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This study examined changes in posture, discomfort and performance during various stages of pregnancy. Twelve subjects performed a typing task in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Posture was measured using goniometry and comfort was assessed using body-mapping techniques. The subjects showed a marked increase in their angels of trunk inclination and a general increase in discomfort between the second and third trimesters of their pregnancies. All body parts were found to be more uncomfortable in the third trimester and the largest changes occurred in the low back and lower legs. Advancing pregnancy had no effect on typing performance., The effects of pregnancy on posture, discomfort and performance during typing were determined using goniometry and body mapping techniques. The goniometry measurements showed thatsubjects in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy had a significant increase in their angles of trunk inclination. A general increase in discomfortwas also reported. Surprisingly, typing performance was maintained during pregnancy.

Abstract Background Biological invasions provide a window on the process of community assembly. In particular, tracking natural enemy recruitment to invading hosts can reveal the relative roles of co-evolution (including local adaptation) and ecological sorting. We use molecular data to examine colonisation of northern Europe by the parasitoid Megastigmus stigmatizans following invasions of its herbivorous oak gallwasp hosts from the Balkans. Local host adaptation predicts that invading gallwasp populations will have been tracked primarily by sympatric Balkan populations of M. stigmatizans (Host Pursuit Hypothesis). Alternatively, ecological sorting allows parasitoid recruitment from geographically distinct populations with no recent experience of the invading hosts (Host Shift Hypothesis). Finally, we test for long-term persistence of parasitoids introduced via human trade of their hosts' galls (Introduction Hypothesis). Results Polymorphism diagnostic of different southern refugial regions was present in both mitochondrial and nuclear microsatellite markers, allowing us to identify the origins of northern European invaded range M. stigmatizans populations. As with their hosts, some invaded range populations showed genetic variation diagnostic of Balkan sources, supporting the Host Pursuit Hypothesis. In contrast, other invading populations had an Iberian origin, unlike their hosts in northern Europe, supporting the Host Shift Hypothesis. Finally, both British and Italian M. stigmatizans populations show signatures compatible with the Introduction Hypothesis from eastern Mediterranean sources. Conclusions These data reveal the continental scale of multi-trophic impacts of anthropogenic disturbance and highlight the fact that herbivores and their natural enemies may face very different constraints on range expansion. The ability of natural enemies to exploit ecologically-similar hosts with which they have had no historical association supports a major role for ecological sorting processes in the recent assembly of these communities. The multitude of origins of invading natural enemy populations in this study emphasises the diversity of mechanisms requiring consideration when predicting consequences of other biological invasions or biological control introductions.

The orchid genus Dipodium R.Br. (Epidendroideae) comprises leafy autotrophic and leafless mycoheterotrophic species, with the latter confined to sect. Dipodium . This study examined plastome degeneration in Dipodium in a phylogenomic and temporal context. Whole plastomes were reconstructed and annotated for 24 Dipodium samples representing 14 species and two putatively new species, encompassing over 80% of species diversity in sect. Dipodium . Phylogenomic analysis based on 68 plastid loci including a broad outgroup sampling across Orchidaceae found that sect. Leopardanthus is the sister lineage to sect. Dipodium. Dipodium ensifolium , the only leafy autotrophic species in sect. Dipodium , was found to be a sister to all leafless, mycoheterotrophic species, supporting a single evolutionary origin of mycoheterotrophy in the genus. Divergence-time estimations found that Dipodium arose ca. 33.3 Ma near the lower boundary of the Oligocene and that crown diversification commenced in the late Miocene, ca. 11.3 Ma. Mycoheterotrophy in the genus was estimated to have evolved in the late Miocene, ca. 7.3 Ma, in sect. Dipodium . The comparative assessment of plastome structure and gene degradation in Dipodium revealed that plastid ndh genes were pseudogenised or physically lost in all Dipodium species, including in leafy autotrophic species of both Dipodium sections. Levels of plastid ndh gene degradation were found to vary among species as well as within species, providing evidence of relaxed selection for retention of the NADH dehydrogenase complex within the genus. Dipodium exhibits an early stage of plastid genome degradation, as all species were found to have retained a full set of functional photosynthesis-related genes and housekeeping genes. This study provides important insights into plastid genome degradation along the transition from autotrophy to mycoheterotrophy in a phylogenomic and temporal context., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Goedderz, Clements, Bent, Nicholls, Patel, Crayn, Schlüter and Nargar.)

The life cycle of Cerroneuroterus minutulus (Giraud, 1859), a species previously known only from its asexual generation, is closed. Our study demonstrates that C. minutulus exhibits the heterogony typical of Cynipini species, with alternating sexual and asexual generations. The identity of the sexual generation is demonstrated by laboratory experiments and confirmed by molecular data, with Cerroneuroterus aggregatus (Wachtl, 1880) determined to be the sexual generation, and junior synonym, of Cerroneuroterus minutulus (Giraud, 1859). Illustrations and diagnoses for adults and galls, observations on biology and distribution information are provided as is a detailed redescription of the sexual generation of C. minutulus.

