8,142 research outputs found
How do host plant use and seasonal life cycle relate to insect body size: A case study on European geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)
No full textWe used European geometrid moths (>630 species) as a model group to investigate how life history traits linked to larval host plant use (i.e., diet breadth and host-plant growth form) and seasonal life cycle (i.e., voltinism, overwintering stage and caterpillar phenology) are related to adult body size in holometabolous insect herbivores. To do so, we applied phylogenetic comparative methods to account for shared evolutionary history among herbivore species. We further categorized larval diet breadth based on the phylogenetic structure of utilized host plant genera. Our results indicate that species associated with woody plants are, on average, larger than herb feeders and increase in size with increasing diet breadth. Obligatorily univoltine species are larger than multivoltine species, and attain larger sizes when their larvae occur exclusively in the early season. Furthermore, the adult body size is significantly smaller in species that overwinter in the pupal stage compared to those that overwinter as eggs or caterpillars. In summary, our results indicate that the ecological niche of holometabolous insect herbivores is strongly interrelated with body size at maturity
Ecological specialisation and range size determine intraspecific body size variation in a speciose clade of insect herbivores
No full textAre day-flying moths more specialised in larval dietary breadth? – A test of the ‘Salient Aroma Hypothesis’ in a predominantly nocturnal clade
No full textAbstract
Although diurnality is widespread across Lepidoptera and has evolved many times independently, its causes and ecological implications are yet poorly understood. The ‘Salient Aroma Hypothesis’ (SAH) postulates that diurnal insect herbivores are overall more specialised in dietary breadth than species active at night. It is furthermore assumed that diurnality evolved more frequently in species that live in cooler environments. Using European geometrid moths as a model group, we tested whether diurnal activity in adults is associated with an increased larval dietary breadth as predicted by the ‘Salient Aroma Hypothesis.’ We further investigated whether species that exclusively occur in colder regions or whose flight period is restricted to cool seasons are more likely to exhibit a diurnal flight activity. Contrary to expectation, we found no consistent differences in larval dietary breadth between diurnal and nocturnal species, and thus no support for the ‘Salient Aroma Hypothesis.’ Diurnal activity occurred more frequently in species restricted to cold regions, but not in species restricted to cool seasons. We conclude that diurnality could serve as an advantageous adaptation in cold environments, depending on further factors such as resource availability or predation pressure, but has no immediate consequences for larval dietary breadth
Larval diet type and voltinism are linked with adult body size in European Erebidae (Lepidoptera)
No full textAbstract Body size is one of the most characteristic traits of every animal species and strongly influences its ecological niche. Identifying life-history traits that are associated with body size and investigating possible causalities behind such contingencies is thus a central topic in evolutionary ecology. In this study, we examined whether adult body size in Lepidoptera relates with resource type used at larval stage, larval dietary specialisation, voltinism, or adult diel activity. Based on previous findings, we hypothesised that species associated with woody plants are overall larger than those feeding on herbaceous plants or alternative food sources (e.g., lichens, detritus etc.). We further hypothesised that larger body sizes are associated with a lower degree of dietary specialisation, a univoltine life style, and nocturnal activity in adults. To test our hypotheses, we focussed on more than 220 species of European Erebidae moths, one of the taxonomically and ecologically most diverse Lepidoptera families worldwide. Increasing availability of molecular data for this group, coupled with advances in phylogenetic comparative methods, allowed us to study these trait relationships by accounting for shared evolutionary history among species, and– in addition to that– investigate potential causalities driving the detected patterns. We found adult body size to be positively linked with woody plant feeding and a univoltine life cycle, supporting the respective hypothesis. Our results further indicated that resource type affects the evolution of body size, while the latter strongly determines voltinism. Contrary to expectation, body size was neither related with larval dietary specialisation nor with adult diel activity. In conclusion, our study suggests that smaller body sizes, frequently associated with feeding on herbaceous plants or alternative food sources, are of evolutionary advantage as they facilitate the realisation of multiple generations per year and thus allow for faster adaptations to changing environmental conditions
Caterpillars and Host Plant Records for 59 Species of Geometridae (Lepidoptera) from a Montane Rainforest in Southern Ecuador
No full textDuring four months of field surveys at the Reserva Biológica San Francisco in the south Ecuadorian Andes, caterpillars of 59 Geometridae species were collected in a montane rainforest between 1800 and 2800m altitude and reared to adults. The resulting data on host plant affiliations of these species was collated. The preimaginal stages of 58 and adult stages of all 59 species are depicted in colour plates. Observations on morphology and behaviour are briefly described. Five species, documented for the first time in the study area by means of larval collections, had not been previously collected by intensive light-trap surveys. Together with published literature records, life-history data covers 8.6% of the 1271 geometrid species observed so far in the study area. For 50 species these are the first records of their early stages, and for another 7 the data significantly extend known host plant ranges. Most larvae were collected on shrubs or trees, but more unusual host plant affiliations, such as ferns (6 geometrid species) and lichens (3 geometrid species), were also recorded. Thirty-four percent of the caterpillars were infested by wasp or tachinid parasitoids
Art, Biography, Sexuality: Patrick Procktor and Keith Vaughan
No full textThis critical review forms a reflection on the research published within the following publications:
Patrick Procktor: Art and Life (Unicorn Press, 2010)
Keith Vaughan: The Mature Oils 1946-1977, (Sansom & Co., 2012)
The research is on two artists, Patrick Procktor (1936-2003), and Keith Vaughan (1912-1977). The monograph on Procktor – previously one of the least documented of the generation of artists who came to prominence in London in the Sixties – positions him in a history of art from which he had been notably absent. The research on Vaughan asserts a new reading of his work, one that is both deeper and more nuanced in its analysis of the ways in which personal experience and sexuality are encoded autobiographically within his work. Crucially, in both artists biography and work are symbiotically linked; the research therefore examines the links between life and art.
