William A. Haber

Wavelength Discrimination and the Role of Ultraviolet Vision in the Feeding Behavior of Hawkmoths1

Nocturnal Sphingidae (hawkmoths or sphinx moths) are important pollinators in tropical forests. Hawkmoth flowers are typically white to the human eye. As the retinas of hawkmoths contain ultraviolet-sensitive photoreceptors, flower patterns reflecting ultraviolet wavelengths (that are not visible to humans) might be significant to sphingid feeding behavior. The flowers of ten hawkmoth-pollinated species were examined with an ultraviolet sensitive video system in Monteverde, Costa Rica. All were found to lack ultraviolet reflectance. A common hawkmoth species, Manduca sexta, whose range extends to Costa Rica was then used in laboratory free choice experiments to determine which wavelengths elicited proboscis extension, probing and drinking of sugar water. When offered a choice between artificial flowers or backlighted filters, Manduca strongly preferred to feed at those reflecting or transmitting only wavelengths longer than 400 nm, avoiding those that also included ultraviolet wavelengths. That is, feeding behavior was best elicited by stimuli that mimicked the reflectance of typical hawkmoth flowers. Feeding behavior must be primarily activated by either the green- or violet-sensitive mechanisms (or both) of the hawkmoth visual system, while concurrent activation of the ultraviolet-sensitive mechanism interferes with it.

Electronic Field Guides and User Communities in the Eco-informatics Revolution

The recognition that taxonomy is central to the conservation of biodiversity has reestablished the critical role of taxonomy in biology. However, many of the tools taxonomists produce for the identification and characterization of species, e.g., dichotomous keys, have been difficult to use and largely ignored by the general public in favor of field guides, which are essentially browsable picture guides. We review the role of field guides in species identification and discuss the application of a host of digital technologies to produce user-friendly tools for identification that are likely to greatly enhance species identification in the field by nonspecialists. We suggest that wider adoption of the citizen science model and the use of electronic field guides will enhance public understanding and participation in biodiversity monitoring.

Bioactivity and chemical composition of the leaf essential oils of Zanthoxylum rhoifolium and Zanthoxylum setulosum from Monteverde, Costa Rica

The leaf essential oils of Zanthoxylum rhoifolium and Zanthoxylum setulosum (Rutaceae) from Monteverde, Costa Rica have been obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The principal constituents of Z. rhoifolium leaf oil were germacrene D (14.6%), limonene (12.5%), trans-2-hexenal (11.3%), β-elemene (9.2%), 2-undecanone (9.2%), myrcene (7.9%), bicyclogermacrene (7.5%), and germacrene A (5.2%). The leaf oil of Z. setulosum was composed largely of β-phellandrene (37.5%), β-caryophyllene (13.7%), α-pinene (11.9%), germacrene D (10.9%), myrcene (5.9%), and nerolidol (5.4%). The essential oils were screened for in-vitro cytotoxic activity against Hep G2, MCF-7, and PC-3 human tumor cell lines; antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli; and for Artemia salina (brine shrimp) lethality. Neither Z. rhoifolium nor Z. setulosum leaf oils exhibited cytotoxicity or antibacterial activity. Both oils showed activity against A. salina.

Leaf essential oil composition of five Zanthoxylum species from Monteverde, Costa Rica

The leaf essential oils from five species of Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae) from Monteverde, Costa Rica, have been obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The species examined include Z. fagara, Z. acuminatum, Z. melanostictum, Z. monophyllum, and an undescribed species. The most abundant classes of compounds found in Zanthoxylum leaf oils are acyclic and menthane monoterpenoids as well as simple alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones. In terms of molecular diversity, menthane and acyclic monoterpenoids, cadinane and mesocyclic sesquiterpenoids, and simple alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones dominate the essential oils of Zanthoxylum species. Monoterpenoids make up the majority of the mass of the leaf oils of Z. monophyllum, Z. acuminatum, Z. fagara, and Zanthoxylum sp. nov. Linalool, 4-terpineol, α-terpineol, and trans-2-hexenol, are found in all of the Zanthoxylum species examined in this study.

The leaf oil composition of Zanthoxylum fagara (L.) sarg. from Monteverde, Costa Rica, and its biological activities

Abstract The leaf oil of Zanthoxylum fagara was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC/MS. The most abundant oil components were citronellol (26.1%), geraniol (15.3%), citronellal (11.3%), geranial (11.6%) and neral (9.6%). The antimicrobial activity against Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Aspergillus niger, and the in-vitro cytotoxicity of the oil on MDA-MB-231, Hs 578T, and 5637 human tumor cells were also examined.

The Leaf Oil Composition of Myrcia splendens from Monteverde, Costa Rica

Abstract The leaf essential oil of Myrcia splendens Standl. (Myrtaceae), from Costa Rica, was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. A total of 26 compounds were identified in the leaf oil accounting for 96.9% of the total composition. The most abundant components of the leaf oil of M. splendens were germacrene D (35.9%), valerianol (16.3%) trans-2-hexenal (9.5%), epi-α-cadinol (6.8%), and δ-cadinene (5.8%).