The Nearctic cynipid oak gall wasp genus Feron Kinsey, comb. rev., is re-established with 34 species: F. albicomus (Weld, 1952), comb. nov., F. amphorus (Weld, 1926), comb. nov., F. apiarium (Weld, 1944), comb. nov., F. atrimentum (Kinsey, 1922), comb. nov., F. bakkeri (Lyon, 1984), comb. nov., F. caepula (Weld, 1926), comb. nov., F. californicum (Beutenmueller, 1911), comb. nov., F. clarkei (Bassett, 1890), comb. nov., F. comatum (Weld, 1952), comb. nov., F. crystallinum (Bassett, 1900), comb. nov., F. cylindratum (Kinsey, 1937), comb. nov., F. discale (Weld, 1926), comb. nov., F. discularis (Weld, 1926), comb. nov., F. dumosae (Weld, 1957), comb. nov., F. gigas (Kinsey, 1922), comb. nov., F. izabellae Melika, Nicholls & Stone, sp. nov., F. kingi (Bassett, 1900), comb. nov., F. parmula (Bassett, 1900), comb. nov., F. pattersonae (Fullaway, 1911), comb. nov., F. roberti Melika, Nicholls & Stone, sp. nov., F. rucklei Melika, Nicholls & Stone, sp. nov., F. scutellum (Weld, 1930), comb. nov., F. serranoae Pujade-Villar & Cuesta-Porta, sp. nov., F. splendens (Weld, 1919), comb. nov., F. stellare (Weld, 1926), comb. nov., F. stellulum (Burnett, 1974), comb. nov., F. sulfureum (Weld, 1926), comb. nov., F. syndicorum Pujade-Villar & Cuesta-Porta, sp. nov., F. tecturnarum (Kinsey, 1920), comb. nov., F. tetyanae Melika, sp. nov., F. tibiale Kinsey, 1937, comb. rev., F. tubifaciens (Weld, 1926), comb. nov., F. verutum Kinsey, 1937, comb. rev., and F. vitreum Kinsey, 1937, comb. rev. Most species are known only from the asexual generation; F. clarkei, F. comatum, and F. dumosae are known only from the sexual generation, while both generations are recognised for F. atrimentum, F. crystallinum, F. gigas, F. kingi, and F. pattersonae. Matching of alternate sexual and asexual generations is established for the first time for F. kingi and F. pattersonae (= Andricus pedicellatus (Kinsey, 1922), syn. nov.) based on molecular data (both cytb and ITS2 sequences). Morphological descriptions, re-descriptions, diagnoses, and a key to species are given, as well as data on DNA sequences, biology, phenology, and distribution.

Amphibolips is currently divided into two species-groups, clearly differentiated by adult and gall morphology. The niger group of Amphibolips species is revised. This complex includes eight species: A. gumia Kinsey, A. jubatus Kinsey, A. elatus Kinsey, A. maturus Kinsey, A. nebris Kinsey, A. niger Kinsey, A. pistrix Kinsey and A. ufo Cuesta-Porta & Pujade-Villar sp. nov. We provide descriptions of new species and re-descriptions of known species, diagnoses, keys to complexes and species. The possibility of the niger complex belonging to a new genus is also discussed.

A new species, Holocynips illinoiensis Melika & Nicholls, sp. nov. is described from the Nearctic (America north of Mexico). Description, diagnoses, information on biology and host association is given for the new species, as well as preliminary discussion on the coherence of the genus Holocynips.

Early natural historians-Comte de Buffon, von Humboldt, and De Candolle-established environment and geography as two principal axes determining the distribution of groups of organisms, laying the foundations for biogeography over the subsequent 200 years, yet the relative importance of these two axes remains unresolved. Leveraging phylogenomic and global species distribution data for Mimosoid legumes, a pantropical plant clade of c. 3500 species, we show that the water availability gradient from deserts to rain forests dictates turnover of lineages within continents across the tropics. We demonstrate that 95% of speciation occurs within a precipitation niche, showing profound phylogenetic niche conservatism, and that lineage turnover boundaries coincide with isohyets of precipitation. We reveal similar patterns on different continents, implying that evolution and dispersal follow universal processes.

Plants are widely recognized as chemical factories, with each species producing dozens to hundreds of unique secondary metabolites. These compounds shape the interactions between plants and their natural enemies. We explore the evolutionary patterns and processes by which plants generate chemical diversity, from evolving novel compounds to unique chemical profiles. We characterized the chemical profile of one-third of the species of tropical rainforest trees in the genus Inga (c. 100, Fabaceae) using ultraperformance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and applied phylogenetic comparative methods to understand the mode of chemical evolution. We show: each Inga species contain structurally unrelated compounds and high levels of phytochemical diversity; closely related species have divergent chemical profiles, with individual compounds, compound classes, and chemical profiles showing little-to-no phylogenetic signal; at the evolutionary time scale, a species' chemical profile shows a signature of divergent adaptation. At the ecological time scale, sympatric species were the most divergent, implying it is also advantageous to maintain a unique chemical profile from community members; finally, we integrate these patterns with a model for how chemical diversity evolves. Taken together, these results show that phytochemical diversity and divergence are fundamental to the ecology and evolution of plants., (© 2022 The Authors New Phytologist © 2022 New Phytologist Foundation.)

Recent years have seen rapid advances in the study of Fagaceae-associated gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) of the Eastern Palaearctic and the Oriental (EPO) regions, for both the gall inducing Cynipini (commonly termed oak gall wasps though many species gall non-oak Fagaceae) and the predominantly inquiline tribes Synergini and Ceroptresini. This process has propagated some taxonomic errors and involves many taxa whose taxonomic status is uncertain. To provide a stable foundation for further advance, here we review the taxonomic status of the 212 species (133 oak gall wasps and 79 oak cynipid inquilines) that have been described or recorded in these regions. Of this total, we treat 171 as valid species names (103 oak gall wasps and 68 oak cynipid inquilines) in 20 genera; 22 as synonym names, 13 as incertae sedis, three as nomen dubium, and three as species inquirenda. Callirhytis kunugicola Shinji, 1944 is proposed as syn. nov. of C. kunugicola Shinji, 1943, as Shinji described the same species twice. For all valid species names, we provide taxonomic references, synonyms, and geographical distributions. We summarize what is known of host plant associations and gall locations for gall inducers, and host associations for inquilines. We discuss geographic patterns in the known richness of currently valid species for both groups of organisms, and place this in the context of the biogeography of available Fagaceae host plants. We provide a brief historical review of the study of oak gall wasps and their inquilines in the EPO regions.

