Organic Citrus – a Growers’ Manual –

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Organic Citrus – a Growers’ Manual – Organic Citrus – A growers’ manual – RIRDCNew ideas for rural Australia © 2009 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved. ISBN 1 74151 841 5 ISSN 1440-6845 Organic Citrus – A growers’ manual by David Madge Publication No. 09/050 The information contained in this publication is intended for general use to assist public knowledge and discussion and to help improve the development of sustainable regions. You must not rely on any information contained in this publication without taking specialist advice relevant to your particular circumstances. While reasonable care has been taken in preparing this publication to ensure that information is true and correct, the Commonwealth of Australia gives no assurance as to the accuracy of any information in this publication. The Commonwealth of Australia, RIRDC, the authors or contributors expressly disclaim, to the maximum extent permitted by law, all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any act or omission, or for any consequences of any such act or omission, made in reliance on the contents of this publication, whether or not caused by any negligence on the part of the Commonwealth of Australia, RIRDC, the authors or contributors. The Commonwealth of Australia does not necessarily endorse the views in this publication. This publication is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. However, wide dissemination is encouraged. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the RIRDC Publications Manager on phone 02 6271 4165 Researcher Contact Details David Madge Research Officer Plant Protection Department of Primary Industries Victoria Box 905 Mildura VIC 3502 Phone: 03 50514500 Fax: 03 50514523 E-mail: [email protected] RIRDC Contact Details Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Level 2, 15 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600 PO Box 4776 KINGSTON ACT 2604 Phone: 02 6271 4100 Fax: 02 6271 4199 Email: [email protected]. Web: http://www.rirdc.gov.au Bookshop: 1300 634 131 Electronically published by RIRDC in July 2009 Print-on-demand by Union Offset Printing, Canberra at www.rirdc.gov.au or phone 1300 6343 13 ii Foreword Within the citrus industry—one of Australia’s major horticultural producers and exporters—there has been growing interest in improving the industry’s overall environmental performance and in organic production specifically. This has been driven by market demands, the global trend towards reduced impact of agriculture and concerns regarding soil health. The main barriers to increased adoption of organic practices have typically been the lack of relevant information, or ease of access to that information. To address that information requirement, RIRDC co-funded the development of this manual for organic citrus production in Australia. The manual is intended to address the specific information needs of organic citrus producers and growers who are interested in conversion to organic, while also bridging the gap between ‘standard’ and organic methods to ease the transition for growers who seek to change selected practices for environmental and marketing reasons. This project was funded by RIRDC core funds which are provided by the Australian Government, together with funds from the Department of Primary Industries Victoria and the Murray Valley Citrus Board. This manual is an addition to RIRDC’s diverse range of over 1800 research publications. It forms part of our Organic Produce R&D program, which aims to facilitate the development of a viable organic industry through increasing adoption of sustainable organic farming systems. Most of RIRDC’s publications are available for viewing, downloading or purchasing online at www.rirdc.gov.au. Purchases can also be made by phoning 1300 634 313. Peter O’Brien Managing Director Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation iii Acknowledgements The author gratefully acknowledges the following organisations and people who supported the development of this manual through the project Organic citrus technical manual: building supply capability: • the Department of Primary Industries Victoria, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation and Murray Valley Citrus Board who jointly funded the project • the organic certifiers—Australian Certified Organic, National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia, Organic Food Chain, Organic Growers of Australia and Tasmanian Organic-Dynamic Producers, who distributed survey forms and information about the project to their certified organic citrus growers • the growers from all states who responded to a survey of the organic citrus industry • the following growers who shared their knowledge and experience with the author during orchard visits in four states—Ian Armstrong, Philip Burkett, Blake Dorrington, Glen & Linda Chislett, Colin Furniss, Lyn Harvey, Humphrey Howie, Michelle Medhurst, Dawn and Rob Klok, Greg Lancaster, James Mosher, John and Dorothy Priestly, Peter Smith, Robert Ridgwell and Jan Denham, Alasdair Smithson, Jeromy Wallis The following researchers and others who provided technical information and/or reviewed sections of this document: • Dr Michael Treeby (DPI NSW) – soil and tree nutrition • James Altmann (Biological Services, Loxton SA) and Dan Papacek (Bugs for bugs, Mundubbera QLD) – pest management • Peter Dixon and Bruce Mackie (DPI Victoria), Deanna Chin (DPIFM Northern Territory) and Bill Woods and Shirani Poogoda (DAF Western Australia)—fruit flies • Dr Bob Emmett (DPI Victoria) – disease management • David Rumbold and Jane Rhodes (DPI Victoria) – pesticide use • Lyn McMahon (DPI Victoria) – English expression throughout the entire manual Photograph credits. Any photographs not taken by the author are labelled as follows: • DPI Staff of the Department of Primary Industries Victoria (photographer unknown) • JH Julie Hawtin • MP Miriam Pywell • GL Greg Lancaster iv Contents Foreword .............................