many species has been influenced by re-occuring glacials of the past. By the retreat into different refugia situated in more southerly regions, species were geographically separated and sometimes diverged into separate lineages. After having re-occupied their formerly ice-covered habitats, these species pairs nowadays often exhibit parapatric distribution and some hybridize along their contact zones. Such a scenario probably also accounts for the origin of the very common monogynous and monandrous ant sibling species Temnothorax nylanderi and T. crassispinus. While the latter inhabits Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, T. nylanderi can be found in Western Europe. They occasionally hybridize along a narrow contact zone in North-Western Germany. In this study, using morphometry and genetic markers, the position of the contact zone in Southern Germany and Northern Italy was determined. The differentiation within and between the two species was analysed and the genetic structure of Central and South European T. nylanderi populations was compared. Further, the impact of hybridization on colony level was studied in detail. Previous findings were confirmed, that T. nylanderi can be exclusively found in Western and T. crassispinus in Eastern Europe, separated by a small zone of overlap. In Bavaria, the contact zone is situated along the Franconian Jura. South of the Alps, it probably lies somewhere in North-Eastern Italy, because in Slovenia and Croatia, only T. crassispinus has been found. The contact zone therefore runs far more west than expected from previous results. The genetic division between the species was constant with 2.4% and 3.5 % divergence in the CO Ι and Cyt b haplotypes, suggesting that the species might have split 1.5-2 Myr ago. Both species exhibited genetic uniformity on the nuclear and mitochondrial level. Their haplotypes revealed a lack of geographical origin, indicating rapid post-glacial recolonization. Further population genetic studies using microsatellite markers on several Central and South European T. nylanderi populations revealed equal rates of heterogenous (two or more matrilines) colonies due to colony fusion, a typical characteristic of this species. Thus, also in southern populations, colony odour appears to be mainly environmentally determined. Besides that, no bottleneck-induced north-south differences in genetic variability could be proofed. The significant inbreeding in both South and North European populations is probably a species-specific trait. It might result from random mating over time and habitat patchiness. As the sibling species are morphologically very similar, hybrids were classified by heterozygosity at the diagnostic allozyme locus GPI. Like in Northern Germany, both species co-occured in a rather narrow contact zone, which does not extend over more than 25 km. The narrowness of the contact zone apparently demonstrates hybrid inferiority. This was further confirmed by the detailed analysis of the hybrid zone, were almost no fertile hybrid queens were found. Pure hybrid colonies, consisting of exclusively heterozgous workers were rare. Instead most colonies contained both hybrid and T. crassispinus workers and co-occurred with pure T. crassispinus colonies. Besides that, the weight of hybrid virgin queens, which were as abundant as pure species� gynes (mostly T. crassispinus), is apparently negatively influenced by hybridization. However not directly, because co-occuring homozygous queens in hybrid colonies were also lighter. Mating was found to be almost exclusively unidirectional according to mitochondrial DNA data. Mixed hybrid colonies apparently originate by colony fusions between pure and hybrid lineages, as other reasons can be ruled out. The existence of interspecific colony fusions in nature has been additionally supported by laboratory experiments, where heterospecific fusions could be documented. This is probably facilitated by the high relatedness between the species and the environmentally influenced nestmate discrimination. Hybridization between the sibling species T. crassispinus and T. nylanderi apparently leads to an evolutionary dead-end. However it does not seem to be too costly, as hybrid colonies produced slightly more workers than pure species colonies

Quantitative Imaging of D-2-Hydroxyglutarate in Selected Histological Tissue Areas by a Novel Bioluminescence Technique

Patients with malignant gliomas have a poor prognosis with average survival of less than 1 year. Whereas in other tumor entities the characteristics of tumor metabolism are successfully used for therapeutic approaches, such developments are very rare in brain tumors, notably in gliomas. One metabolic feature characteristic of gliomas, in particular diffuse astrocytomas and oligodendroglial tumors, is the variable content of D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D2HG), a metabolite that was discovered first in this tumor entity. D2HG is generated in large amounts due to various "gain-of-function" mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenases IDH1 and 1DH2. Meanwhile, D2HG has been detected in several other tumor entities, including intrahepatic bile-duct cancer, chondrosarcoma, acute