Insect morphometry is reproducible under average investigation standards.

Morphometric research is being applied to a growing number and variety of organisms. Discoveries achieved via morphometric approaches are often considered highly transferable, in contrast to the tacit and idiosyncratic interpretation of discrete character states. The reliability of morphometric workflows in insect systematics has never been a subject of focused research, but such studies are sorely needed. In this paper, we assess the reproducibility of morphometric studies of ants where the mode of data collection is a shared routine.We compared datasets generated by eleven independent gaugers, that is, collaborators, who measured 21 continuous morphometric traits on the same pool of individuals according to the same protocol. The gaugers possessed a wide range of morphometric skills, had varying expertise among insect groups, and differed in their facility with measuring equipment. We used intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) to calculate repeatability and reproducibility values (i.e., intra- and intergauger agreements), and we performed a multivariate permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) using the Morosita index of dissimilarity with 9,999 iterations.The calculated average measure of intraclass correlation coefficients of different gaugers ranged from R = 0.784 to R = 0.9897 and a significant correlation was found between the repeatability and the morphometric skills of gaugers (p = 0.016). There was no significant association with the magnification of the equipment in the case of these rather small ants. The intergauger agreement, that is the reproducibility, varied between R = 0.872 and R = 0.471 (mean R = 0.690), but all gaugers arrived at the same two-species conclusion. A PERMANOVA test revealed no significant gauger effect on species identity (R 2 = 0.69, p = 0.58).Our findings show that morphometric studies are reproducible when observers follow the standard protocol; hence, morphometric findings are widely transferable and will remain a valuable data source for alpha taxonomy.

Biosynthesis and function of simple amides in Xenorhabdus doucetiae.

Xenorhabdus doucetiae, the bacterial symbiont of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema diaprepesi produces several different fatty acid amides. Their biosynthesis has been studied using a combination of analysis of gene deletions and promoter exchanges in X. doucetiae and heterologous expression of candidate genes in E. coli. While a decarboxylase is required for the formation of all observed phenylethylamides and tryptamides, the acyltransferase XrdE encoded in the xenorhabdin biosynthesis gene cluster is responsible for the formation of short chain acyl amides. Additionally, new, long-chain and cytotoxic acyl amides were identified in X. doucetiae infected insects and when X. doucetiae was grown in Galleria Instant Broth (GIB). When the bioactivity of selected amides was tested, a quorum sensing modulating activity was observed for the short chain acyl amides against the two different quorum sensing systems from Chromobacterium and Janthinobacterium.

Escape to the high canopy-thermal deficiency causes niche expansion in a forest-floor ant.

The small formicoxenine ant Temnothorax saxonicus was known from about 40 localities in Central Europe nesting in anorganic substrates on floor of xerothermous forests whereas investigations of 198 tree canopies in 19 forest sites of the same region provided no indication for arboreal nesting or foraging. We present the first evidence for canopy-nesting populations of T. saxonicus on old Quercus trees in 3 sites having maximum calibrated topsoil temperatures of 17.9 ± 0.3 °C which were significantly (P < 0.007) lower than 22.8 ± 2.0 °C measured in 5 sites with ground-nesting populations. The thermal deficit on forest floor inhibits brood development in ground nests and caused a moving to canopy were maximum calibrated temperatures of the, now wooden, substrates are at least 26.1 °C for the whole canopy and 30.8 °C in more sun-exposed spots. T. saxonicus competed here successfully with the obligatory canopy ants T. affinis and T. corticalis. The distributional data of this rope-climbing study support former results that highest nest densities of small arboreal ants occur in temperate climate over the entire canopy mantle of single trees situated in open land or in park-like environments but occur in the top of the canopy in tree stands with high degree of canopy closure.

Beyond mad, bad and sad: a case for considering community mental health and the means to assess it.

Where non-western communities are exposed to economic development and modernization, negative psychosocial outcomes have been clearly demonstrated. This paper begins by noting the manner in which mental health is commonly construed by health professionals in the South Pacific, argues for a change in perspective, and justifies the use of a less clinically-oriented social-process vitamin model to audit mental health outcomes. A framework suitable for use with tightly knit, culturally homogeneous communities is proposed followed by an outline of how relevant psychosocial characteristics within the environment might be audited to provide an assessment of community mental health.