Rhyparida foaensis (Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007), comb. n. (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) and implications for the colonization of New Caledonia

The study of external morphology of the New Caledonian leaf beetle Dematochroma foaensis Jolivet, Verma & Mille (Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae, Colaspoidini) substantiates its new combination into the genus Rhyparida Baly (Chrysomelidae, Eumolpinae, Nodinini). The species is redescribed here to highlight characters important for suprageneric diagnosis. This is the second species of Nodinini found in New Caledonia, otherwise rich in species of Colaspoidini, raising questions about the paucity of Rhyparida and this tribe in New Caledonian fauna, when they are dominant in surrounding archipelagoes, and very rich in potential source areas such as Australia and New Guinea. Some alternative explanations for this pattern are advanced, serving as alternative hypotheses until our knowledge on the ecology of these species improves or supported phylogenetic scenarios become available for this group.This study received the support of a travel grant from the Committee of Research and Exploration (Contract No. 8380-07, National Geographic Society) and from the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund (Linnean Society of London).Peer reviewe

New Distribution Records and Biogeography of Calligrapha Species (Leaf Beetles), in North America (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae)

The study of a large number of collection specimens from the US National Museum of Natural History belonging to the genus Calligrapha Chevrolat (Chrysomelidae) from the Nearctic region has provided with one new province record and one new species record for Canada and 63 new US State records for a total of 20 taxa. These new records usually correspond to adjacent areas to already identified ranges of distribution, expanding considerably the known geographical boundaries of the species studied. The zoogeography of the genus Calligrapha in North America is discussed based on the updated information on the distribution of the genus

New Distribution Records and Biogeography of Calligrapha Species (Leaf Beetles), in North America (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae)

The study of a large number of collection specimens from the US National Museum of Natural History belonging to the genus Calligrapha Chevrolat (Chrysomelidae) from the Nearctic region has provided with one new province record and one new species record for Canada and 63 new US State records for a total of 20 taxa. These new records usually correspond to adjacent areas to already identified ranges of distribution, expanding considerably the known geographical boundaries of the species studied. The zoogeography of the genus Calligrapha in North America is discussed based on the updated information on the distribution of the genus

Nonrandom patterns of genetic admixture expose the complex historical hybrid origin of unisexual leaf beetle species in the genus Calligrapha

Many unisexual animal lineages supposedly arose from hybridization. However, support for their putative hybrid origins mostly comes from indirect methodologies, which are rarely confirmatory. Here we provide compelling data indicating that tetraploid unisexual Calligrapha are true genetic mosaics obtained via analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and allelic variation and coalescence times for three single-copy nuclear genes (CPS, HARS, and Wg) in five of six unisexual Calligrapha and a representative sample of bisexual species. Nuclear allelic diversity in unisexuals consistently segregates in the gene pools of at least two but up to three divergent bisexual species, interpreted as putative parentals of interspecific hybridization crosses. Interestingly, their mtDNA diversity derives from an additional yet undiscovered older evolutionary lineage that is possibly the same for all independently originated unisexual species. One possibly extinct species transferred its mtDNA to several evolutionary lineages in a wave of hybridization events during the Pliocene, whereby descendant species retained a polymorphic mtDNA constitution. Recent hybridizations, in the Pleistocene and always involving females with the old introgressed mtDNA, seemingly occurred in the lineages leading to unisexual species, decoupling mtDNA introgression (and inferences derived from these data, such as timing and parentage) from subsequent acquisition of the new reproductive mode. These results illuminate an unexpected complexity in possible routes to animal unisexuality, with implications for the interpretation of ancient unisexuality. If the origin of unisexuality requires a mechanism where (1) hybridization is a necessary but insufficient condition and (2) multiple bouts of hybridization involving more than two divergent lineages are required, then the origins of several classical unisexual systems may have to be reassessed. © 2014 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CGL2008–00007/BOS, with participation of the European Regional Development Fund), including the Formación de Personal Investigador researcher training studentship to T.M. Pilot tests focusing on ITS2 sequences were funded by the EU Synthesys initiative (FP6 Programme, Integrated Infrastructure Initiative; GB-TAF-1840) at the Natural History Museum (London).Peer Reviewe

Winding up the molecular clock in the genus Carabus (Coleoptera: Carabidae): assessment of methodological decisions on rate and node age estimation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rates of molecular evolution are known to vary across taxa and among genes, and this requires rate calibration for each specific dataset based on external information. Calibration is sensitive to evolutionary model parameters, partitioning schemes and clock model. However, the way in which these and other analytical aspects affect both the rates and the resulting clade ages from calibrated phylogenies are not yet well understood. To investigate these aspects we have conducted calibration analyses for the genus <it>Carabus </it>(Coleoptera, Carabidae) on five mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA fragments with 7888 nt total length, testing different clock models and partitioning schemes to select the most suitable using Bayes Factors comparisons.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used these data to investigate the effect of ambiguous character and outgroup inclusion on both the rates of molecular evolution and the TMRCA of <it>Carabus</it>. We found considerable variation in rates of molecular evolution depending on the fragment studied (ranging from 5.02% in <it>cob </it>to 0.26% divergence/My in <it>LSU-A</it>), but also on analytical conditions. Alternative choices of clock model, partitioning scheme, treatment of ambiguous characters, and outgroup inclusion resulted in rate increments ranging from 28% (<it>HUWE1</it>) to 1000% (<it>LSU-B </it>and <it>ITS2</it>) and increments in the TMRCA of <it>Carabus </it>ranging from 8.4% (<it>cox1-A</it>) to 540% (<it>ITS2</it>). Results support an origin of the genus <it>Carabus </it>during the Oligocene in the Eurasian continent followed by a Miocene differentiation that originated all main extant lineages.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The combination of several genes is proposed as the best strategy to minimise both the idiosyncratic behaviors of individual markers and the effect of analytical aspects in rate and age estimations. Our results highlight the importance of estimating rates of molecular evolution for each specific dataset, selecting for optimal clock and partitioning models as well as other methodological issues potentially affecting rate estimation.</p

Taxonomic notes on New Caledonian Dematochroma samuelsoni Jolivet, Verma et Mille and D. difficilis (Heller) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae: Eumolpinae)

The study of specimens that are part of the Hungarian Natural History Museum helps fixing the identity and systematic placement of Dematochroma samuelsoni Jolivet, Verma et Mille, 2007, as closely allied to D. difficilis (Heller, 1916). Th e males of D. samuelsoni had been overlooked in the original description because of sexual dimorphism resulting precisely in the lack of the apomorphic character for the species in males. Th is situation is recognised here and the availability of male specimens is used to describe the penis of the species. With 3 figures

Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) de sa Dragonera

Abstract not availabl

Industrial process monitoring by means of recurrent neural networks and Self Organizing Maps

Industrial manufacturing plants often suffer from reliability problems during their day-to-day operations which have the potential for causing a great impact on the effectiveness and performance of the overall process and the sub-processes involved. Time-series forecasting of critical industrial signals presents itself as a way to reduce this impact by extracting knowledge regarding the internal dynamics of the process and advice any process deviations before it affects the productive process. In this paper, a novel industrial condition monitoring approach based on the combination of Self Organizing Maps for operating point codification and Recurrent Neural Networks for critical signal modeling is proposed. The combination of both methods presents a strong synergy, the information of the operating condition given by the interpretation of the maps helps the model to improve generalization, one of the drawbacks of recurrent networks, while assuring high accuracy and precision rates. Finally, the complete methodology, in terms of performance and effectiveness is validated experimentally with real data from a copper rod industrial plant.Postprint (published version