Polistes paper wasps are models for understanding conditions that may have characterized the origin of worker and queen castes and, therefore, the origin of paper wasp sociality. Polistes is "primitively eusocial" by virtue of having context-dependent caste determination and no morphological differences between castes. Even so, Polistes colonies have a temporal pattern in which most female larvae ...

Polistes paper wasps are models for understanding conditions that may have characterized the origin of worker and queen castes and, therefore, the origin of paper wasp sociality. Polistes is �primitively eusocial� by virtue of having context-dependent caste determination and no morphological differences between castes. Even so, Polistes colonies have a temporal pattern in which most female ...

Ontogenetic niche shifts, changes in the diet or habitats of organisms during their ontogeny, are widespread among various animal taxa. Ontogenetic niche shifts introduce stage structure in a population with different stages interacting with different communities and can substantially affect their dynamics. In this article, I use mathematical models to ...

New Li abundances have been derived for some 15-20 Pleiades dwarfs using new high-resolution and high S/N spectroscopy from HET/HRS. Previous studies suggested that our objects, all modest (projected) rotators, evinced considerable scatter in their Li abundances. We revisit the question of this scatter and its origin. This work has ...

how abundance and diversity of epiphytic micro- metazoans (>63 m) varied with stem age during March micro-metazoans were studied in a South Carolina salt marsh. Stem age and resultant changes in structural characteristics may affect stem suitability as a habitat for micro-metazoans. Greater abundance

in early Ontogenetic patterns and temperature-dependent growth rates in early life stages of Pacific cod of growth rates of embryos, preflexion and postflexion larvae, and postsettlement juveniles. Growth rates functions and a unified size- and tem- perature-dependent growth function. Specific growth rates increased

Although mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) have been extensively investigated in reef-building corals, the sources of these MAAs and the process of their interconversion remain a topic of interest. Here we examined ontogenetic change in the abundance of MAAs in planula larvae of the spawning scleractinian coral Goniastrea retiformis in the absence of ...

Stomach contents of Lagodon rhomboides, the most abundant fish species from seagrass beds in Chelem Lagoon, Yucatan, Mexico, were analyzed. The specimens were collected using a beach seine at eight stations distributed randomly in the lagoon during July, September and November 2002. The trophic components were analyzed by means of the relative abundance ...

Fish are important ecological components in tropical coastal lagoons. In order to evaluate the distribution and feeding preferences of the toadfish Opsanus phobetron in the Chelem Lagoon, Yucatan, Mexico, fish samples were collected using a beach seine in eight stations distributed randomly, from March 2002 to January 2003. The components were analyzed by means of the relative ...

A series of 20 craniodental measurements was obtained for two sister taxa: Nycticebus coucang (common slow loris) and N. pygmaeus (pygmy slow loris). Multivariate analysis of variance was performed with adult data to describe patterns of subspecific and specific variation in this genus. The geometric mean of adult cranial dimensions was compared to field data on latitudinal coordinates for ...

Snake venom proteins show high levels of variation at the level of the individual yet the environmental and molecular mechanisms that generate this diversity remain unclear. Here we report the results of a controlled feeding experiment combined with proteomic analyses of periodically collected venom samples to assess the roles of ontogenetic and diet-related effects on venom ...