Aphids and other phytophagous insects often show intra-specific variations in relation to host plant utilization. In several instances, intra-species variations lead to host-plant specialization. These are considered to be important source of speciation. In a recent study ( Foottit RG et al. 2010 . Zootaxa 2358: 25–38) two forms of the banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa f typica Coquerel (He...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Species of Araceae accumulate calcium oxalate in the form of characteristically grooved needle-shaped raphide crystals and multi-crystal druses. This study focuses on the distribution and development of raphides and druses during leaf growth in ten species of Amorphophallus (Araceae) in order to determine the crystal macropatterns and the underlying ultrastructural features ...

One of the drawbacks of our current preoccupation with model organisms and our inveterate focus on crop plants is that our natural curiosities about some of the more bizarre plants in the world go largely unsatisfied. I suspect that many readers of this journal were inspired to become plant physiologists when they first observed time-lapse images of a climbing tendril, or touched a Mimosa pudic...