276 research outputs found
Auplopus charlesi Waichert & Rodriguez & Von Dohlen & Pitts 2012, sp. nov.
No full textAuplopus charlesi Waichert & Pitts, sp. nov. (Figs 1D, 5C–D) Diagnosis. This species can be recognized by the following unique combination of characters: the body integument is black with bluish-purple reflections, and the legs are orange (Figs 5C–D), except for fore coxa that is black with purplish reflections; the antenna is brown; the pubescence on the body is long and silver, and abundant on propodeum; the clypeus is convex and enlarged medially (Fig. 1D); the pronotum has the collar differentiated from the disc; the first metasomal segment is not carinate; the pygidium is well defined and bare; the dorsal face of hind tibia is not spinose; and the fore and hind wings are darkened with purple reflections. The male of this species is unknown. Description. Holotype, female. Body length 12.50 mm. Fore wing 9.20 mm; maximum wing width 2.50 mm. Coloration. Head black with shiny purple reflections; clypeus black; mandibular and maxillary palpi pale brown; mandible black from base to half of its length, pale brown apically; antenna dark brown; pronotum, mesosoma, and mesonotum black with bluish-purple reflections; scutellum black with bluish-purple reflections laterally, green centrally; postnotum black with bluish-purple reflections above transversal furrow; propodeum black with faint bluish-purple reflections; metasoma dark brown with faint bluish-purple reflections; wing subtranslucent with faint blue reflections; veins dark brown; fore coxa black with purple reflections, remainder of fore leg and all of mid and hind legs orange, apical tarsi dark brown. Head (Fig. 1D). Head wide; TFD 1.13 × FD; MID 0.60 × FD. Ocelli in nearly right triangle; lateral ocelli closer to each other than to compound eyes; POL 1.1 × OOL. Mandible wide, with long, sharpened apical teeth; pubescence on mandible short, abundant on first half of length. Clypeus long, semi-angulated, convex; anterior margin slightly enlarged medially; LC 0.55 × WC; clypeal projection not present medially; anterior margin polished, enlarged medially. Maxillary beard with few, thick, long setae. Antenna elongate; length of fourth segment 4.50 × its width; ratio of the first four antennal segments 13:5:21:19; WA3 1.90 × LA3; LA3 0.38 × UID. Mesosoma (Figs 5C–D). Short, whitish pubescence abundant on entire body, giving coarse appearance to specimen, pubescence more abundant on propodeum (Fig. 5C); punctuation inconspicuous. Pronotum not elongated, width 6.28 × length, posterior margin semi-angulated; pronotal collar inconspicuous. Notauli present on very beginning of mesonotum. Postnotum striated. Propodeum punctures inconspicuous under abundant setae; propodeal disc with long setae, more abundant on median and inferior corner. Wing long; length of first radial 2 cell 0.63 × distance from its origin to wing apex; third radial sector 1.25 × longer than second; 2m-cu vein bent, slightly curved, meeting third radial sector 0.30 × distance from base to apex of cell. Spines absent on anterior and posterior margins of front tibia; spines on mid tibia, sparse, short, sharpened; hind tibia dorsal teeth absent; tibial brush thin, complete. Metasoma. Metasoma polished, covered by short, abundant setae; pygidium well defined, bare, polished; terminal metasomal sternum with sparse, long setae; metasoma 1.31 × as long as mesosoma. Etymology. Named in honor of Samuel Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961), who was a well-known American author of hardboiled detective novels and short stories, and creator of the famous protagonist, Nick Charles. Variation. The purplish-blue reflections are brighter on some of the paratypes. Material examined. Holotype, ♀. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Pedernales, 26 km N Cabo Rojo, 18–06N, 71–38W, 730 m, wet deciduous forest, intercept trap, L. Masner et al., 19–25.VII.1990, CMNH –370,786. Paratypes: 3 ♀ with same data as holotype; 2 ♀, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Pedernales, 26 km N Cabo Rojo, 18–06N, 71–38W, 730 m, wet deciduous forest, intercept trap, L. Masner et al., 13–20.VII.1990, CMNH –369,979/ 368,202. Distribution. Dominican Republic. Host. Unknown. Remarks. Auplopus charlesi is morphologically similar to the Cuban species, A. aquilus Dreisbach. The two species differ in coloration of the clypeus and head, which is greenish in A. aquilus and black in A. charlesi. Also, A. charlesi has the hind tibia orange without purple reflections, which are present in A. aquilus. Lastly, the antenna in A. aquilus has orange on the ventral surface, whereas A. charlesi does not. The male of A. charlesi is unknown.Published as part of Waichert, Cecilia, Rodriguez, Juanita, Von Dohlen, Carol D. & Pitts, James P., 2012, Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic, pp. 1-47 in Zootaxa 3353 (1) on pages 11-12, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3353.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/525173
FIGURE 9. A–C in Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic
No full textFIGURE 9. A–C. Ageniella domingensis: ♂: A. genital plate; B. genitalia, ventral view; C. genitalia, dorsal view. D–F. Drepanaporus antillarum: ♂: D. genital plate; E.genitalia, ventral view; F. genitalia, dorsal view. G–I. Notocyphus anacaona: ♂: J. genital plate; K. genitalia, dorsal view; L. genitalia, ventral view.Published as part of Waichert, Cecilia, Rodriguez, Juanita, Von Dohlen, Carol D. & Pitts, James P., 2012, Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic, pp. 1-47 in Zootaxa 3353 (1) on page 47, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3353.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/525173
FIGURE 5. A–B in Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic
No full textFIGURE 5. A–B. Auplopus bellus: habitus, lateral view: A. ♂; B. ♀. C–D. Auplopus charlesi sp. nov.: habitus, ♀: C. dorsal view; D. lateral view. E–F. Entypus ochrocerus: habitus, lateral view: E. ♂; F. ♀. G. Dipogon marlowei sp. nov.: habitus, lateral view, ♀. H–I. Priocnemis cornica: habitus, lateral view: H. ♂; I. ♀. J. Caliadurgus maestris: habitus, lateral view, ♀. K–L. Priocnessus vancei sp. nov.: habitus, ♀: K. lateral view; L. dorsal view.Published as part of Waichert, Cecilia, Rodriguez, Juanita, Von Dohlen, Carol D. & Pitts, James P., 2012, Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic, pp. 1-47 in Zootaxa 3353 (1) on page 43, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3353.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/525173
FIGURE 7. A in Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic
No full textFIGURE 7. A. Aporinellus medianus: habitus, lateral view, ♀. B–C. Drepanaporus antillarum: habitus, lateral view: B. ♂; C. ♀. D–E. Drepanaporus collaris: habitus, lateral view: D. ♀; E. ♂. F–G. Episyron conterminous cressoni: habitus, lateral view: F.♀; G.♂. H. Notocyphus anacaona sp. nov.: habitus, lateral view, ♂. I–J. Psorthaspis hispaniolae: habitus, lateral view: I. ♀; J. ♂. K. Tachypompilus ferrugineus bicolor: habitus, lateral view, ♀. L–M. Poecilopompilus mixtus: habitus, lateral view: L. ♂; M. ♀.Published as part of Waichert, Cecilia, Rodriguez, Juanita, Von Dohlen, Carol D. & Pitts, James P., 2012, Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic, pp. 1-47 in Zootaxa 3353 (1) on page 45, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3353.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/525173
The Effect of Dietary Diversity on the Stability of the Gut Microbiome and their Methods of Measurement.