Revisionary in intent, the work examines trajectories of experience of gay British (or rather, English) artists in the twentieth century, artists who sought to express themselves and forge careers within the constraints of a heteronormative society, albeit one in which attitudes to sexuality were undergoing change. As gay men, both were constrained by the social mores of their times, and each used painting as a means to affirm personal and sexual identities. A key research interest is in the ways in which sexuality and persona are reflected in critical responses to the artist’s work: in Vaughan, Procktor and other gay male artists of the period. The writing on both Procktor and Vaughan examines the relationship between their personal and professional/artistic lives, framed within a broader socio-political and art historical context. It asserts the place of biography as a means to understand and form new readings of the work. The work adds substantially to the literature and wider discourse on post-war British painting and social history
Patrick Chamoiseau Recovering Memory
No full textThis timely new book skillfully examines the work of the award-winning writer Patrick Chamoiseau. Considered by many as one of the most innovative writers to hit the French literary scene in over 40 years, Chamoiseau made his name with his book Texaco (published in 1992 and winner of the highest literary prize in France, the Prix Goncourt). His books have gone on to sell millions and his work has been translated by a number of academic presses. McCusker sets the author in context, providing a valuable contribution to 'memory studies' by looking at literary representation of memory in Martinique, a society founded on slavery but now politically assimilated to the metropolitan centre, France.Title Page -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1: Beginnings: The Enigma of Origin -- 2: 'Une tracée de survie': Autobiographical Memory -- 3: Memory Re-collected: Witnesses and Words -- 4: Memory Materialized: Traces of the Past -- 5: Flesh Made Word: Traumatic Memory in Biblique des derniers gestes -- Afterword -- Notes -- Bibliography -- IndexThis timely new book skillfully examines the work of the award-winning writer Patrick Chamoiseau. Considered by many as one of the most innovative writers to hit the French literary scene in over 40 years, Chamoiseau made his name with his book Texaco (published in 1992 and winner of the highest literary prize in France, the Prix Goncourt). His books have gone on to sell millions and his work has been translated by a number of academic presses. McCusker sets the author in context, providing a valuable contribution to 'memory studies' by looking at literary representation of memory in Martinique, a society founded on slavery but now politically assimilated to the metropolitan centre, France.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Replication Data for: Endogenous Price Commitment, Sticky and Leadership Pricing: Evidence from the Italian Petrol Market
No full textThe do-file contains the code to replicate "Endogenous Price Commitment, Sticky and Leadership Pricing: Evidence from the Italian Petrol Market", published in the International Journal of Industrial Organization, vol. 40(C), pages 32-48, by Patrick Andreoli-Versbach and Jens-Uwe Franck.
Contact author is Patrick Andreoli-Versbach. E-Mail: [email protected]
Replication Data for: Endogenous Price Commitment, Sticky and Leadership Pricing: Evidence from the Italian Petrol Market
No full textThe do-file contains the code to replicate "Endogenous Price Commitment, Sticky and Leadership Pricing: Evidence from the Italian Petrol Market", published in the International Journal of Industrial Organization, vol. 40(C), pages 32-48, by Patrick Andreoli-Versbach and Jens-Uwe Franck.
Contact author is Patrick Andreoli-Versbach. E-Mail: [email protected]
The investigation in "Dora Bruder" of Patrick Modiano
No full textreservedIl presente lavoro si propone di affrontare il tema dell’indagine, dell’inchiesta investigativa nel romanzo “Dora Bruder” dello scrittore francese Patrick Modiano, pubblicato nel 1997. Si tratta del più noto successo editoriale dell’autore, il quale, in una narrazione al contempo biografica ed autobiografica, si mette sulle tracce di Dora Bruder, una giovane ragazza ebrea scomparsa nel 1941, di cui si sono perse definitivamente le tracce. La presente tesi si compone di tre capitoli. Nel primo, si analizzeranno i motivi che spingono l’autore ad occuparsi della vicenda della giovane ragazza scomparsa proprio durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Successivamente, nel secondo capitolo, si passerà ad affrontare come l’autore compie la propria indagine per comprendere che cosa le sia accaduto, diventando una sorta di investigatore su un vecchio caso di scomparsa. Ed infine, nell’ultimo capitolo, si analizzerà quale sarà l’esito della sua indagine.This work proposes to deal with the subject of investigation in the novel "Dora Bruder" by French writer Patrick Modiano, published in 1997. It’s the most known publishing success of the author, which, in a narrative in the meantime biographical and autobiographical, goes on the trail of Dora Bruder, a young Jewish girl disappeared in 1941, of whom all traces have been definitively lost. This thesis is composed by three chapters. In the first, we will analyse the reasons why the author deal with the story of the young girl vanished during the Second World War. Then, in the second chapter, we will approach how the author does his own investigation to understand what happened to her, becoming sort of a detective on an old case of disappearence. Finally, in the last chapter, we focus on which it’ll be the outcome of his investigation
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