The use of Bombus terrestris L. commercial colonies for outdoor and greenhouse crop pollination is currently widespread. Colony breeding includes bumblebee feeding, mostly by using the honeybee pollen loads of diverse palynological composition. Because the chemical content of pollen is highly variable, the choice of commercial blend should not be random but has to be carefully selected to ensur...

The generic diagnosis of Mehdiella Seurat, 1918 is emended based on study and redescription of Mehdiella microstoma (Drasche, 1884) from the caecum of Testudo graeca Linnaeus, 1758 collected in Settat, Morocco and on study and description of a new species, Mehdiella petterae sp. n., from the large intestine of Testudo hermanni (Gmelin, 1789) collected in Catalonia, Spain. Scanning electron micr...

One of the most compelling features of the cichlid fishes of the African Great Lakes is the seemingly endless diversity of male coloration. Colour diversification has been implicated as an important factor driving cichlid speciation. Colour has also been central to cichlid taxonomy and, thus, to our concept of species diversity. We undertook a phylogeographical examination of several allopatric...

Lake Malawi in eastern Africa harbors > 500 endemic species of cichlid fishes, all of which are believed to have emerged from a single founding population in the past 2 Myr. Molecular characterization of differences among the species could provide important information about the nature of speciation in the period of adaptive radiation. Because of the close relationship, however, molecular varia...