Most oak gallwasps (Hymenoptera; Cynipidae, Cynipini) have lifecycles involving obligate alternation between a sexual and an asexual generation. Many species are currently known from only one of these generations, with the alternate generation either unknown or separately described with a different name. Here we describe previously unknown generations for 12 Nearctic oak cynipids. We describe the sexual generation for ten species previously known only from an asexual generation: Acraspis quercushirta (Bassett, 1864), Acraspis villosa Gillette, 1888, Amphibolips spinosa Ashmead, 1887, Andricus balanaspis (Weld, 1922), comb. nov., Antron quercusnubila (Bassett, 1881), Bassettia pallida Ashmead, 1896, Neuroterus floccosus (Bassett, 1881), comb. rev., Philonix fulvicollis Fitch, 1859, Phylloteras poculum (Osten Sacken, 1862) and Sphaeroteras carolina (Ashmead, 1887), comb. rev.. We describe the asexual generation of Bassettia flavipes (Gillette, 1889), comb. nov. and Melikaiella tumifica (Osten Sacken, 1865), both previously known only from a sexual generation. Three described taxa (Neuroterus vernus Gillette, 1889, syn. nov., Neuroterus papillosus Beutenmueller, 1910, syn. nov. and Neuroterus perminimus Bassett, 1900, syn. nov.) are all identified as the sexual generation of Neuroterus niger Gillette, 1888. We also comment on the presence of previously unknown non-functional males reared from galls of the asexual generation of Neuroterus niger. We identify two further synonyms: Acraspis macrocarpae Bassett, 1890 is syn. nov. of A. quercushirta (Bassett, 1864), and Bassettia archboldi Melika Abrahamson, 2007 is syn. nov. of Bassettia pallida Ashmead, 1896. In addition, we formally synonymise multiple varieties described by Kinsey within his Acraspis quercushirta, A. villosa, Antron quercusnubila, Neuroterus niger and Philonix fulvicollis species complexes. We provide descriptions and diagnoses for these taxa, and summarise what is known of their biology, including host associations. All taxa and relationships between alternate generations are supported by morphological and molecular data.

The Nearctic cynipid oak gall wasp genus Druon Kinsey comb. rev. is re-established, with 5 new species and 10 species previously placed in the genus Andricus Hartig 1840: D. alexandri Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., D. flocculentum (Lyon), comb. nov., D. fullawayi (Beutenmller), comb. nov., D. garciamartinonae Pujade-Villar, sp. nov., D. gregori Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., D. hansoni Cuesta-Porta, Melika Pujade-Villar, sp. nov., D. ignotum (Bassett), comb. nov., D. linaria Kinsey, comb. rev., D. pattoni (Bassett), comb. nov., D. protagion Kinsey, comb. rev. (D. malinum Kinsey, syn. nov., D. polymorphae Kinsey, syn. nov.), D. quercusflocci (Walsh), comb. nov., D. quercuslanigerum (Ashmead), comb. nov., D. receptum Kinsey, comb. rev., D. rusticum Kinsey, comb. rev. and D. serretae Pujade-Villar, Cuesta-Porta Melika, sp. nov.. All species are known only from their asexual generation except for D. ignotum and D. quercuslanigerum, for which alternating asexual and sexual generations are known. The sexual generation of D. ignotum and a new morphological variety of D. quercuslanigerum from Mexico are both described for the first time. We provide descriptions, redescriptions, diagnoses, keys to species, DNA sequence data and analyses, and information on biology, phenology, and distribution. Additionally, four Andricus species with woolly galls and striato-reticulated metasomas are transferred to Striatoandricus Pujade-Villar: S. furnessulus, comb. nov., S. furnessae, comb. nov., S. guatemalensis, comb. nov., and S. tenuicornis, comb. nov.

Twenty nine new species of cynipid oak gall wasps from the Nearctic region (America north of Mexico) are described: Andricus archboldi Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., A. catalinensis Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A. chapmanii Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., A. chiricahuensis Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A. coconinoensis Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A. columbiensis Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A. cooki Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A. fitzpatricki Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., A. highlandensis Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A. mellificus Nicholls, Stone Melika, sp. nov., A. menkei Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., A. mogollonensis Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A. nichollsi Melika Stone, sp. nov., A. schickae Nicholls, Melika Stone, sp. nov., A. torreyaensis Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., A. williami Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., Antron lovellae Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., A.tomkursari Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., Dryocosmus archboldi Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., Loxaulus virginianae Melika Buss, sp. nov., Neuroterus alexandrae Nicholls Melika, sp. nov., N. aliceae Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., N. bussae Melika Nicholls, sp. nov., N. oblongifoliae Nicholls, Stone Melika, sp. nov., N. quaili Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., N. rosieae Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov., N. stonei Melika Nicholls, sp. nov., Zapatella abrahamsoni Melika, sp. nov., Z. brooksvillei Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov.. Alternate asexual and sexual generations are described for four species, Andricus archboldi Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., A. fitzpatricki Melika Abrahamson, sp. nov., A. schickae Nicholls, Melika Stone, sp. nov., Neuroterus aliceae Melika, Nicholls Stone, sp. nov.. Descriptions, diagnoses, plus information on biology and host associations are given for all new species. All taxa are supported by morphological data; matching of generations is established using DNA sequence data. We also demonstrate that Neuroterus niger var. alimas Kinsey should be considered as a nomen dubium.

