GENETIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CHORISTONEURA SPECIES (LEPIDOPTERA: TORTRICIDAE) IN NORTH AMERICA AS REVEALED BY ISOZYME STUDIES

Allozymes at several polymorphic loci were assayed in larval collections of 12 recognized species and two possible new species of Choristoneura and two species of Archips. Most of the 48 collections came from high density populations, and those of C. fumiferana, C. occidentalis, and C. pinus represented much of the geographic range of these species. Mean percentage heterozygosity ranged from 2.0 to 18.6%, based on nine polymorphic loci. Three loci are sex-linked in C. fumiferana, two in C. pinus and C. occidentalis and probably in some other members of the group. Allozymes of aspartate transaminase (AAT-1) were most varied among the species and permit identification of individual C. fumiferana in better than 95% of cases. Among the group of coniferophagous Choristoneura species genetic distances were small (max. Nei = 0.232); C. fumiferana was the most distinct species. Wagner trees based on modified Rogers’ distances supported the above conclusions but indicated that separations among C. biennis, C. orae, C. occidentalis, C. carnana, C. subretiniana, and the two new species of Choristoneura were very small and probably below the species level, based on the allozymes measured.

Evaluation of the subtribes Moricandiinae, Savignyinae, Vellinae, and Zillinae (Brassicaceae, tribe Brassiceae) using chloroplast DNA restriction site variation

Chloroplast DNA restriction site data was used to assess relationships among 21 taxa of the subtribes Moricandiinae, Savignyinae, Vellinae, and Zillinae (tribe Brassiceae, Brassicaceae). A total of 301 restriction site mutations was observed, with 154 (51.2%) phylogenetically informative. Cladistic analyses, based on Wagner and Dollo parsimony, indicated two major clades. One of these, the Vellinae–Zillinae clade, included members of the Vellinae and Zillinae, with a clarification of the positions of certain genera. The second, the Brassicinae : Rapa–Oleracea clade included Brassica rapa, Moricandia, Pseuderucaria, and Rytidocarpus. The position of Henophyton (Savignyinae) was not clearly resolved. Within the Vellinae–Zillinae clade, two main lineages were evident: (i) Vellinae-core clade, which includes Boleum, Carrichtera, and Vella (all members of the Vellinae) and Euzomodendron (Savignyinae); (ii) Zillinae clade, which includes Fortuynia, Physorrhynchus, Zilla (all Zillinae), and Foleyola and Schouwia (assigned to Moricandiinae and Vellinae, respectively). The positions of Psychine and Succowia (both assigned to Vellinae) were not clearly resolved in the strict consensus but were aligned with the Vellinae-core clade in almost all of the most-parsimonious Wagner trees. The cpDNA data did not support the current separate subtribal ranking for the Moricandiinae but instead revealed the genetic similarity of Moricandia, Pseuderucaria, and Rytidocarpus to subtribe Brassicinae. Key words: Brassicinae, Moricandiinae, Savignyinae, Vellinae, Zillinae, molecular systematics.

Implications of shallow tethys and the origin of modern oceans

Cladograrns resemble directed Prim networks or Wagner trees, and are usually programmed by parsimony, i.e. the program searches for the least number of steps to achieve a cladistic synthesis. Large matrices can yield an almost infinite number of possible trees; and even when differences of only a few steps are involved there are numerous plausible solutions. Parsimony and other factors, such as Nelson and Platnick's assumptions, act as Occam's razor, reducing these to a manageable few.

Relationships in the Stringybarks, Eucalyptus L'hérit. Informal Subgenus Monocalyptus Series Capitellatae and Olsenianae: Phylogenetic Hypotheses, Biogeography and Classification

The stringybark eucalypts form a monophyletic group characterised in Monocalyptus by hispid juvenile leaves. They have been analysed using a phenetic method, additive similarity trees and a cladistic parsimony method (Wagner trees). The shortest Wagner trees indicated that Eucalyptus muelleriana is the sister species to all other stringybarks. E. olsenii and a taxon from the Carnarvon Range (Queensland) are the next most plesiomorphic taxa in the phyletic sequence. The remaining taxa form a trichotomy: E. tindaliae, species with fruits > 8 mm in diameter and with the disc ascending, and species with fruits < 8 mm and with the disc level. Subclades are largely characterised by seedling morphology. A revised informal classification is presented, the group being treated as a superseries. A method of cladistic biogeography is explained and applied. The stringybarks are endemic to eastern mainland Australia plus Kangaroo Island, but not Tasmania, and the consensus area-cladogram suggests a sequence of seven historical events subdividing an ancestral area into eight smaller ones. Queensland appears to be the most plesiomorphic area.

Numerical Taxonomy of Australian Species of 9 Genera of Scolopendrid Centipedes (Chilopoda, Scolopendridae)

Data on 32 characters of each of 35 Australian species in nine scolopendrid genera (Scolopendrinae: Arthrorhabdus, Asanada, Colobopleurus, Cormocephalus, Notiasemus, Scolopendra; Otostigminae: Ethmostigmus, Otostigmus, Rhysida) are analysed by means of various numerical procedures (Phenetic: principal components, nearest and furthest neighbour, WPGMA, UPGMA, a new 'variable' method, PHD, minimum spanning tree, three types of consensus trees, CRAMER; Cladistic: Wagner trees, Farris optimization, ADTREE). A few scolopendrine species form a 'primitive' cluster with the outgroup, Cryptopidae. The species inermis is removed from Cormocephalus and reinstated in its original genus Cupipes. Colobopleurus inopinatus groups inseparably in Cormocephalus and is transferred to it. Arthrorhabdus mjobergi often links with Scolopendra and consistently separates widely from A. paucispinus, which is similar to extralimital members of the genus. With the above provisos, the various species generally group together in their currently recognized genera, and Scolopendra (two species) and Cormocephalus, sensu lato (17 species) emerge as particularly 'strong' genera. Cormocephalus, as in previous analyses, tends to have subgroups of varying degrees of consistency but these are considered inadequately robust to warrant receiving formal subgeneric status. The three otostigmine genera are 'strong' and cluster near each other: Rhysida and Otostigmus are particularly 'good' genera; Ethmostigmus has two consistently strong segments. The cladograms are, as usual, highly asymmetrical (pectinate) at upper levels. They provide a putative evolutionary tree, but a very unsatisfactory basis for a 'phylogenetic' classification.

Seedling Characters and Phylogenetic Relationships in the Informal Series Ovatae of Eucalyptus, Subgenus Symphyomyrtus

Using seedling characters, the relationships of 16 taxa of the informal series Ovatae of Eucaiyptus were investigated. The method of multidimensional unfolding proved useful in determining ancestral states of different characters and testing for conformity amongst characters when outgroup comparison was not possible. The analyses included Wagner trees, a branch and bound algorithm (which produced the shortest trees) and an additive similarity tree. Neighbour relationships were examined using a network procedure (TWONET). The results suggested that series Ovatae is a paraphyletic group, although one subgroup, approximately equivalent to subseries Ovatinae, is probably monophyletic. The biogeography and ecology of the taxa support this conclusion. A broader study of section Maidenaria is recommended before taxonomic revision.