O travelers passing through the southern US. may be struck by the unusual appearance of the ninebanded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus). This animal, which is about threequarters of a meter long, canbe identified by the leathery plates of armor that cover it nearly from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail. It also has a seriesof transverse plates that wrap around its midsection, giving i...

Several modes of reproduction were described in the genus Hypericum. Besides obligate sexuality, irregularities in meiosis, polyembryony and pseudogamous apomixis were noticed in various taxa of the genus. This review summarizes previous knowledge and also analyses evolutionary consequences of different breeding systems and possible employment of particular reproductive modes for breeding in th...

Platygaster chilophagae, new species, is described from specimens reared from larvae of Chilophaga virgati Gagné collected and reared in eastern South Dakota. The host larva feeds on the basal meristematic tissues of the inflorescence of Panicum virgatum L. This new species seems to lack immediate affinities with any described Platygaster species in its combination of characteristics, and is co...

Polyembryony is a unique form of development in which many embryos are clonally produced from a single egg. Polyembryony is known to occur in many animals, but the underlying genetic mechanism responsible is unknown. In a parasitic wasp, Copidosoma floridanum, polyembryogenesis is initiated during the formation and division of the morula. In the present study, cDNA libraries were constructed fr...