A new genus, Prokius Nieves Aldrey, Medianero Nicholls, gen. nov., and two new species of oak gall wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini), Prokius cambrai Medianero Nieves-Aldrey sp. nov. and Prokius lisethiae Medianero Nieves-Aldrey sp. nov., are described from adults reared from galls on Quercus bumelioides Liebm (Fagaceae, sect. Quercus, white oaks) collected in Panama. The new genus is phylogenetically and morphologically close to Dros Kinsey and forms part of a large clade that includes species from several other genera that appear to require revision, including Andricus Hartig and Phylloteras Ashmead. Molecular and morphological data, diagnostic characters, gall descriptions, distribution and biological data of the new genus and the new species are given. This new genus represents the fourth recently described genus of Cynipidae endemic to the Neotropical region.

A new genus, Grahamstoneia Melika Nicholls, gen. nov., with one new species, G. humboldti Melika Nicholls, sp. nov., asexual generation, is described. This new taxon occurs in the south-western Nearctic, inducing galls on two species within Quercus section Protobalanus (Q. vacciniifolia Kellogg and Q. chrysolepis Liebm.), an ecology and distribution shared with the closely related genus Heteroecus Kinsey. Descriptions, diagnoses, biology, and host associations for the new genus and species are given. The new taxon is supported by morphological and molecular data.

We describe three new genera of cynipid oak gall wasps from the Nearctic: Burnettweldia Pujade-Villar, Melika Nicholls, gen. nov., Nichollsiella Melika, Pujade-Villar Stone, gen. nov., and Disholandricus Melika, Pujade-Villar Nicholls, gen. nov. (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini). Burnettweldia includes five species, B. californicordazi Cuesta-Porta, Melika Pujade-Villar, sp. nov., B. conalis (Weld), comb. nov., B. corallina (Bassett), comb. nov., B. plumbella (Kinsey), comb. nov., B. washingtonensis (Gillette), comb. nov.. Nichollsiella includes three species, N. arizonica (Cockerell), comb. nov., N. sulcata (Ashmead), comb. nov., and N. puigi Melika, Cuesta-Porta Pujade-Villar, sp. nov.. Disholandricus includes four species, D. chrysolepidis (Ashmead), comb. nov., D. lasius (Ashmead), comb. nov., D. reniformis (McCracken Egbert), comb. nov., D. truckeensis (Ashmead), comb. nov. The genus Paracraspis Weld, comb. rev. is re-established with three species, P. guadaloupensis (Fullaway), P. insolens (Weld), and P. patelloides (Trotter). Descriptions, re-descriptions, diagnoses, keys to genera and species are given, including data on DNA sequences, biology, phenology and distribution.

Bombyliidae is a very species-rich and widespread family of parasitoid flies with more than 250 genera classified into 17 extant subfamilies. However, little is known about their evolutionary history or how their present-day diversity was shaped. Transcriptomes of 15 species and anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) sequence captures of 86 species, representing 94 bee fly species and 14 subfamilies, were used to reconstruct the phylogeny of Bombyliidae. We integrated data from transcriptomes across each of the main lineages in our AHE tree to build a data set with more genes (550 loci versus 216 loci) and higher support levels. Our overall results show strong congruence with the current classification of the family, with 11 out of 14 included subfamilies recovered as monophyletic. Heterotropinae and Mythicomyiinae are successive sister groups to the remainder of the family. We examined the evolution of key morphological characters through our phylogenetic hypotheses and show that neither the "sand chamber subfamilies" nor the "Tomophthalmae" are monophyletic in our phylogenomic analyses. Based on our results, we reinstate two tribes at the subfamily level (Phthiriinae stat. rev. and Ecliminae stat. rev.) and we include the genus Sericosoma Macquart (previously incertae sedis) in the subfamily Oniromyiinae, bringing the total number of bee fly subfamilies to 19. Our dating analyses indicate a Jurassic origin of the family (165-194 Ma), with the sand chamber evolving early in bee fly evolution, in the late Jurassic or mid-Cretaceous (100-165 Ma). We hypothesize that the angiosperm radiation and the hothouse climate established during the late Cretaceous accelerated the diversification of bee flies, by providing an expanded range of resources for the parasitoid larvae and nectarivorous adults., (© The Willi Hennig Society 2020.)

Supplementary feeding of wildlife is widespread, being undertaken by more than half of households in many countries. However, the impact that these supplemental resources have is unclear, with impacts largely considered to be restricted to urban ecosystems. We reveal the pervasiveness of supplementary foodstuffs in the diet of a wild bird using metabarcoding of blue tit ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) faeces collected in early spring from a 220 km transect in Scotland with a large urbanization gradient. Supplementary foodstuffs were present in the majority of samples, with peanut ( Arachis hypogaea ) the single commonest (either natural or supplementary) dietary item. Consumption rates exhibited a distance decay from human habitation but remained high at several hundred metres from the nearest household and continued to our study limit of 1.4 km distant. Supplementary food consumption was associated with a near quadrupling of blue tit breeding density and a 5-day advancement of breeding phenology. We show that woodland bird species using supplementary food have increasing UK population trends, while species that do not, and/or are outcompeted by blue tits, are likely to be declining. We suggest that the impacts of supplementary feeding are larger and more spatially extensive than currently appreciated and could be disrupting population and ecosystem dynamics.

The monophyly and taxonomic validity of some currently accepted genera of gall wasps in the Cynipini (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) are being challenged by recent systematic studies. Here we used morphological and molecular data to re-describe and revise the taxonomic limits of the monotypic genus Kokkocynips Pujade-Villar Melika, previously recorded only from Mexico.                We describe a new species from Panama, Kokkocynips panamensis Medianero Nieves-Aldrey, reared from galls on Quercus salicifolia Neé, and add new records from Mexico for the type species of the genus K. doctorrosae Pujade-Villar. Six Nearctic species, Dryocosmus rileyi (Ashmead, 1896), D. imbricariae (Ashmead, 1896), D. coxii (Basset, 1881), D. deciduus (Beutenmueller, 1913), Callirhytis difficilis (Ashmead, 1887) and C. attractans (Kinsey, 1922) are transferred to Kokkocynips. Species of Kokkocynips are associated only with red oaks (Quercus section Lobatae (Fagaceae)) and are distributed in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, from Canada through Mexico and Panama. Taxonomic limits of Kokkocynips are discussed in light of the molecular phylogenetic relationships of the studied species. Diagnostic characters, gall description, distribution, and biological data of Kokkocynips species are given, including a key for the identification of the asexual generations of seven species.