Chemical Constituents of the Essential Oils of Three Piper Species from Monteverde, Costa Rica

Abstract The essential oils from the floral spikes of Piper auritum Kunth, the aerial parts of Piper marginatum Jacq., and the leaves of Piper umbellatum L., from Monteverde, Costa Rica, have been obtained by hydrodistillation in 0.55%, 0.24%, and 0.18%, respectively. The volatile oils have been analyzed by GC-MS. The floral essential oil of Piper auritum is composed largely of safrole (93%), comparable to that found in the leaf oil. The essential oil of Piper marginatum is composed largely of the anisyl derivatives trans-anethole (46%), p-anisaldehyde (22%), and anisyl ketone (14%), and differs markedly from P. marginatum essential oil from Brazil. Piper umbellatum essential oil is rich in sesquiterpenoids, largely β-caryophyllene (28%), germacrene D (17%), and (E,E)-α-farnesene (15%), very different from P. umbellatum volatile oil from S. Tomé e Príncipe, which was dominated by the monoterpenoids α- and β-pinene.

Leaf Essential Oil Composition of Three Species of Myrcianthes from Monteverde, Costa Rica

To examine the chemical diversity of essential oils from Myrcianthes species (Myrtaceae) as well as potential chemotaxonomic relationships between them, the leaf essential oils of M. fragrans (Sw.) McVaugh, M. rhopaloides (Kunth) McVaugh, and an undescribed species, Myrcianthes ‘black fruit’, from Monteverde, Costa Rica, were isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC/MS. The most abundant components of the essential oil of M. fragrans were 1,3,5‐trimethoxybenzene (15.7%), (Z)‐hex‐3‐en‐1‐ol (10.0%), α‐cadinol (10.4%), eudesma‐4(15),7‐dien‐1β‐ol (9.0%), caryophyllene oxide (7.8%), and spathulenol (7.5%). The leaf oils of two different samples of Myrcianthes rhopaloides were quantitatively different with one sample composed mostly of linalool (17.7%), α‐cadinol (14.4%), spathulenol (11.1%), τ‐cadinol (9.6%), and 1‐epicubenol (6.9%), and the other was made up largely of (E)‐hex‐2‐enal (46.1%), 1,8‐cineole (12.5%), linalool (9.1%), α‐cadinol (6.7%), and α‐terpineol (4.4%). The major components in the leaf essential oil of Myrcianthes ‘black fruit’ were 1,8‐cineole (38.3%), α‐terpineol (21.2%), heptan‐2‐ol (15.5%), terpinen‐4‐ol (4.2%), and β‐pinene (3.8%). The leaf oil compositions of Myrcianthes in this study are very different from leaf oils from other members of Myrcianthes reported in the literature. A cluster analysis reveals large chemical variation not only between members of the genus, but also between samples of the same species.

An architecture for electronic field guides

People who classify and identify things based on their observable or deducible properties (called “characters” by biologists) can benefit from databases and keys that assist them in naming a specimen. This paper discusses our approach to generating an identification tool based on the field guide concept. Our software accepts character lists either expressed as XML (which biologists rarely provide knowingly—although most databases can now export in XML) or via ODBC connections to the data author’s relational database. The software then produces an Electronic Field Guide (EFG) implemented as a collection of Java servlets. The resulting guide answers queries made locally to a backend, or to Internet data sources via http, and returns XML. If, however, the query client requires HTML (e.g., if the EFG is responding to a human-centric browser interface that we or the remote application provides), or if some specialized XML is required, then the EFG forwards the XML to a servlet that applies an XSLT transformation to provide the look and feel that the client application requires. We compare our approach to the architecture of other taxon identification tools. Finally, we discuss how we combine this service with other biodiversity data services on the web to make integrated applications.

Chemical Compositions of the Leaf and Fruit Essential Oils of Eugenia monteverdensis from Monteverde, Costa Rica

Abstract The leaf and fruit essential oils of Eugenia monteverdensis Barrie (Myrtaceae), from Monteverde, Costa Rica, were isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. A total of 18 compounds were identified in the leaf oil and 19 compounds were identified in the fruit oil, accounting for 100 % of the total compositions. The leaf oil of E. monteverdensis was dominated by α-pinene (92.0 %) with a small amount of linalool (2.1 %) and (E)-caryophyllene (1.1 %). The major components in the fruit essential oil were α-pinene (55.1 %) and linalool (22.7 %) with lesser amounts of limonene (7.7 %), (E)-caryophyllene (4.7 %), β-pinene (2.3 %), and α-terpineol (2.0 %). The essential oils were screened for cytotoxic and antibacterial activity, but were found to be inactive.