myeloid leukemia, and angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma. D2HG is barely detectable in healthy tissue (<0.1 mM), but its concentration increases up to 35 mM in malignant tumor tissues. Consequently, the "oncometabolite" D2HG has gained increasing interest in the field of tumor metabolism. To facilitate its quantitative measurement without loss of spatial resolution at a microscopical level, we have developed a novel bioluminescence assay for determining D2HG in sections of snap-frozen tissue. The assay was verified independently by photometric tests and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The novel technique allows the microscopically resolved determination of D2HG in a concentration range of 0-10 mu mol/g tissue (wet weight). In combination with the already established bioluminescence imaging techniques for ATP, glucose, pyruvate, and lactate, the novel D2HG assay enables a comparative characterization of the metabolic profile of individual tumors in a further dimension

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Temnothorax alienus

&lt;i&gt;Temnothorax alienus&lt;/i&gt; nov. spec. &lt;p&gt;(Figs. 2, 3, 22, 26, 28, 29)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Holotype worker.&lt;/b&gt; ITALY, Campania, near Tortora, N. Sapri, Parco Nazionale del Cilento, 39&deg;57.879'N 15&deg;48.809'E, 633 m. a.s.l., 28.iv.2004 (Leg. K. Pusch, C. Wanke, J. Beibl, P. D'Ettorre) [SMNK].&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Paratypes.&lt;/b&gt; 12 workers and 4 gynes, same data as holotype [MHNG, MCSN, PCAS, SMNG]; 10 workers, ITALY, Campania, near Carpaccio, N. of Agropoli &amp; Paestum, Mte. Vesole, Parco Nazionale del Cilento, 730 m. a.s.l., 27.iv.2004 (Leg. K. Pusch, C. Wanke, J. Beibl, P. D'Ettorre) [MHNG, MCSN, PCAS, SMNG].&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Etymology.&lt;/b&gt; From the Latin word &ldquo; alienus &rdquo;, meaning &ldquo;foreigner&rdquo; or &ldquo;alien&rdquo;, referring to the unique combination of characters, which is found only in a small number of other western Palaearctic &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax&lt;/i&gt; species.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Description of worker.&lt;/b&gt; Measurements and indices (n=16): HL [0.684] 0.67&plusmn;0.03 (0.58&ndash;0.71), HW [0.580] 0.58&plusmn;0.03 (0.50&ndash;0.63), SL [0.475] 0.48&plusmn;0.03 (0.43&ndash;0.53), FCD [0.220] 0.22&plusmn;0.02 (0.18&ndash;0.24), ML [0.791] 0.77&plusmn;0.05 (0.67&ndash;0.85), MW [0.390] 0.39&plusmn;0.03 (0.32&ndash;0.46), PSL [0.095] 0.09&plusmn;0.01 (0.07&ndash;0.11), PEL [0.238] 0.24&plusmn;0.02 (0.21&ndash;0.27), PEW [0.171] 0.18&plusmn;0.02 (0.15&ndash;0.21), PEH [0.238] 0.23&plusmn;0.02 (0.21&ndash;0.27), PHD [0.090] 0.09&plusmn;0.01 (0.07&ndash;0.11), PPL [0.162] 0.16&plusmn;0.02 (0.13&ndash;0.18), PPW [0.238] 0.23&plusmn;0.02 (0.20&ndash;0.26), HS 0.63&plusmn;0.03 (0.54&ndash;0.67), HW/HL 0.86&plusmn;0.03 (0.83&ndash;0.97), SL/HS 0.77&plusmn;0.03 (0.70&ndash;0.82), FCD/HS 0.34&plusmn;0.02 (0.31&ndash;0.36), MW/ML 0.50&plusmn;0.03 (0.48&ndash;0.63), PSL/ML 0.11&plusmn;0.01 (0.09&ndash;0.13), PEH/PEL 0.98&plusmn;0.05 (0.91&ndash;1.08), PEW/PEL 0.74&plusmn;0.07 (0.68&ndash;0.90), PHD/PEW 0.48&plusmn;0.07 (0.35&ndash;0.56), PPL/PPW 0.72&plusmn;0.06 (0.64&ndash;0.79), PEW/PPW 0.76&plusmn;0.08 (0.71&ndash;0.97).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Head narrower anterior to eyes than posteriorly. Margins of head posterior to eyes weakly convex, vertexal corners evenly rounded, posterior margin of vertex linear. Frontal triangle somewhat impressed but not clearly demarcated. Frontal carinae narrow and short, strongly divergent posteriorly. Mesosoma with dorsal profile evenly and weakly convex, without metanotal groove. Propodeal spines broadly attached, nearly triangular, acute, slightly pointed upward and slightly divergent. Petiole subsessile, its anterior face straight or only slightly concave, node triangular with rounded apex. Posterior face weakly convex or straight, sloping downwards nearly at the same angle as the anterior face. Anterior subpetiolar process large, slightly longer than broad at the base. In dorsal view, petiole with weakly convex to straight sides at midlength, strongly converging anteriorly. In dorsocaudal view the node apex is relatively narrow with a straight dorsal margin. Postpetiole in lateral profile more or less evenly rounded. In dorsal view the postpetiole is subrectangular with weakly rounded corners, slightly broader anteriorly, sides are straight and nearly parallel.