Background: How to best support pregnant women in making truly autonomous decisions which accord with current consent law is poorly understood and problematic for them and their healthcare professionals. This observational study examined a range of ante-natal consultations where consent for an intervention took place to determine key themes during the encounter., Methods: Qualitative research in a large urban teaching hospital in London. Sixteen consultations between pregnant women and their healthcare professionals (nine obstetricians and three midwives) where ante-natal interventions were discussed and consent was documented were directly observed. Data were collectively analysed to identify key themes characterising the consent process., Results: Four themes were identified: 1) Clinical framing - by framing the consultation in terms of the clinical decision to be made HCPs miss the opportunity to assess what really matters to a pregnant woman. For many women the opportunity to feel that their previous experiences had been 'heard' was an important but sometimes neglected prelude to the ensuing consultation; 2) Clinical risk dominated narrative - all consultations were dominated by information related to risk; discussion of reasonable alternatives was not always observed and women's understanding of information was seldom verified making compliance with current law questionable; 3) Parallel narrative - woman-centred experience - for pregnant women social factors such as the place of birth and partner influences were as or more important than considerations of clinical risk yet were often missed by HCPs; 4) Cross cutting narrative - genuine dialogue - we observed variably effective interaction between the clinical (2) and patient (3) narratives influenced by trust and empathy and explicit empowering language by HCPs., Conclusion: We found that ante-natal consultations that include consent for interventions are dominated by clinical framing and risk, and explore the woman-centred narrative less well. Current UK law requires consent consultations to include explicit effort to gauge a woman's preferences and values, yet consultations seem to fail to achieve such understanding. At the very least, consultations may be improved by the addition of opening questions along the lines of 'what matters to you most?'

A new sexual form of a gallwasp, Andricus forni Pujade-Villar Nicholls n. sp., is described from China (Zhejiang province) based on males, females and galls collected on Quercus serrata. Data on the morphology, diagnosis, distribution and biology of the new species are provided. Molecular data are also provided to support this species. A key to Asian Andricus gallwasp species with similar integral leaf galls is presented. Finally we discuss the taxonomic status of Asian Andricus making these integral leaf galls, including uncertainty on the validity of both Andricus quercicola and A. marmoratus.

Premise: Targeted enrichment methods facilitate sequencing of hundreds of nuclear loci to enhance phylogenetic resolution and elucidate why some parts of the "tree of life" are difficult (if not impossible) to resolve. The mimosoid legumes are a prominent pantropical clade of ~3300 species of woody angiosperms for which previous phylogenies have shown extensive lack of resolution, especially among the species-rich and taxonomically challenging ingoids., Methods: We generated transcriptomes to select low-copy nuclear genes, enrich these via hybrid capture for representative species of most mimosoid genera, and analyze the resulting data using de novo assembly and various phylogenomic tools for species tree inference. We also evaluate gene tree support and conflict for key internodes and use phylogenetic network analysis to investigate phylogenetic signal across the ingoids., Results: Our selection of 964 nuclear genes greatly improves phylogenetic resolution across the mimosoid phylogeny and shows that the ingoid clade can be resolved into several well-supported clades. However, nearly all loci show lack of phylogenetic signal for some of the deeper internodes within the ingoids., Conclusions: Lack of resolution in the ingoid clade is most likely the result of hyperfast diversification, potentially causing a hard polytomy of six or seven lineages. The gene set for targeted sequencing presented here offers great potential to further enhance the phylogeny of mimosoids and the wider Caesalpinioideae with denser taxon sampling, to provide a framework for taxonomic reclassification, and to study the ingoid radiation., (© 2020 The Authors. American Journal of Botany published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Botanical Society of America.)

Rather little is known about the dietary richness and variation of generalist insectivorous species, including birds, due primarily to difficulties in prey identification. Using faecal metabarcoding, we provide the most comprehensive analysis of a passerine's diet to date, identifying the relative magnitudes of biogeographic, habitat and temporal trends in the richness and turnover in diet of Cyanistes caeruleus (blue tit) along a 39 site and 2° latitudinal transect in Scotland. Faecal samples were collected in 2014-2015 from adult birds roosting in nestboxes prior to nest building. DNA was extracted from 793 samples and we amplified COI and 16S minibarcodes. We identified 432 molecular operational taxonomic units that correspond to putative dietary items. Most dietary items were rare, with Lepidoptera being the most abundant and taxon-rich prey order. Here, we present a statistical approach for estimation of gradients and intersample variation in taxonomic richness and turnover using a generalised linear mixed model. We discuss the merits of this approach over existing tools and present methods for model-based estimation of repeatability, taxon richness and Jaccard indices. We found that dietary richness increases significantly as spring advances, but changes little with elevation, latitude or local tree composition. In comparison, dietary composition exhibits significant turnover along temporal and spatial gradients and among sites. Our study shows the promise of faecal metabarcoding for inferring the macroecology of food webs, but we also highlight the challenge posed by contamination and make recommendations of laboratory and statistical practices to minimise its impact on inference., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The sexual generation of Dryocosmus destefanii Cerasa Melika, 2018 that emerges from galls on Q. suber L. in Italy is described for the first time, establishing its heterogonic life cycle. We provide observations on its distribution, illustration of adults and galls and information on its biology as supported by morphological and molecular data. An illustrated identification key to Western Palaearctic Dryocosmus species is also given.