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... iv Contents .................................................................................................................................................v 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 What is Organic? .......................................................................................................................................................1 Management approaches ............................................................................................................................................3 Livestock ....................................................................................................................................................................5 Certification & standards ...........................................................................................................................................7 Orchard inputs .........................................................................................................................................................13 The grower as researcher ..........................................................................................................................................15 2. Establishment and conversion ................................................................................................... 17 Orchard establishment—optimising organic management .......................................................................................17 3. Environment and landscape management ..................................................................................23 4. Soil management ......................................................................................................................... 25 Managing the soil as a resource ................................................................................................................................26 Managing the nutrient cycle .....................................................................................................................................31 5. Water management ...................................................................................................................... 57 6. Pest, disease and weed overview ............................................................................................... 63 A whole system approach .........................................................................................................................................63 Aiming for a balance ................................................................................................................................................65 Integrated management ............................................................................................................................................66 7. Weed management ....................................................................................................................... 75 Pre-conversion weed management ............................................................................................................................75
Recommended publications
  • 9 2013, No.1136
    2013, No.1136 8 LAMPIRAN I PERATURAN MENTERI PERDAGANGAN REPUBLIK INDONESIA NOMOR 50/M-DAG/PER/9/2013 TENTANG KETENTUAN EKSPOR TUMBUHAN ALAM DAN SATWA LIAR YANG TIDAK DILINDUNGI UNDANG-UNDANG DAN TERMASUK DALAM DAFTAR CITES JENIS TUMBUHAN ALAM DAN SATWA LIAR YANG TIDAK DILINDUNGI UNDANG-UNDANG DAN TERMASUK DALAM DAFTAR CITES No. Pos Tarif/HS Uraian Barang Appendix I. Binatang Hidup Lainnya. - Binatang Menyusui (Mamalia) ex. 0106.11.00.00 Primata dari jenis : - Macaca fascicularis - Macaca nemestrina ex. 0106.19.00.00 Binatang menyusui lain-lain dari jenis: - Pteropus alecto - Pteropus vampyrus ex. 0106.20.00.00 Binatang melata (termasuk ular dan penyu) dari jenis: · Ular (Snakes) - Apodora papuana / Liasis olivaceus papuanus - Candoia aspera - Candoia carinata - Leiopython albertisi - Liasis fuscus - Liasis macklotti macklotti - Morelia amethistina - Morelia boeleni - Morelia spilota variegata - Naja sputatrix - Ophiophagus hannah - Ptyas mucosus - Python curtus - Python brongersmai - Python breitensteini - Python reticulates www.djpp.kemenkumham.go.id 9 2013, No.1136 No. Pos Tarif/HS Uraian Barang · Biawak (Monitors) - Varanus beccari - Varanus doreanus - Varanus dumerili - Varanus jobiensis - Varanus rudicollis - Varanus salvadori - Varanus salvator · Kura-Kura (Turtles) - Amyda cartilaginea - Calllagur borneoensis - Carettochelys insculpta - Chelodina mccordi - Cuora amboinensis - Heosemys spinosa - Indotestudo forsteni - Leucocephalon (Geoemyda) yuwonoi - Malayemys subtrijuga - Manouria emys - Notochelys platynota - Pelochelys bibroni
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution of Insect Color Vision: from Spectral Sensitivity to Visual Ecology
    EN66CH23_vanderKooi ARjats.cls September 16, 2020 15:11 Annual Review of Entomology Evolution of Insect Color Vision: From Spectral Sensitivity to Visual Ecology Casper J. van der Kooi,1 Doekele G. Stavenga,1 Kentaro Arikawa,2 Gregor Belušic,ˇ 3 and Almut Kelber4 1Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen, 9700 Groningen, The Netherlands; email: [email protected] 2Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, SOKENDAI Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan 3Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; email: [email protected] 4Lund Vision Group, Department of Biology, University of Lund, 22362 Lund, Sweden; email: [email protected] Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2021. 66:23.1–23.28 Keywords The Annual Review of Entomology is online at photoreceptor, compound eye, pigment, visual pigment, behavior, opsin, ento.annualreviews.org anatomy https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-061720- 071644 Abstract Annu. Rev. Entomol. 2021.66. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Copyright © 2021 by Annual Reviews. Color vision is widespread among insects but varies among species, depend- All rights reserved ing on the spectral sensitivities and interplay of the participating photore- Access provided by University of New South Wales on 09/26/20. For personal use only. ceptors. The spectral sensitivity of a photoreceptor is principally determined by the absorption spectrum of the expressed visual pigment, but it can be modified by various optical and electrophysiological factors. For example, screening and filtering pigments, rhabdom waveguide properties, retinal structure, and neural processing all influence the perceived color signal.