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Mandibles very finely irregularly longitudinally striate, sublucid. Frontal triangle smooth with 1&ndash;2 shallow micro-rugulae. Clypeus medially lucid, without a coarse median carina, but with some paramedian striae running half way from anterior to posterior clypeal border. Scapes faintly striate to very finely granulate. Frons with a narrow medial unsculptured and lucid part, other surfaces irregularly and divergently rugose with anastomoses. Interspaces between rugae densely reticulate. Posterior frons reticulate with isolated superficial rugae. Genae, surface around the eyes and vertex irregularly rugose to striate, with densely reticulate interstices. Surface posterior to eyes with semicircular rugulae. Ventral surface of head laterally striate, medially smooth. Entire mesosoma irregularly and densely rugose to rugoreticulate, dorsal median surface of mesonotum alveolate. Space between the propodeal spines and entire petiole and postpetiole reticulate. Petiolar node with some fine rugae superimposed on the reticulum. Gaster lucid. Colour entirely yellowish-orange, appendages with same colour, without darker antennal club. Up to 2/3 of posterior portion of first gastral tergite dull orange-brown. Standing pilosity of head, mesosoma and gaster of medium size, transparent, with blunt tips.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Some specimens have stronger medial carinae on the clypeus, the head may be slightly darker than the mesosoma, the distal antennal club may be slightly darker than the rest of the funiculus, the femur may be darker, the gaster may be mainly brownish, with a more or less extended yellow orange spot on the anteriormost portion of the first gastral tergite. The sculpture may be coarser in general, the frons may be entirely reticulate.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Description of gyne.&lt;/b&gt; Measurements and indices (n=4): HL 0.74&plusmn;0.03 (0.73&ndash;0.79), HW 0.69&plusmn;0.03 (0.66&ndash; 0.73), SL 0.52&plusmn;0.02 (0.50&ndash;0.54), ED 0.21&plusmn;0.01 (0.19&ndash;0.22), MW 0.77&plusmn;0.02 (0.75&ndash;0.80), PSL 0.10&plusmn;0.01 (0.09&ndash;0.11), PEL 0.30&plusmn;0.01 (0.29&ndash;0.32), PEW 0.23&plusmn;0.01 (0.22&ndash;0.25), PHD 0.11&plusmn;0.01 (0.10&ndash;0.11), PPL 0.23&plusmn;0.01 (0.22&ndash;0.24), PPW 0.31&plusmn;0.01 (0.30&ndash;0.31), ML 1.19&plusmn;0.04 (1.15&ndash;1.24), PEH 0.30&plusmn;0.01 (0.28&ndash;0.31), HS 0.72&plusmn;0.03 (0.69&ndash;0.76), SL/HS 0.72.0&plusmn;0.01 (0.71&ndash;0.73), ED/HS 0.29&plusmn;0.01 (0.26&ndash;0.30), HW/HL 0.93&plusmn;0.01 (0.92&ndash;0.94), MW/ML 0.65&plusmn;0.01 (0.63&ndash;0.66), PSL/ML 0.08&plusmn;0.01 (0.07&ndash;0.09), PEH/PEL 0.97&plusmn;0.06 (0.87&ndash;1.03), PEW/PEL 0.77&plusmn;0.04 (0.72&ndash;0.82), PHD/PEW 0.34&plusmn;0.02 (0.32&ndash;0.36), PPL/PPW 0.74&plusmn;0.03 (0.70&ndash;0.76), PEW/PPW 0.76&plusmn;0.02 (0.75&ndash;0.79), PEL/ML 0.28&plusmn;0.04 (0.25&ndash;0.34).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Head relatively large with weakly convex and convergent genae, rounded vertexal corners and slightly convex anterior clypeus margin. Compound eyes relatively small. Mesosoma short, relatively high and robust, with straight dorsal margin, and distinct pronotal corners. Scutellum broader than long, posterior margin of it semicircular. Propodeal spines short, broadly attached and triangular, with pointed tips, posteriorly oriented. In dorsal view the spines are linear and parallel-sided. Petiole subsessile, with general shape as described for workers. Postpetiole shaped as in workers.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Mandibles faintly longitudinally striate, sublucid. Frontal triangle unsculptured and lucid. Clypeus medially lucid, without a coarse median carina, but with some paramedian carinae, with lucid interstices. Scapes faintly striate, or granulate. Frons striate to carinate, with unsculptured and lucid interstices. Other parts of head dorsum more strongly longitudinally carinate to irregularly rugose, with lucid interstices. Anterior surface of pronotum reticulate, other parts broad-meshed rugose with shining interstices. Mesonotal dorsum with a few longitudinal, nearly invisible carinae, mainly shining. Scutellum lucid, laterad with 2&ndash;3 very fine striae on each side. Dorsum of propodeum transversely and diffusely carinate, between and below the spines transversely reticulo-striate. Anepisternum and other lateral parts of mesosoma irregularly and shallowly rugo-striate, with shining interstices. Petiole and postpetiole dorsally rugoreticulate, ventrally reticulate, subopaque. Bicoloured, mainly orange with equally coloured or paler appendages, without darker antennal clubs. Genae, dorsum of head, two lateral small spots of mesonotum, 50% of scutellum, and 2/3 of first gastral tergite darker coloured, testaceus to brownish. Standing pilosity as described in workers.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The male is unknown.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Differential diagnosis.&lt;/b&gt; Workers of &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax alienus&lt;/i&gt; show the typical &lt;i&gt;nylanderi / parvulus&lt;/i&gt; -like petiolar shape (Fig. 6 &amp; 7), but differ from the latter in lacking a metanotal impression or groove. The colour of &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; is uniformly light yellow-orange, with only a slightly darker broad band on the first gastral tergite. Other Italian &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax&lt;/i&gt; are dark brown to black, or have distinctly darker antennal clubs, or if yellow, they have a shining surface.