The life history of Hayesiana triopus (Westwood, 1847), with taxonomic notes on both present and former species of the genus Hayesiana Fletcher, 1982 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae).

The two species previously included in the genus Hayesiana Fletcher, 1982 were studied. The life history of the sole currently included species, Hayesiana triopus (Westwood, 1847) is illustrated in colour for the first time. Field records of Hayesiana triopus and Dahira farintaenia (Zhu & Wang, 1997) (previously Hayesiana farintaenia) are given, with the first description of the female genitalia of the latter. The diagnostic features and DNA barcoding data of Hayesiana triopus and Dahira farintaenia are also discussed.

Cross-regional scale pollution of freshwater biofilms unveiled by antibiotic resistance genes.

A comprehensive global profile of the distribution of ARGs in freshwater biofilms is lacking. We utilized metagenomic approaches to reveal the diversity, abundance, transferability and hosts of ARGs in 96 freshwater biofilm samples from 38 sampling sites across four countries. The abundant ARGs were associated with bacitracin, multidrug, polymyxin macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin (MLS) aminoglycoside, ß-lactam, chloramphenicol, sulfonamide and tetracycline resistance, consistent with the spectrum of antibiotics commonly used in human or veterinary medicine. As expected, the resistome in freshwater biofilm habitats was significantly influenced by geographical location and human footprint. Based on the co-occurrence pattern revealed by network analysis, mdtC, kdpE, and emrB were proposed as ARG indicators in freshwater biofilms that can be used to evaluate the abundance of 46 other co-occurring ARG subtypes quantitatively. Metagenomic assembly analysis revealed that the identified ARGs were hosted by more than 46 bacterial phyla, including various pathogens, which greatly expands the knowledge of resistome diversity in freshwater biofilms. Our study points to the central roles of biofilms in harbouring ARGs. The results could enhance understanding the distribution of ARGs in freshwater habitats, thereby strengthening the global environmental risk assessment and management of ARGs.

Ecology: What Affects the Distribution of Global Bee Diversity.

Despite being the most important pollinators in the world, how bees are distributed and the main drivers of their diversity have never been assessed at a global scale. A new study has brought together global data sets to answer these questions.

Cool habitats support darker and bigger butterflies in Australian tropical forests.

Morphology mediates the relationship between an organism's body temperature and its environment. Dark organisms, for example, tend to absorb heat more quickly than lighter individuals, which could influence their responses to temperature. Therefore, temperature-related traits such as morphology may affect patterns of species abundance, richness, and community assembly across a broad range of spatial scales. In this study, we examined variation in color lightness and body size within butterfly communities across hot and cool habitats in the tropical woodland-rainforest ecosystems of northeast Queensland, Australia. Using thermal imaging, we documented the absorption of solar radiation relative to color lightness and wingspan and then built a phylogenetic tree based on available sequences to analyze the effects of habitat on these traits within a phylogenetic framework. In general, darker and larger individuals were more prevalent in cool, closed-canopy rainforests than in immediately adjacent and hotter open woodlands. In addition, darker and larger butterflies preferred to be active in the shade and during crepuscular hours, while lighter and smaller butterflies were more active in the sun and midday hours-a pattern that held after correcting for phylogeny. Our ex situ experiment supported field observations that dark and large butterflies heated up faster than light and small butterflies under standardized environmental conditions. Our results show a thermal consequence of butterfly morphology across habitats and how environmental factors at a microhabitat scale may affect the distribution of species based on these traits. Furthermore, this study highlights how butterfly species might differentially respond to warming based on ecophysiological traits and how thermal refuges might emerge at microclimatic and habitat scales.