    [Show full text]
  • Economic Benefits to Papua New Guinea and Australia from the Biological Control of Banana Skipper (Erionota Thrax)
    ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND AUSTRALIA FROM THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF BANANA SKIPPER (ERIONOTA THRAX) ACIAR Project CS2/1988/002-C Doug Waterhouse CSIRO Entomology GPO Box 1700 Canberra ACT 2601 Birribi Dillon and David Vincent Centre for International Economics GPO Box 2203 Canberra ACT 2601 ̈ ACIAR is concerned that the products of its research are adopted by farmers, policy-makers, quarantine officials and others whom its research is designed to help. ̈ In order to monitor the effects of its projects, ACIAR commissions assessments of selected projects, conducted by people independent of ACIAR. This series reports the results of these independent studies. ̈ Communications regarding any aspects of this series should be directed to: The Manager Impact Assessment Program ACIAR GPO Box 1571 Canberra ACT 2601 Australia. ISBN 1 86320 266 8 Editing and design by Arawang Communication Group, Canberra Contents Abstract 5 1. The ACIAR Project 7 This Report 8 2. The Banana Skipper, Control Agents and Leaf Damage 9 The Banana Skipper 9 The Colonisation of Papua New Guinea by E. thrax 11 Control Agents 13 Effects of Leaf Damage 15 3 Project Costs and Benefits 18 Costs 18 Benefits to Papua New Guinea 19 The Value to Australia of the ACIAR Project 25 Increase in Gross Value of Banana Production as a Measure of Welfare Benefit 32 Comparing Benefits with Costs 33 Benefits Which Have Not Been Quantified 33 4 Conclusion 34 Acknowledgment 35 References 36 4 ࡯ ECONOMIC BENEFITS FROM THE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF BANANA SKIPPER Figures
    [Show full text]
  • Butterfly Catalogue January 2004
    Insect Farming and Trading Agency: Butterfly Catalogue January 2004 INSECT FARMING AND TRADING AGENCY www.ifta.com.pg PO Box 129 BULOLO, MOROBE PROVINCE PAPUA NEW GUINEA Fax: (+675) 474 5454 Tel: (+675) 474 5285 Email: [email protected] Butterfly Catalogue – all prices are in $US Genus Ornithoptera ........................................................................2 Family Papilionidae ........................................................................4 Genus Pieridae ..............................................................................5 Genus Nymphalidae ........................................................................6 Moths...........................................................................................7 Genus Lycaenidae...........................................................................8 Page 1 of 8 Insect Farming and Trading Agency: Butterfly Catalogue January 2004 Genus Ornithoptera All birdwings are ex. pupae ranched specimens and are sent under appropriate approved CITES permit. They are all sold in pairs, apart from specific male or female variations, though special arrangements maybe available for some orders: please send us any specific requests, and we will deal with them individually. Description Male Female Pair Pairs 10 20 50 Ornithoptera priamus Poseidon 5.00 4.50 4.00 3.50 f.aurago (strongly yellow HWV) 9.00 f.lavata (no yellow on HWV) 6.00 f.brunneus (all black/brown FW) 9.00 f.kirschi (yellow/green) 50.00 f.NN (very pale/white) 9.00 f.triton (single large gold spot) 9.00 f.cronius
    [Show full text]
  • Color-Mediated Foraging by Pollinators: a Comparative Study of Two Passionflower Butterflies at Lantana Camara Gyanpriya Maharaj University of Missouri-St