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Other species that are similar to &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax alienus&lt;/i&gt; and lack a metanotal groove are &lt;i&gt;T. tianshanicus&lt;/i&gt; (Tarbinsky 1976), &lt;i&gt;T. satunini&lt;/i&gt; (Ruzsky, 1902), an unidentified species from Morocco, &lt;i&gt;T. luteus&lt;/i&gt; (Forel 1874), &lt;i&gt;T. rabaudi&lt;/i&gt; (Bondroit, 1918), and &lt;i&gt;T. italicus&lt;/i&gt; (Consani &amp; Zangheri, 1952). The central Asian &lt;i&gt;T. tianshanicus&lt;/i&gt; has longer scapes, broader head, and shorter propodeal spines than &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt;. The head dorsum of &lt;i&gt;T. tianshanicus&lt;/i&gt; is more shining. In addition, &lt;i&gt;T. tianshanicus&lt;/i&gt; sometimes has a faint metanotal depression. Other characters are similar, thus &lt;i&gt;T. tianshanicus&lt;/i&gt; is morphologically the closest to &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax satunini&lt;/i&gt; (Fig. 4 &amp; 5), a species from southern to eastern Turkey and Caucasus, is also morphologically similar, but differs in the following characters: narrower and shining, nearly unsculptured head; yellow colour without darker gaster, and often distinctly shorter propodeal spines (PSL/ML &lt;0.07).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; An unidentified &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax&lt;/i&gt; species from Morocco (PCAS sp. 27 &ldquo; Morocco &rdquo;) has distinctly longer scapes, a lower, narrower petiole, and a faint metanotal depression. Additionally, the petiole is truncated and pedunculate. Sculpture and colour are similar to &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Another lighter coloured species with slightly convex or straight mesosomal dorsum is &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax luteus s.l.,&lt;/i&gt; which is distinguishable from &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; by longer propodeal spines, broader head, longer scapes, and the distinctly lower, pedunculate and narrower petiole. Sculpture characters are similar to &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt;, but in &lt;i&gt;T. luteus&lt;/i&gt; the whole gaster is yellowish coloured. The taxonomic situation of &lt;i&gt;T. luteus&lt;/i&gt; is not clear yet; one can split the taxon into two or more species.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The two arboreal species &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax rabaudi&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;T. italicus&lt;/i&gt; (Fig. 10 &amp; 11) are similar in the shape of petiole and mesosoma, and might be confused with &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt;. However, &lt;i&gt;T. rabaudi&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;T. italicus&lt;/i&gt; differ morphometrically in the length of propodeal spines, and the petioles of both species are distinctly lower and more triangular. The petiolar node apex is more rounded in lateral view, with a straight anterior face. The sculpture of head is more heavily reticulate in both species.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Species that have a metanotal groove but otherwise resemble &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax alienus&lt;/i&gt; are &lt;i&gt;T. lichtensteini&lt;/i&gt; (Bondroit, 1918), &lt;i&gt;T. nylanderi&lt;/i&gt; (Foerster, 1850), &lt;i&gt;T. crassispinus&lt;/i&gt; (Karawajev, 1926), &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt;, (Schenck 1850) and &lt;i&gt;T. flavicornis (&lt;/i&gt; Emery 1870).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax lichtensteini&lt;/i&gt; (Fig. 8 &amp; 9) workers can easily be distinguished from &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; by their very long and curved propodeal spines, the pedunculate petiole with a more rounded or truncated node, the distinct metanotal groove, and the denser sculpture of the head and other parts of the body. Also &lt;i&gt;T. lichtensteini&lt;/i&gt; is smaller. Sometimes the colour is identical to &lt;i&gt;T. alienus,&lt;/i&gt; but it is usually darker.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax nylanderi&lt;/i&gt; can be distinguished from &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; by its longer propodeal spines and more widely separated frontal carinae. &lt;i&gt;T. nylanderi&lt;/i&gt; (Fig. 6 &amp; 7) and &lt;i&gt;T. crassispinus&lt;/i&gt; workers are darker, with brownish head and mainly dark brown gaster. They can be distinguished from &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; by their distinct metanotal groove, more truncated petiolar node, and evident fine and dense parallel striae on the frons. Sometimes the metanotal groove is less visible or rarely absent in &lt;i&gt;T. lichtensteini, T. nylanderi,&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;T. crassispinus&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax parvulus&lt;/i&gt; has distinctly longer propodeal spines, a deep metanotal groove, a smaller head, and gradually narrower frontal carinae. In addition, &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt; has a less coarse, mainly reticulate sculpture, and a uniform pale yellow colour. &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt; is rarely found in south Italy.