Four species of Dryocosmus cynipid gallwasps are now known to induce galls on Chrysolepis in California and Oregon. Two new species, Dryocosmus demartinii Melika, Nicholls Stone and Dryocosmus juliae Melika, Nicholls Stone are described. Males of the sexual generation of D. rileypokei plus adults of the asexual generation of this species are both described for the first time. A detailed description of D. castanopsidis is given for the first time. In addition to descriptions we provide diagnoses and information on biology and host associations for all four species. All the newly described taxa are supported by morphological and molecular data.

We describe a new genus of cynipid oak gallwasp, Protobalandricus Melika, Nicholls Stone (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini). Protobalandricus gen. nov. includes one previously described species, Disholcaspis spectabilis (Kinsey), which induces stem swelling-like galls on golden cup oaks, Quercus section Protobalanus. Descriptions of the genus and diagnostic characters, including DNA sequence data, are presented.

Coevolutionary theory has long predicted that the arms race between plants and herbivores is a major driver of host selection and diversification. At a local scale, plant defenses contribute significantly to the structure of herbivore assemblages and the high alpha diversity of plants in tropical rain forests. However, the general importance of plant defenses in host associations and divergence at regional scales remains unclear. Here, we examine the role of plant defensive traits and phylogeny in the evolution of host range and species divergence in leaf-feeding sawflies of the family Argidae associated with Neotropical trees in the genus Inga throughout the Amazon, the Guiana Shield and Panama. Our analyses show that the phylogenies of both the sawfly herbivores and their Inga hosts are congruent, and that sawflies radiated at approximately the same time, or more recently than their Inga hosts. Analyses controlling for phylogenetic effects show that the evolution of host use in the sawflies associated with Inga is better correlated with Inga chemistry than with Inga phylogeny, suggesting a pattern of delayed host tracking closely tied to host chemistry. Finally, phylogenetic analyses show that sister species of Inga- sawflies are dispersed across the Neotropics, suggesting a role for allopatric divergence and vicariance in Inga diversification. These results are consistent with the idea that host defensive traits play a key role not only in structuring the herbivore assemblages at a single site, but also in the processes shaping host association and species divergence at a regional scale.

Since Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) emerged worldwide as a dangerous pest of chestnuts, there is only one dubious record from Japan of a cynipid inquiline reared from its galls. This is the first comprehensively documented record of a cynipid inquiline, Saphonecrus kuriphilusi, new species reared from galls of D. kuriphilus in Greece. Morphological description, morphological and molecular diagnostic characters for the new species are given.

Cynipid gallwasps comprise 1364 species worldwide, predominantly in temperate regions of the Holarctic. The vast majority of recorded species are from the Nearctic and the Western Palaearctic, both of which are long-standing centers of research on the taxonomy and biology of this group. In contrast, the Eastern Palaearctic and the Oriental Region faunas are much less studied, but potentially extremely rich. Previously recorded species richness of cynipid groups in the Eastern Palaearctic and Oriental regions probably represents a significant underestimate. This is particularly marked for gallwasps associated with oaks (tribe Cynipini), as has been shown by recent works, which describe many new species galling oaks in the subgenera Quercus and Cyclobalanopsis and plants of the other Fagaceae genera (Castanopsis, Lithocarpus and Castanea). In the present paper, we summarise the current knowledge of oak gallwasps in the regions that extend from Pakistan, through Nepal and China to Japan and south to Indonesia, and list a total of 97 species of Cynipini from the area.

The need for species identification and taxonomic discovery has led to the development of innovative technologies for large-scale plant identification. DNA barcoding has been useful, but fails to distinguish among many species in species-rich plant genera, particularly in tropical regions. Here, we show that chemical fingerprinting, or 'chemocoding', has great potential for plant identification in challenging tropical biomes. Using untargeted metabolomics in combination with multivariate analysis, we constructed species-level fingerprints, which we define as chemocoding. We evaluated the utility of chemocoding with species that were defined morphologically and subject to next-generation DNA sequencing in the diverse and recently radiated neotropical genus Inga (Leguminosae), both at single study sites and across broad geographic scales. Our results show that chemocoding is a robust method for distinguishing morphologically similar species at a single site and for identifying widespread species across continental-scale ranges. Given that species are the fundamental unit of analysis for conservation and biodiversity research, the development of accurate identification methods is essential. We suggest that chemocoding will be a valuable additional source of data for a quick identification of plants, especially for groups where other methods fall short., (© 2018 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2018 New Phytologist Trust.)

A new species, Dryocosmus destefanii Cerasa Melika n. sp. associated with a Cerris section oak, Quercus suber L., is described from Italy. Description, diagnosis, host associations and biology for the new species and an illustrated identification key to the Western Palaearctic Dryocosmus species are given. The description is supported by morphological and molecular data.

Communities of insect herbivores and their natural enemies are rich and ecologically crucial components of terrestrial biodiversity. Understanding the processes that promote their origin and maintenance is thus of considerable interest. One major proposed mechanism is ecological speciation through host-associated differentiation (HAD), the divergence of a polyphagous species first into ecological host races and eventually into more specialized daughter species. The rich chalcid parasitoid communities attacking cynipid oak gall wasp hosts are structured by multiple host traits, including food plant taxon, host gall phenology, and gall structure. Here, we ask whether the same traits structure genetic diversity within supposedly generalist parasitoid morphospecies. We use mitochondrial DNA sequences and microsatellite genotypes to quantify HAD for Megastigmus ( Bootanomyia ) dorsalis , a complex of two apparently generalist cryptic parasitoid species attacking oak galls. Ancient Balkan refugial populations showed phenological separation between the cryptic species, one primarily attacking spring galls, and the other mainly attacking autumn galls. The spring species also contained host races specializing on galls developing on different host-plant lineages (sections Cerris vs. Quercus ) within the oak genus Quercus . These results indicate more significant host-associated structuring within oak gall parasitoid communities than previously thought and support ecological theory predicting the evolution of specialist lineages within generalist parasitoids. In contrast, UK populations of the autumn cryptic species associated with both native and recently invading oak gall wasps showed no evidence of population differentiation, implying rapid recruitment of native parasitoid populations onto invading hosts, and hence potential for natural biological control. This is of significance given recent rapid range expansion of the economically damaging chestnut gall wasp, Dryocosmus kuriphilus , in Europe.

Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) is a powerful and widely used approach in inference of population history. However, the computational effort required to discriminate among alternative historical scenarios often limits the set that is compared to those considered more likely a priori. While often justifiable, this approach will fail to consider unexpected but well-supported population histories. We used a hierarchical tournament approach, in which subsets of scenarios are compared in a first round of ABC analyses and the winners are compared in a second analysis, to reconstruct the population history of an oak gall wasp, Synergus umbraculus (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae) across the Western Palaearctic. We used 4,233 bp of sequence data across seven loci to explore the relationships between four putative Pleistocene refuge populations in Iberia, Italy, the Balkans and Western Asia. We compared support for 148 alternative scenarios in eight pools, each pool comprising all possible rearrangements of four populations over a given topology of relationships, with or without founding of one population by admixture and with or without an unsampled "ghost" population. We found very little support for the directional "out of the east" scenario previously inferred for other gall wasp community members. Instead, the best-supported models identified Iberia as the first-regional population to diverge from the others in the late Pleistocene, followed by divergence between the Balkans and Western Asia, and founding of the Italian population through late Pleistocene admixture from Iberia and the Balkans. We compare these results with what is known for other members of the oak gall community, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of using a tournament approach to explore phylogeographic model space., (© 2017 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Coevolutionary models suggest that herbivores drive diversification and community composition in plants. For herbivores, many questions remain regarding how plant defenses shape host choice and community structure. We addressed these questions using the tree genus Inga and its lepidopteran herbivores in the Amazon. We constructed phylogenies for both plants and insects and quantified host associations and plant defenses. We found that similarity in herbivore assemblages between Inga species was correlated with similarity in defenses. There was no correlation with phylogeny, a result consistent with our observations that the expression of defenses in Inga is independent of phylogeny. Furthermore, host defensive traits explained 40% of herbivore community similarity. Analyses at finer taxonomic scales showed that different lepidopteran clades select hosts based on different defenses, suggesting taxon-specific histories of herbivore-host plant interactions. Finally, we compared the phylogeny and defenses of Inga to phylogenies for the major lepidopteran clades. We found that closely related herbivores fed on Inga with similar defenses rather than on closely related plants. Together, these results suggest that plant defenses might be more evolutionarily labile than the herbivore traits related to host association. Hence, there is an apparent asymmetry in the evolutionary interactions between Inga and its herbivores. Although plants may evolve under selection by herbivores, we hypothesize that herbivores may not show coevolutionary adaptations, but instead "chase" hosts based on the herbivore's own traits at the time that they encounter a new host, a pattern more consistent with resource tracking than with the arms race model of coevolution., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Many herbivores employ reward-based mutualisms with ants to gain protection from natural enemies. We examine the evolutionary dynamics of a tetra-trophic interaction in which gall wasp herbivores induce their host oaks to produce nectar-secreting galls, which attract ants that provide protection from parasitoids. We show that, consistent with other gall defensive traits, nectar secretion has evolved repeatedly across the oak gall wasp tribe and also within a single genus (Disholcaspis) that includes many nectar-inducing species. Once evolved, nectar secretion is never lost in Disholcaspis, consistent with high defensive value of this trait. We also show that evolution of nectar secretion is correlated with a transition from solitary to aggregated oviposition, resulting in clustered nectar-secreting galls, which produce a resource that ants can more easily monopolize. Such clustering is commonly seen in ant guard mutualisms. We suggest that correlated evolution between maternal oviposition and larval nectar induction traits has enhanced the effectiveness of this gall defense strategy.

Pollen beetles (Nitidulidae: Meligethinae) are among the most abundant flower-visiting insects in Europe. While some species damage millions of hectares of crops annually, the biology of many species is little known. We assessed the utility of a 797 base pair fragment of the cytochrome oxidase 1 gene to resolve molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) in 750 adult pollen beetles sampled from flowers of 63 plant species sampled across the UK and continental Europe. We used the same locus to analyse region-scale patterns in population structure and demography in an economically important pest, Brassicogethes aeneus. We identified 44 Meligethinae at ∼2% divergence, 35 of which contained published sequences. A few specimens could not be identified because the MOTUs containing them included published sequences for multiple Linnaean species, suggesting either retention of ancestral haplotype polymorphism or identification errors in published sequences. Over 90% of UK specimens were identifiable as B. aeneus. Plant associations of adult B. aeneus were found to be far wider taxonomically than for their larvae. UK B. aeneus populations showed contrasting affiliations between the north (most similar to Scandinavia and the Baltic) and south (most similar to western continental Europe), with strong signatures of population growth in the south.

Eight new species of cynipid gallwasps, Cycloneuroterus abei Melika & Tang, C. ergei Tang & Melika, C. gilvus Melika & Tang, C. globosus Melika & Tang, C. jianwui Tang & Melika, C. lohsei Melika & Tang, C. tumiclavus Tang & Melika, C. uraianus Tang & Melika, from Taiwan and mainland China are described. Descriptions, diagnoses, biology, and host associations for the new species and a key to all Cycloneuroterus species are given. All taxa are supported by morphological and molecular data. Seven newly described species induce galls on Quercus subgenus Cyclobalanopsis, while one, C. uraianus, induces galls on Castanopsis. This is the first Cycloneuroterus species known to associate with Castanopsis.