    University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 12-12-2016 Color-mediated foraging by pollinators: A comparative study of two passionflower butterflies at Lantana camara Gyanpriya Maharaj University of Missouri-St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Maharaj, Gyanpriya, "Color-mediated foraging by pollinators: A comparative study of two passionflower butterflies at Lantana camara" (2016). Dissertations. 42. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/42 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Color-mediated foraging by pollinators: A comparative study of two passionflower butterflies at Lantana camara Gyanpriya Maharaj M.Sc. Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Warwick, 2011 B.Sc. Biology, University of Guyana, 2005 A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology with an emphasis in Ecology, Evolution and Systematics December 2016 Advisory Committee Aimee Dunlap, Ph.D (Chairperson) Godfrey Bourne, Ph.D (Co-Chair) Nathan Muchhala, Ph.D Jessica Ware, Ph.D Yuefeng Wu, Ph.D Acknowledgments A Ph.D. does not begin in graduate school, it starts with the encouragement and training you receive before even setting foot into a University. I have always been fortunate to have kind, helpful and brilliant mentors throughout my entire life who have taken the time to support me.
    [Show full text]
  • Do Generalist Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Females Select Dark
    The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 40 Numbers 1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2007 Numbers Article 4 1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2007 April 2007 Do Generalist Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly emalesF Select Dark Green Leaves Over Yellowish – Or Reddish-Green Leaves for Oviposition? Rodrigo J. Mercader Michigan State University Rory Kruithoff Michigan State University J. Mark Scriber Michigan State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Mercader, Rodrigo J.; Kruithoff, Rory; and Scriber, J. Mark 2007. "Do Generalist Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Females Select Dark Green Leaves Over Yellowish – Or Reddish-Green Leaves for Oviposition?," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 40 (1) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol40/iss1/4 This Peer-Review Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. Mercader et al.: Do Generalist Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly Females Select Dark Gre 2007 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 29 DO GENERALIST TIGER SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY FEMALES SELECT DARK GREEN LEAVES OVER YELLOWISH – OR REDDISH-GREEN LEAVES FOR OVIPOSITION? Rodrigo J. Mercader1, Rory Kruithoff1, and, J. Mark Scriber1, 2 ABSTRACT In late August and September, using leaves from the same branches, the polyphagous North American swallowtail butterfly species Papilio glaucus L. (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) is shown to select mature dark green leaves of their host plants white ash, Fraxinus americana L. (Oleaceae) and tulip tree, Liri- odendron tulipifera L.
    [Show full text]
  • Papua New Guinea Wildlife Tour Report 2012 Birdwatching Butterfly
    Papua New Guinea Paradise A Greentours Trip Report 23rd September – 16th October 2012 Led by Ian Green Days 1 & 2 September 23rd & 24th Were spent traversing the time zones to New Guinea. Though some had already arrived in Singapore a day or two or three earlier. A very good idea by all accounts and something well worth considering for anyone joining this trip in the future. Linda meanwhile had gone the whole hog and had arrived at Walindi some days previously. The rest of us met up in the boarding area in Singapore for our Air Niugini flight to Port Moresby which left promptly at just before midnight. Day 3 September 25th The Airport Hotel and to Walindi We arrived into Port Moresby not long after eight and found our way through the visa process, which had now upgraded to having an ATM available to get that necessary one hundred Kina to be granted the PNG visa. Something hadn't changed though – the queues for those getting visas on arrival were considerably shorter than the queue for those who had already got their visa. We met up with Jenny and were whisked to the nearby Airport Hotel where we spent the next three hours. We started with a nice cuppa on the balcony that overlooks the airfield. Singing Starlings and Rufous-breasted Honeyeaters were in the trees. Earlier we'd seen Lesser Golden Plovers, Masked Lapwings, Purple Gallinules and lots of Eastern Cattle Egrets on the runway. We took a little walk, watching Willie Wagtails and many more honeyeaters and Gillian found us two superb Green Figbirds.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Record of a Homeotic Wing Pattern Aberration in an Australian