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax flavicornis&lt;/i&gt; is more common, but is easily differentiated by its 11-jointed antenna, coarser head sculpture, longer propodeal spines, and lower petiole.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; The gynes of &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax alienus&lt;/i&gt; are morphologically similar to &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt; or a pale &lt;i&gt;T. nylanderi&lt;/i&gt; (Fig. 30 &amp; 31). To distinguish gynes of &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; from other &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax&lt;/i&gt; species is more difficult than in workers.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;T. anodontoides&lt;/i&gt; 0.63&plusmn;0.03 0.79&plusmn;0.02 35&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;(Dlussky &amp; Zabe- (0.57&ndash;0.70) (0.76&ndash;0.82)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;lin, 1985)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;T. nigriceps&lt;/i&gt; (Mayr, 0.77&plusmn;0.02 20&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;1855) (0.72&ndash;0.81)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; Compared to &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax alienus&lt;/i&gt;, gynes of &lt;i&gt;T. tianshanicus&lt;/i&gt; are distinctly smaller, have longer scapes, a narrower head and petiole, a different petiole shape, and a darker colour. &lt;i&gt;T. satunini&lt;/i&gt; differs in the shorter propodeal spines, in shorter and narrower head, and narrower mesosoma, but sculpture and colour are equal. In &lt;i&gt;T. luteus&lt;/i&gt; the scapes and propodeal spines are longer, and the petiole is pedunculate and distinctly lower. Nearly the whole mesonotum and scutellum is strongly longitudinally rugose, whereas in &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; the surface is mainly unsculptured and shiny. In southern Italy, &lt;i&gt;T. luteus s.l&lt;/i&gt;. is brownish and strongly sculptured. Gynes of &lt;i&gt;T. rabaudi&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;T. italicus&lt;/i&gt; have tooth-like propodeal spines and a distinctly lower petiole. In both species the head is densely reticulate. Gynes of &lt;i&gt;T. lichtensteini&lt;/i&gt; are dark ferrugineous to brown, distinctly smaller, with larger eyes, and longer propodeal spines. &lt;i&gt;T. nylanderi&lt;/i&gt; has a narrower petiole in comparison with the postpetiole, darker head, and the same striation of frons as described in workers. &lt;i&gt;T. crassispinus&lt;/i&gt; has distinctly longer propodeal spines. Sculpture and colour are similar to &lt;i&gt;T. nylanderi&lt;/i&gt;, but &lt;i&gt;T. crassispinus&lt;/i&gt; is generally darker than &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;T. nylanderi&lt;/i&gt;. The gyne of &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt; has a smaller head, larger eyes, longer propodeal spines, and a narrower petiole in comparison with the postpetiole. The colour of &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt; is sometimes uniformly yellowish-testaceous including the gaster, in contrast to the more ferrugineous gynes of &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt;, but usually &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt; has brownish coloured gynes. &lt;i&gt;T. parvulus&lt;/i&gt; also has a more pedunculate petiole than &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt;, yet they are very similar and most safely distinguished by morphometric characters.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;T. affinis&lt;/i&gt; (Mayr, 1855)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;T. nigriceps&lt;/i&gt; (Mayr, 1855)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;T. anodontoides&lt;/i&gt; (Dlussky &amp; Zabelin, 1985)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;T. tuberum&lt;/i&gt; (Fabricius, 1775) 0.69&plusmn;0.02&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;(0.63&ndash;72)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;continued.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Comments.&lt;/b&gt; Some of the &lt;i&gt;Temnothorax alienus&lt;/i&gt; nests were collected in a forest with &lt;i&gt;Quercus&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Laurus&lt;/i&gt; trees, at the base of a hill. The ground was covered with rocks and ivy. Nests were located in dead sticks on the ground. A second locality where specimens were collected had sparse vegetation with scattered &lt;i&gt;Castanea&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Corylus&lt;/i&gt; trees.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; An unpublished cytochrome oxidase (CO 1) analysis (Pusch &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;.) supports the hypothesis that &lt;i&gt;T. alienus&lt;/i&gt; is not related to the &lt;i&gt;T. nylanderi / parvulus&lt;/i&gt; complex, but is phylogenetically closer to &lt;i&gt;T. unifaciatus&lt;/i&gt; or &lt;i&gt;T. luteus&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Schulz, Andreas, Heinze, Jürgen &amp; Pusch, Katja, 2007, Description of two new Te m n o t h o r a x species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Italy, pp. 1-14 in Zootaxa 1471&lt;/i&gt; on pages 3-12, DOI: &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/176690"&gt;10.5281/zenodo.176690&lt;/a&gt