Fifteen new species of cynipid inquilines, Saphonecrus chinensis Tang & Schwéger, S. gilvus Melika & Schwéger, S. globosus Schwéger & Tang, S. leleyi Melika & Schwéger, S. lithocarpii Schwéger & Melika, S. longinuxi Schwéger & Melika, S. morii Schwéger & Tang, S. nantoui Tang, Schwéger & Melika, S. nichollsi Schwéger & Melika, S. pachylomai Schwéger, Tang & Melika, S. robustus Schwéger & Melika, S. saliciniai Melika, Tang & Schwéger, S. shanzhukui Melika & Tang, S. symbioticus Melika & Schwéger, and S. taitungi Schwéger, Tang & Melika, from the Eastern Palaearctic are described. Descriptions, diagnoses, biology, and host associations for the new species, and a key to Palaearctic Saphonecrus species are given. All new taxa form distinct units as demonstrated by the molecular phylogenetic analyses of Palaearctic Saphonecrus species. The status of some earlier described Saphonecrus species is discussed also. The Synergini genus Lithonecrus Nieves-Aldrey & Butterill, 2014 is synonymized with Lithosaphonecrus Tang, Melika & Bozsó, 2013. Three Saphonecrus species are transferred to Synergus: Synergus brevis (Weld) comb. nova, Synergus hupingshanensis (Liu, Yang & Zhu) comb. nova, and Synergus yukawai (Wachi, Ide & Abe) comb. nova. Synophrus vietnamensis Abe, Ide, Konishi & Ueno is transferred to Lithosaphonecrus: Lithosaphonecrus vietnamensis Abe, Ide, Konishi & Ueno), comb. nova. The current number of valid Saphonecrus species worldwide is 36.

Disruption of species interactions is a key issue in climate change biology. Interactions involving forest trees may be particularly vulnerable due to evolutionary rate limitations imposed by long generation times. One mitigation strategy for such impacts is Climate matching - the augmentation of local native tree populations by input from nonlocal populations currently experiencing predicted future climates. This strategy is controversial because of potential cascading impacts on locally adapted animal communities. We explored these impacts using abundance data for local native gallwasp herbivores sampled from 20 provenances of sessile oak (Quercus petraea) planted in a common garden trial. We hypothesized that non-native provenances would show (i) declining growth performance with increasing distance between provenance origin and trial site, and (ii) phenological differences to local oaks that increased with latitudinal differences between origin and trial site. Under a local adaptation hypothesis, we predicted declining gallwasp abundance with increasing phenological mismatch between native and climate-matched trees. Both hypotheses for oaks were supported. Provenance explained significant variation in gallwasp abundance, but no gall type showed the relationship between abundance and phenological mismatch predicted by a local adaptation hypothesis. Our results show that climate matching would have complex and variable impacts on oak gall communities.

Evolutionary radiations are prominent and pervasive across many plant lineages in diverse geographical and ecological settings; in neotropical rainforests there is growing evidence suggesting that a significant fraction of species richness is the result of recent radiations. Understanding the evolutionary trajectories and mechanisms underlying these radiations demands much greater phylogenetic resolution than is currently available for these groups. The neotropical tree genus Inga (Leguminosae) is a good example, with ~300 extant species and a crown age of 2-10 MY, yet over 6 kb of plastid and nuclear DNA sequence data gives only poor phylogenetic resolution among species. Here we explore the use of larger-scale nuclear gene data obtained though targeted enrichment to increase phylogenetic resolution within Inga. Transcriptome data from three Inga species were used to select 264 nuclear loci for targeted enrichment and sequencing. Following quality control to remove probable paralogs from these sequence data, the final dataset comprised 259,313 bases from 194 loci for 24 accessions representing 22 Inga species and an outgroup (Zygia). Bayesian phylogenies reconstructed using either all loci concatenated or a gene-tree/species-tree approach yielded highly resolved phylogenies. We used coalescent approaches to show that the same targeted enrichment data also have significant power to discriminate among alternative within-species population histories within the widespread species I. umbellifera. In either application, targeted enrichment simplifies the informatics challenge of identifying orthologous loci associated with de novo genome sequencing. We conclude that targeted enrichment provides the large volumes of phylogenetically-informative sequence data required to resolve relationships within recent plant species radiations, both at the species level and for within-species phylogeographic studies.

Background: Policy initiatives and technological advances enable the use of integrated shared care models of healthcare delivery whereby the focus of care is moved from the hospital to the community, and also of models where patients take increasing responsibility for monitoring and treatment. Such shifts may or may be perceived to change professional roles and responsibilities with implications to the delivery of a professionally and legally acceptable standard of care. We focus on oral anticoagulation and stroke prevention therapy to examine some possible professional and legal implications of the increasing use of shared care., Methods: This paper sought to explore how changes in service delivery influence the discharge of professional responsibilities to patients receiving oral anti-coagulation therapy in the context of clinicians' legal and professional duties. We used a case study of the implementation of a distributed care anti-coagulation service. Qualitative data were collected using complementary methods: participant observation, reflective journaling and legal analysis., Results: Concerns identified by this study included a fear of litigation among both hospital and community-based professionals, a reluctance to embrace an extended role, uncertainty among professionals about the extent of their responsibilities and associated difficulties around adequate exchanges of information. These concerns reflected uncertainty among professionals about the legal and professional scope of the duty of care they owed patients., Conclusion: The findings from this study emphasise the importance of clear role definition, communication and inter-agency cooperation for the successful implementation of a shared care service in which threats to professional and legal standards of care are minimised.