    Nota Lepi. 41(2) 2018: 215–218 | DOI 10.3897/nl.41.11140 The first record of a homeotic wing pattern aberration in an Australian butterfly from a specimen ofPapilio aegeus ormenus Guérin-Méneville, 1830 (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae) Graham A. Wood1, John E. Nielsen2 1 P.O. Box 622, Herberton, QLD, 4887, Australia; [email protected] 2 Unaffiliated, Downer, Australia http://zoobank.org/BA545F48-23AC-4818-9D92-AF327028FDB4 Received 15 November 2016; accepted 22 August 2017; published: 6 November 2018 Subject Editor: Jadranka Rota. Abstract. A specimen of Papilio aegeus ormenus with a forewing/hindwing pattern homeosis is described from Mer Island, Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. This represents the first record of a butterfly specimen with wing pattern homeosis from Australia. Introduction Homeosis is a developmental aberration where one structure is converted, either completely or partially, into another (Sibatani 1980). In butterfly wing patterns, Sibatani (1980) recognised that homeosis manifested as a replication of wing patterns between the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the same wing, or between corresponding areas of the forewing and hindwing. In the case of fore- wing-hindwing pattern homeosis, Sibatani (1980) noted that the area of wing membrane affected tended to be bounded anteriorly by veins M1–M2, which led him to present a hypothesis that homeot- ic aberrations are due to mutations of the bithorax group of genes. Mutations of these genes were observed by Lewis (1978) to result in structure homeosis between segments in Drosophila melan- ogaster, with the genes producing the homeotic mutations always observed to occur in an identical sequence along the chromosome to where the mutations manifested along the segmentation of the adult insect.
    [Show full text]
  • Responses of North American Papilio Troilus and P. Glaucus to Potential Hosts from Australia J
    1818 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS’ SOCIETY Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society 62(1), 2008, 18–30 RESPONSES OF NORTH AMERICAN PAPILIO TROILUS AND P. GLAUCUS TO POTENTIAL HOSTS FROM AUSTRALIA J. MARK SCRIBER Dept. Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA; School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 4072; email: [email protected] MICHELLE L. LARSEN School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 4072 AND MYRON P. Z ALUCKI School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 4072 ABSTRACT. We tested the abilities of neonate larvae of the Lauraceae-specialist, P. troilus, and the generalist Eastern tiger swallowtail, Papilio glaucus (both from Levy County, Florida) to eat, survive, and grow on leaves of 22 plant species from 7 families of ancient angiosperms in Australia, Rutaceae, Magnoliaceae, Lauraceae, Monimiaceae, Sapotaceae, Winteraceae, and Annonaceae. Clearly, some common Papilio feeding stimulants exist in Australian plant species of certain, but not all, Lauraceae. Three Lauraceae species (two introduced Cinnamomum species and the native Litsea leefeana) were as suitable for the generalist P. glaucus as was observed for P. troilus. While no ability to feed and grow was detected for the Lauraceae-specialized P. troilus on any of the other six ancient Angiosperm families, the generalist P. glaucus did feed successfully on Magnoliaceae and Winteraceae as well as Lauraceae. In addition, some larvae of one P. glaucus family attempted feeding on Citrus (Rutaceae) and a small amount of feeding was observed on southern sassafras (Antherosperma moschatum; Monimiaceae), but all P. glaucus (from 4 families) died on Annonaceae and Sapotaceae.