Description of two new Temnothorax species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Italy

We describe two species of the ant genus Temnothorax: T. alienus nov. spec. and T. saxatilis nov. spec. Both new species are endemic to middle and southern Italy. We characterize the two species and compare them to similar Temnothorax from Italy and the Western Palaearctic

Temnothorax saxatilis

Temnothorax saxatilis nov. spec. (Figs 12, 13, 23, 27, 32, 33) Holotype worker. ITALY, Abruzzi, Prov. L’Aquila, Gran Sasso, 6 km NE. Castel del Monte, 1600m.a.s.l. 12.iv. 1994, Leg. M. Sanetra [SMNK]. Paratypes. 8 workers and 1 gyne, same data as holotype [SMNG, MHNG, MCSN, PCAS]. Etymology. The Latin word means “between the rocks,” a tribute to the name of the type locality, Gran Sasso. Description of worker. Measurements and indices [holotype] (n= 10): HL [0.637] 0.62 ± 0.02 (0.59–0.66), HW [0.532] 0.51 ± 0.02 (0.48–0.54), SL [0.428] 0.42 ± 0.02 (0.38–0.43), FCD [0.214] 0.21 ± 0.01 (0.20–0.22), ML [0.822] 0.77 ± 0.03 (0.72–0.82), MW [0.399] 0.37 ± 0.02 (0.35–0.40), PSL [0.081] 0.08 ± 0.01 (0.07–0.10), PEL [0.261] 0.25 ± 0.02 (0.23–0.28), PEW [0.176] 0.16 ± 0.01 (0.14–0.18), PEH [0.228] 0.21 ± 0.01 (0.19– 0.23), PPW [0.228] 0.21 ± 0.01 (0.20–0.23), HS 0.56 ± 0.02 (0.53–0.59), HW/HL 0.82 ± 0.02 (0.78–0.84), SL/ HS 0.74 ± 0.02 (0.67–0.77), FCD/HS 0.37 ± 0.01 (0.35–0.39), MW/ML 0.46 ± 0.01 (0.48–0.50), PSL/ML 0.11 ± 0.01 (0.09–0.12), PEH/PEL 0.84 ± 0.05 (0.76–0.90), PEW/PEL 0.64 ± 0.04 (0.59–0.68), PEW/PPW 0.75 ± 0.03 (0.71–0.79). Head slender, narrower anterior to eyes than posteriorly, vertexal corners evenly rounded, posterior vertexal margin medially slightly concave. Anterior margin of clypeus slightly convex, medially with a shallow depression or straight. Frontal carinae short, nearly parallel-sided. Scapes short. Mesosoma relatively narrow, in lateral view moderately high, with the dorsal margin mainly straight, or slightly convex. Propodeal spines short, broadly attached, nearly triangular, in dorsal view nearly linear and only slightly divergent distally, with rounded tips. Petiole pedunculate, average high and broad, in lateral view with a broadly rounded node. Anterodorsal petiolar node weakly angulate, anterior petiolar face concave. In dorsal view the node is evenly rounded, without angles or a crest. In dorsal view the postpetiole is subrectangular, slightly broader anteriorly than posteriorly. Mandibles partially rugoreticulate, lucid. Frontal triangle faintly granulate, lateral parts of clypeus irregularly striate to rugoreticulate, medially faintly granulate, with one superimposed shallow carina, surface subopaque. Frons reticulate with some striae, sublucid. Genae rugoreticulate, around the eyes, and whole vertex mainly reticulate. Larger specimens more rugoreticulate. Ventral surface of head faintly reticulate, medially lucid. Entire mesosoma densely reticulate, with a few superimposed rugulae on dorsum and pronotum. Propodeum between the propodeal spines and postpetiole reticulate, petiolar dorsum rugoreticulate, dorsal face of propodeum reticulate. Gaster lucid. Colour dark ferrugineus to brown; head darker than gaster and appendages. Antennal clubs dark brown. Standing pilosity of head, mesosoma and gaster sparse, transparent, with blunt tips. Description of gyne. Measurements and indices (n= 1): HL 0.74, HW 0.67, SL 0.50, FCD 0.26, ED 0.20, ML 1.33, MW 0.76, PSL 0.05, PEL 0.31, PEW 0.23, PEH 0.28, PPL 0.20, PPW 0.30, HS 0.72, HW/HL 0.94, SL/HS 0.70, FCD/HS 0.36, ED/HS 0.28, MW/ML 0.57, PSL/ML 0.04, PEH/PEL 0.89, PEW/PEL 0.73, PPL/ PPW 0.68, PEW/PPW 0.76. Head in relation to the mesosoma large and broad, especially behind the eyes. Genae weakly convex and convergent. Behind the eyes the margins are convex, vertexal margin broadly rounded, medially nearly linear. Anterior margin of clypeus slightly convex, medially with a shallow depression. Frontal triangle negligibly impressed. Eyes very small. Frontal carinae short and widely separated. Scapes short. Mesosoma in lateral view flat. Scutellum distinctly broader than long, posterior margin straight. Propodeal spines very short, dentiform. Petiole pedunculate, average high, but broad, node with a truncated and rounded apex. Anterior-dorsal margin is slightly concave in profile. Subpetiolar process inconspicuous, nearly triangular. In dorsal view with narrow peduncle, strongly divergent, from midlength the sides are nearly parallel. The node apex has rounded, weak lateral corners, in dorsocaudal view. Postpetiole of same shape as in workers. Mandibles longitudinally striate, lucid. Frontal triangle lucid, clypeus carinate. A small strip of frons nearly unsculptured, lucid, bordered by longitudinal carinae, which are connected by shallow transverse strigae. Each frontal carina fades to less stronger carinae posteriorly. Posterior part of frons reticulo-striate. Genae, surface around the eyes and vertex more strongly rugose, with reticulate interstices. Ventral