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Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects --Apple-Mail-1--599004905 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Hi Rick, On 1-Aug-07, at 7:25 PM, Rick Ballard wrote: > I found this interesting beetle at my cottage at Indian Harbour > Lake, Guysborough County, > NS. > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/ideaphore/977783053/ > > It looks like some kind of Leaf Beetle ( Family CHRYSOMELIDAE ), > but I haven't been able > to find it in any books or on the web. This is, indeed, in the Chrysomelidae. It is Calligrapha confluens Schaeffer, one of the most abundant of this diverse genus of beetles in Nova Scotia. It is associated with alder. Earlier this season Bernard Burke posted a photograph of this same species. For those who may be interested, below is a re-post of some of the information since it sheds interesting light about this genus of beetles in Nova Scotia Calligrapha is a very interesting genus which has been the subject of considerable recent genetic research. Most of the species in the genus are normal, diploid, bisexual species, however, there are four species in the group which are tetraploid, unisexual (female only) species that reproduce parthenogenetically. Unisexuality in beetles is a comparatively rare phenomenon. Recent research has established that these tetraploid species have resulted from hybridization between two species and using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA the maternal and paternal "parents" of these species have been established. They are: Maternal Lineage --> Tetraploid Species <-- Paternal Lineage Calligrapha philadelphica --> Calligrapha alnicola <-- Calligrapha confluens Calligrapha rowena --> Calligrapha apicalis <-- Calligrapha confluens Calligrapha philadelphica --> Calligrapha suturella <-- Calligrapha multipunctata Calligrapha scalaris --> Calligrapha vicina <-- Calligrapha philadelphica You can see from this table that C. confluens (from the paternal end of things) has contributed to the creation of two tetraploid species, C. alnicola (also associated with alder, and recorded from Colchester, Victoria, Halifax, and Annapolis counties) and C. apicalis (also found on alder, but not found in the Maritimes). Its interesting that in both instances that maternal species are associated with Cornus (dogwood) but the hybrid species are found on the host (Alnus) which are eaten by the paternal species. This is also true of C. suturella and C. vicina, so it would seem to be that in matters of taste, it is paternal preferences that matter. Most of these species (philadelphica, alnicola, confluens, rowena, multipunctata, & scalaris) are found in the Maritimes, so this region is a very interesting laboratory of the development and evolution of this species-rich genus (37 species are found in North America, and there are many more in neotropical areas). Cheers! Chris > -- > Rick Ballard > Torbay, Newfoundland, Canada > http://www.ideaphore.com _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3A6 (902) 424-6435 Email <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. --Apple-Mail-1--599004905 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 <HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; = -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Rick,<DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On = 1-Aug-07, at 7:25 PM, Rick Ballard wrote:</DIV><BR = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">I found this interesting beetle at my cottage at = Indian Harbour Lake, Guysborough County,<SPAN = class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0</SPAN></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; = ">NS.</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><A = href=3D"http://www.flickr.com/photos/ideaphore/977783053/">http://www.flic= kr.com/photos/ideaphore/977783053/</A></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; = min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">It looks like = some kind of Leaf Beetle ( Family CHRYSOMELIDAE ), but I haven't been = able<SPAN class=3D"Apple-converted-space">=A0</SPAN></DIV><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">to find it in any books or on the = web.</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span">This is, indeed, in the Chrysomelidae. It = is=A0<I>Calligrapha confluens</I> Schaeffer, one of the most=A0abundant = of this diverse genus of beetles in Nova Scotia. It is associated with = alder. Earlier this season Bernard Burke posted a photograph of this = same species. For those who may be interested, below is a re-post of = some of the information=A0 since it sheds interesting light about this = genus of beetles in Nova Scotia</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span"><I>Calligrapha</I>=A0is a very interesting = genus which has been the subject of considerable recent genetic = research. Most of the species in the genus are normal, diploid, bisexual = species, however, there are four species in the group which are = tetraploid, unisexual (female only) species that reproduce = parthenogenetically. Unisexuality in beetles is a=A0comparatively rare = phenomenon. Recent research has=A0established that these tetraploid = species have resulted from hybridization between two species and = using=A0nuclear and mitochondrial DNA the maternal and paternal = "parents" of these species have been established. They = are:</SPAN></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal = 12px/normal Times New Roman; min-height: 15px; "><BR></DIV><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; "><B>Maternal Lineage --></B><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-tab-span" style=3D"white-space:pre"> </SPAN><SPAN = class=3D