A taxonomic revision of the genus Megalostomis Chevrolat, 1836 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cryptocephalinae: Clytrini: Megalostomina) is provided, including new data on geographic ranges. Two new species and 34 new synonymies are proposed within the genus Megalostomis, leaving 42 valid species in the genus. A checklist of the species of Megalostomis is provided, with information on host plants,...

Morphological variation in qualitative and quantitative features is compared among species of Aurelia defined a priori using molecular criteria. Macromorphological features were more numerous than previously implied (28 cf. 17), most were variable (26 of 28), and all species were morphologically distinguishable using univariate, multivariate and phylogenetic statistics. However, due to discrepa...

Here we present a complete revision of the species of Baconia. Up until now there have been 27 species assigned to the genus (Mazur, 2011), in two subgenera (Binhister Cooman and Baconia s. str.), with species in the Neotropical, Nearctic, Palaearctic, and Oriental regions. We recognize all these species as valid and correctly assigned to the genus, and redescribe all of them. We synonymize Bin...

The pelidnotine scarabs (Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Rutelini) are a speciose, paraphyletic assemblage of beetles that includes spectacular metallic species ("jewel scarabs") as well as species that are ecologically important as herbivores, pollinators, and bioindicators. These beetles suffer from a complicated nomenclatural history, due primarily to 20th century taxonomic and nomenclatural errors...

Microorganisms play a major role in the plant-soil relationship, particularly in the rhizosphere, i.e. the interface between root and soil. Rhizosphere is strongly influenced by the root, through its productions (rhizodeposition) and its respiration, as well as uptake of ions and minerals. In this environment, plant beneficial microorganisms are of peculiar importance: they stimulate plant grow...

To determine the optimal conditions for mutagenesis of Hydrangea macrophylla (Thunb.) Ser. and Hydrangea paniculata Siebold, cold-treated and untreated seed from representative cultivars were exposed to 0.5%, 2.5%, and 5.0% ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS). Most untreated H. macrophylla seed exposed to 2.5% and 5.0% EMS had substantially lower germination percentages. H. paniculata seed germinatio...

The advantages of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) as vertebrate indicators of environmental change is increasingly recognized, and their use for this purpose is becoming more common. However, herpetofauna consists of a broad range of species with very diverse natural histories, making the design of a strategy for sampling entire assemblages challenging. We developed a hierarchical, 4-tie...

Many cephalopods exhibit remarkable dermal iridescence, a component of their complex, dynamic camouflage and communication. In the species Euprymna scolopes, the light-organ iridescence is static and is due to reflectin protein-based platelets assembled into lamellar thin-film reflectors called iridosomes, contained within iridescent cells called iridocytes. Squid in the family Loliginidae appe...