surface of head reticulo-striate. Lateral parts of mesosoma rugose to carinate with scattered reticulate interstices. Pronotum rugose, mesonotum irregularly and densely carinate with some anastomoses, anterior surface unsculptured medially. Scutellum lucid medially, lateral surface striate. Dorsum of propodeum and surface between the spines transversely carinate. Petiole rugoreticulate, with transverse strigae on dorsum, dorsal petiolar surface and entire postpetiole irregularly reticulate. Dark brown, unicoloured, with the gaster somewhat lighter testaceus to brown. Appendages orange-brown, darker scapes, antennal clubs, and femora. Differential diagnosis. The workers of T. saxatilis are distinguishable from most Italian Temnothorax by the brown colour in combination with a conspicuously truncated and robust petiole. In comparison to T. saxatilis, T. nigriceps (Mayr, 1855) (Fig. 14, 15, 24) has longer scapes and is usually bicoloured with ferruginous mesosoma and waist and contrastingly darker head and gaster. Additionally, the sculpture is much rougher and more visible especially on the head and mesosoma. Workers of T. tuberum (Fabricius, 1775) (Fig. 16, 17, 25) always have a distinctly lighter mesosoma and head, and also stronger sculpture on dorsal head surface, than in T. saxatilis. Other Mediterranean dark coloured Temnothorax species are T. laestrygon (Santschi, 1931), T. niger (Forel, 1894) and the usually lighter, but sometimes equally dark coloured T. exilis (Emery, 1869). The petiole of all three species is lower, triangular, and with a more or less distinct apical crest in lateral view. Furthermore, these species occur only at lower elevations with Mediterranean climate. The arboreal species T. affinis (Mayr, 1855) (Fig. 20 & 21) is similar, when specimens are darker than usual, but they differ by distinctly longer propodeal spines. Very rarely specimens of T. affinis may have shorter spines in combination with darker reddish brown colour. In such cases, these specimens have a more triangular petiolar node and a more evenly reticulate head, without superimposed rugae. A morphologically similar species outside Italy is the tentatively determined T. anodontoides (Dlussky & Zabelin, 1985) (Fig. 18 & 19) from Transcaucasia and a probably isolated population on high mountains of southern Greece. Temnothorax anodontoides from Greece can be distinguished from T. saxatilis by longer scapes, shorter propodeal spines, lower waist (Table 3) dark brown to nearly black colour, coarser rugose sculpture, and truncated, weakly rounded dorsum/apex of petiolar node. For comparison only one gyne of T. saxatilis is available. The gyne of T. nigriceps has longer propodeal spines, more triangular petiolar node in lateral view, and more coarsely sculptured head and mesosoma. Temnothorax tuberum is a morphologically variable species, but has a smaller head and somewhat shorter propodeal spines. Furthermore, in T. tuberum, the mesosoma and especially the scutellum is more densely rugose, and the legs are evenly yellowish, whereas the legs of T. saxatilis are somewhat bicoloured, mostly brown with ferrugineous patches. The gyne of T. affinis (Fig. 36 & 37) is normally lighter coloured than in T. saxatilis, but darker specimens occur. The propodeal spines are usually longer and the petiole is lower in profile. Head sculpture of T. affinis (Fig. 37) is more reticulate and less rugulose, than in T. saxatilis. The brownish to black gynes of T. exilis, T. laestrygon and T. niger are distinctive in their low petiole with a triangular and acute petiolar node in profile. The morphometric differentiation of gynes of T. saxatilis and T. anodontoides from Greece is difficult; only one gyne each is available for comparison. Temnothorax anodontoides has a distinctly lower and truncated petiolar node in profile. In addition, in this species the sculpture is mainly rugose and coarser.Published as part of Schulz, Andreas, Heinze, Jürgen & Pusch, Katja, 2007, Description of two new Te m n o t h o r a x species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Italy, pp. 1-14 in Zootaxa 1471 on pages 12-13, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17669

Nicht-suizidales selbstverletzendes Verhalten (NSSV) von Schülerinnen und Schülern der 9. Klasse im Kreis Marburg-Biedenkopf unter besonderer Beachtung der Resilienz

Nicht-suizidales selbstverletzendes Verhalten (NSSV) erfuhr im letzten Jahrzehnt eine steigende mediale Aufmerksamkeit (Whitlock 2009). In der fünften Fassung des Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) wurde NSSV unter dem Namen „nicht-suizidale Selbstverletzung“ (APA 2015) erstmalig als eigene Entität aufgenommen (non-suicidal self-injury disorder; APA 2013). Gründe für das Auftreten von NSSV und Zusammenhänge mit Belastungsfaktoren (z. B. traumatische Lebensereignisse, Depression) konnten in Studien aufgezeigt werden (Garrison et al. 1993; Herpertz 1995; Skegg 2005; Jacobson & Gould 2007; Csorba et al. 2009; Plener 2009). Eine geringere Anzahl an Studien untersuchte bisher Schutzfaktoren, die NSSV unwahrscheinlicher machen (Klonsky & Glenn 2008). In dieser Studie wird neben der Häufigkeit und den Charakteristika von NSSV die Resilienz als Schutzfaktor