    [Show full text]
  • Color Vision in Insects: Insights from Drosophila
    Journal of Comparative Physiology A (2020) 206:183–198 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-019-01397-3 REVIEW Color vision in insects: insights from Drosophila Christopher Schnaitmann1 · Manuel Pagni1 · Dierk F. Reif1 Received: 30 August 2019 / Revised: 12 December 2019 / Accepted: 17 December 2019 / Published online: 4 February 2020 © The Author(s) 2020 Abstract Color vision is an important sensory capability that enhances the detection of contrast in retinal images. Monochromatic animals exclusively detect temporal and spatial changes in luminance, whereas two or more types of photoreceptors and neuronal circuitries for the comparison of their responses enable animals to diferentiate spectral information independent of intensity. Much of what we know about the cellular and physiological mechanisms underlying color vision comes from research on vertebrates including primates. In insects, many important discoveries have been made, but direct insights into the physiology and circuit implementation of color vision are still limited. Recent advances in Drosophila systems neuroscience suggest that a complete insect color vision circuitry, from photoreceptors to behavior, including all elements and computa- tions, can be revealed in future. Here, we review fundamental concepts in color vision alongside our current understanding of the neuronal basis of color vision in Drosophila, including side views to selected other insects. Keywords Rhodopsin · Photoreceptor · Spectral processing · Wavelength discrimination · Color opponency Introduction and network mechanisms to derive information on spectral content as the much larger brains of, for instance, vertebrates In the life of insects and many vertebrates including humans, (Dacey and Packer 2003; Gegenfurtner and Kiper 2003; Kel- color vision is abundant and plays a central role in guiding ber et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Halmahera and Seram: Different Histories, but Similar Butterfly Faunas
    Halmahera and Seram butterfly faunas 315 Halmahera and Seram: different histories, but similar butterfly faunas Rienk de Jong Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Department of Entomology, P O Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands+ Email: jong@nnm+nl Key words: historical biogeography, faunal similarity, Moluccas, Halmahera, Seram, butterflies Abstract provinces of N and C Maluku, but excluding Kepulauan Sula, which biogeographically forms The islands of Halmahera and Seram in the Moluccas (east part of the Sulawesi region, and the Banda and Indonesia) have very different geological histories Their Gorong archipelagos& Halmahera is, at 17,400 present relative proximity is the result of a long westward km2, the larger island, but at 16,720 km2, Seram journey of Halmahera It is uncertain when the island emerged, and thus was first able to support a terrestrial is only slightly smaller& The greater part of fauna Seram emerged at c5 Ma at approximately its present Halmahera lies north of the equator& Seram is location On the basis of current geological scenarios, ex- situated well to the south, about 220 km from pected distribution patterns for terrestrial organisms are pro- the southern tip of Halmahera& The island of Obi posed These patterns are tested using information on spe- cies distribution, endemism and phylogeny of butterflies lies at about one third of this distance from The butterfly faunas of Halmahera and Seram are re- Halmahera to Seram& Halmahera and Seram markably similar for faunas that have never been closer to share the
    [Show full text]
  • Random Array of Colour Filters in the Eyes of Butterflies
    The Journal of Experimental Biology 200, 2501–2506 (1997) 2501 Printed in Great Britain © The Company of Biologists Limited 1997 JEB1144 RANDOM ARRAY OF COLOUR FILTERS IN THE EYES OF BUTTERFLIES KENTARO ARIKAWA1,* AND DOEKELE G. STAVENGA2 1Graduate School of Integrated Science, Yokohama City University, 22-2 Seto, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama 236, Japan and 2Department of Biophysics, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands Accepted 16 July 1997 Summary The compound eye of the Japanese yellow swallowtail photoreceptors in any one ommatidium all have either butterfly Papilio xuthus is not uniform. In a combined yellow or red pigmentation in the cell body, concentrated histological, electrophysiological and optical study, we near the edge of the rhabdom. The ommatidia with red- found that the eye of P. xuthus has at least three different pigmented R3–R8 are divided into two classes: one class types of ommatidia, in a random distribution. In each contains an ultraviolet-fluorescing pigment. The different ommatidium, nine photoreceptors contribute microvilli to pigmentations are presumably intimately related to the the rhabdom. The distal two-thirds of the rhabdom length various spectral types found previously in is taken up by the rhabdomeres of photoreceptors R1–R4. electrophysiological studies. The proximal third consists of rhabdomeres of photoreceptors R5–R8, except for the very basal part, to which photoreceptor R9 contributes. In all ommatidia, the Key words: Japanese yellow swallowtail, butterfly, Papilio xuthus, R1 and R2 photoreceptors have a purple pigmentation colour vision, retina, visual pigment, vision, ommatidia, positioned at the distal tip of the ommatidia. The R3–R8 photoreceptor, spectral receptor type.
    [Show full text]