No full textThe stability of the gut microbiome is thought to help provide immunity against diseases, serving as protection against disturbances to the microbiome. This thesis reviews the health benefits of a stable gut microbiome and explores the effect of diet in its stabilization. By organizing dietary items within a food tree, diet diversity is understood similarly to how microbiome diversity is measured. Hypothesized to see an increase in microbiome stability with an increase in diet diversity, several measurements of diversity are calculated and compared. Using the diet data from a vitamin D intervention pilot study, diet diversity, measured as the median Aitchison's distance between consecutive days, is seen to negatively correlate with microbiome stability, as measured by the median of the inversed Aitchison's distances between consecutive time points. This data indicates that within subjects taking vitamin D supplements, a more diverse diet is related to a less stable microbiome
SPHERE: a `Planet Finder' Instrument for the VLT
No full textSPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) is a second generation instrument for the VLT optimized for the very high-contrast imaging around bright stars [J.-L. Beuzit, M. Feldt, K. Dohlen et al. in Messenger 125, 29 (2006)]. The primary goal is the detection and characterization of new giant planets around a variety of nearby stars. Together with the observation of early planetary systems and disks, and in association with the results of other planet search techniques, SPHERE will be a primary contributor to get a complete picture of the variety of planetary systems and to better understand their mechanisms of formation and evolution. Such results will be obtained before even more ambitious projects for the direct imaging of planets either from the ground with ELTs or from space
Phase masks in astronomy: From the Mach-Zehnder interferometer to coronagraphs
No full textPhase masks have numerous applications in astronomical optics, in
particular related to two themes: coronagraphy for detection and
analysis of extrasolar planets or circumstellar disks, and
wavefront analysis for extremely precise adaptive optics systems
or cophasing of segmented mirrors. I review some of the
literature concerning phase masks and attempt to bridge the gap
between two instrumental systems in which they are often found:
the Mach-Zehnder interferometer and the coronagraph
Ageniella (Cyrtagenia) fallax Arle 1947
No full text<i>Ageniella</i> (<i>Cyrtagenia</i>) <i>fallax</i> (Arlé, 1947) <p>(FIg. 5)</p> <p> <i>Ameragenia fallax</i> ArLé, 1947, REv. dE ENt., vOL. 18, p. 426 [HOLOtypE: ♀, BRAZIL, NItEróI (MNRJ [?]), LOSt].</p> <p> <b>Distribution.</b> ARgENTINa, BRaZIL, COLOmbIa, PaNama, PERU (CaSTRO-HUERTaS <i>et al.</i> 2014). <b>Host.</b> UNkNOWN.</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> IN ThE ORIgINaL pUbLIcaTION, ARLÉ (1947) aSSIgNS ThE hOLOTYpE TO ThE aUThOR’S cOLLEcTION, WhIch WaS MUSEU NacIONaL dO RIO dE JaNEIRO (MNRJ) aT ThE TImE. NEVERThELESS, ThE hOLOTYpE Of <i>A. fallax</i> (FIg. 5) IS NOT dEpOSITEd aT MNRJ. DR. ROgER ARLÉ aLSO WORkEd aT ThE MPEG, IN PaRÁ, BRaZIL, WhIch WaS VISITEd bY CW aNd cONfIRmEd ThaT ThE hOLOTYpE mIghT bE LOST, aLONg WITh OThER TYpES dEScRIbEd bY DR. ARLÉ. IN ThE fUTURE, a NEOTYpE maY NEEd TO bE dESIgNaTEd.</p>Published as part of <i>Waichert, Cecilia, Colombo, Wesley Dondoni, Von Dohlen, Carol D. & Pitts, James P., 2018, Taxonomic contributions to Ageniella Banks, 1912 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) from Brazil, pp. 133-153 in Zootaxa 4403 (1)</i> on page 144, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4403.1.8, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/1212065">http://zenodo.org/record/1212065</a>
Exoplanet characterization with long slit spectroscopy
No full text10 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in A&AExtrasolar planets observation and characterization by high contrast imaging instruments is set to be a very important subject in observational astronomy. Dedicated instruments are being developed to achieve this goal with very high efficiency. In particular, full spectroscopic characterization of low temperature planetary companions is an extremely important milestone. We present a new data analysis method for long slit spectroscopy (LSS) with coronagraphy, which allows characterization of planetary companions of low effective temperature. In a speckle-limited regime, this method allows an accurate estimation and subtraction of the scattered starlight, to extract a clean spectrum of the planetary companion. We performed intensive LSS simulations with IDL/CAOS to obtain realistic spectra of low (R=35) and medium (R=400) resolution in the J, H, and K bands. The simulated spectra were used to test our method and estimate its performance in terms of contrast reduction and extracted spectra quality. Our simulations are based on a software package dedicated to the development of SPHERE, a second generation instrument for the ESO-VLT. Our method allows a contrast reduction of 0.5 to 2.0 magnitudes compared to the coronagraphic observations. For M0 and G0 stars located at 10 pc, we show that it would lead to the characterization of companions with Teff of 600 K and 900 K respectively, at angular separations of 1.0 as. We also show that errors in the wavelength calibration can produce significant errors in the characterization, and must therefore be minimized as much as possible
James K. A.Smith. How (Not) To Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. 152 pages.
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