untersucht. Im Rahmen der Studie füllten 517 der 709 informierten Neuntklässler der sechs teilnehmenden Schulen aus dem Kreis Marburg-Biedenkopf (drei Gesamtschulen, zwei Gymnasien, eine Mittelpunktschule) den Fragebogen freiwillig aus. Die Auswertung erfolgte anonym, es wurden keine Angaben zu Name, Geburtsdatum und Adresse erhoben. Selbstverletzende Verhaltensweisen wurden mithilfe der deutschen Übersetzung (Fliege et al. 2006) des SHBQ (Self-Harm Behaviour Questionnaire, Gutierrez et al. 2001) und des MOUSI (modifiziertes Ottawa/Ulm Selbstverletzungsinventar; Plener 2009), die Resilienz mithilfe der deutschen Übersetzung (Schumacher et al. 2005) der Resilience-Scale-25 (Wagnild & Young 1993) und depressive Symptome mithilfe der Allgemeinen Depressionsskala (ADS; Hautzinger & Bailer 1993) erhoben. Des Weiteren wurden das Alter, die Schulform und das Geschlecht erfasst. In der Stichprobe gaben 116 (22.7%) Teilnehmer an, sich mindestens einmal in ihrem Leben selbst verletzt zu haben, davon berichteten 10.1% der Teilnehmer von vier und häufigeren selbstverletzenden Handlungen. Das Durchschnittsalter bei der ersten selbstverletzenden Handlung lag bei 13.00 (SD: 1,75) Jahren. Teilnehmerinnen wiesen eine höhere Lebenszeitprävalenz (χ²=23.56, p<.001), Sechs-Monats-Prävalenz (χ²=35.42, p<.001) und Ein-Monats-Prävalenz (χ²=15.49, p=.001) für NSSV auf. Am häufigsten wurden die Arme durch das Zufügen von Schnittwunden verletzt. Jugendliche mit mindestens einer selbstverletzenden Handlung zeigten niedrigere Resilienzwerte als Jugendliche, die sich noch nie selbst verletzten (126.45 vs. 140.60; t=7.93, p<.001). Jugendliche mit einem niedrigeren Resilienzwert verletzen sich häufiger selbst als Jugendliche mit hohen Resilienzwerten (43.4% vs. 10.7%). Weiterhin konnte ein Zusammenhang zwischen NSSV und einem hohen Depressionswert (12.17 vs. 27.57, t=-14.73, p<.001) festgestellt werden. NSSV stellt unter Jugendlichen ein weit verbreitetes Phänomen dar. Es tritt gehäuft mit höheren Depressions- und niedrigeren Resilienzwerten auf. Es gilt zu beachten, dass es sich um eine Querschnittsstudie handelt, die keine Aussage über einen kausalen Zusammenhang und das zeitliche Auftreten der erhobenen Variablen treffen kann. In zukünftigen Studien und in der Prävention sollte der Zusammenhang von NSSV und Resilienz deutlichere Berücksichtigung finden

Distribution and genetic divergence of two parapatric sibling ant species in Central Europe

The two sibling ant species Temnothorax nylanderi and Temnothorax crassispinus are widely distributed throughout deciduous forests in Europe. Their resemblance in morphology and similar ecological requirements suggest that they evolved from the same ancestral species in different glacial refugia and re-immigrated into Central Europe after the last ice age. Here, we show that the two species are parapatrically distributed in south-eastern Germany and hybridize along a narrow contact zone close to the continental divide. Phylogeographical data based on the mitochondrial genes cytochrome oxidase subunit I and cytochrome b suggest that the dominant haplotypes for T. nylanderi and T. crassispinus might have diverged already 1.5–2 Mya. Intraspecific variability is extremely low in both species, which might be explained by severe bottlenecks during rapid postglacial expansion into Central Europe

Nestmate recognition and intraspecific chemical and genetic variation in Temnothorax ants

The evolutionary stability of social cooperation requires altruistic acts to be directed mainly towards related individuals. To maintain significant intragroup relatedness, social insects have evolved sophisticated recognition systems. We compared nestmate recognition abilities of three native European species of the ant genus Temnothorax in relation to variation in cuticular chemicals and intraspecific genetic diversity. Colony take-over and fusions are common in two sibling species T. nylanderi and T. crassispinus, but rare in T. unifasciatus, suggesting relatively inefficient nestmate recognition in the former species. Temnothorax nylanderi and T. crassispinus discriminated less effectively between nestmates and non-nestmates than T. unifasciatus. While chemical profiles of different colonies strongly overlapped in T. crassispinus and T. nylanderi, 97% of all T. unifasciatus samples were, in a discriminant analysis, correctly assigned to their respective colony. Chemical distances between colonies correlated with aggression levels in T. unifasciatus, but not in the other two species. Finally, preliminary genetic results indicated that haplotype divergence within T. nylanderi and T. crassispinus is remarkably low, whereas T. unifasciatus and other congeners are genetically more variable. In theory, loss of genetic variation, including depletion at loci involved in the production of cuticular hydrocarbons, could decrease colony recognition efficiency. We suggest that this might be the case in T. nylanderi and T. crassispinus, leading to colony fusions in the field. Despite their different life histories, these native species show similarities to invasive ants where genetic bottlenecks arising from founder effects are thought to result in a loss of colony boundaries