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Häberle S, Schäfer M, Soteras R, Martínez-Grau H, Hajdas I, Jacomet S, Röder B, Schibler J, van Willigen S, Antolín F. Small Animals, Big Impact? Early Farmers and Pre- and Post-Harvest Pests from the Middle Neolithic Site of Les Bagnoles in the South-East of France (L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur). Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:1511. [PMID: 35739848 PMCID: PMC9219518 DOI: 10.3390/ani12121511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Pests appear to have accompanied humans and their crops since the beginning of farming. Nevertheless, their study is only rarely integrated into research on farming in prehistory. An assemblage of invertebrates and small mammals was recovered from the waterlogged layers of three wells at the Middle Neolithic site (4250-3700 cal B.C.) of Les Bagnoles (SE France). The microfaunal remains were retrieved from sediment samples by wet sieving (wash-over technique). The most common among the rodents is the wood mouse. The assemblage also consists of insect remains of grain weevil, seed beetle, and corn ground beetle. The different finds not only offer data on the role of insect and rodent pests in the Neolithic but on the possible strategies adopted by the early farming communities in the western Mediterranean in response to pest infestation. The findings appear to confirm the hypothesis that the wood mouse was a commensal and storage pest in settlements long before the arrival of the invasive house mouse during the Bronze Age. The presence of the main storage pest, the grain weevil, suggests a long-term grain storage issue at Les Bagnoles. The combination of the results of the site's archaeobotanical findings with those of other sites in the western Mediterranean suggests that the shift from naked to glume wheat around 4000 B.C. may also stem from a reaction to the problem of grain weevil infestation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Häberle
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), Basel University, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; (R.S.); (H.M.-G.); (S.J.); (J.S.); (F.A.)
| | - Marguerita Schäfer
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), Basel University, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; (R.S.); (H.M.-G.); (S.J.); (J.S.); (F.A.)
| | - Raül Soteras
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), Basel University, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; (R.S.); (H.M.-G.); (S.J.); (J.S.); (F.A.)
- Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Referat Naturwissenschaften an der Zentrale, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Héctor Martínez-Grau
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), Basel University, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; (R.S.); (H.M.-G.); (S.J.); (J.S.); (F.A.)
| | - Irka Hajdas
- Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics (LIP), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland;
| | - Stefanie Jacomet
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), Basel University, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; (R.S.); (H.M.-G.); (S.J.); (J.S.); (F.A.)
| | - Brigitte Röder
- Departement Altertumswissenschaften, Ur- und Frühgeschichtliche und Provinzialrömische Archäologie, Basel University, 4051 Basel, Switzerland;
| | - Jörg Schibler
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), Basel University, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; (R.S.); (H.M.-G.); (S.J.); (J.S.); (F.A.)
| | | | - Ferran Antolín
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS), Basel University, 4055 Basel, Switzerland; (R.S.); (H.M.-G.); (S.J.); (J.S.); (F.A.)
- Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Referat Naturwissenschaften an der Zentrale, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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Chamorro ML, de Medeiros BAS, Farrell BD. First phylogenetic analysis of Dryophthorinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) based on structural alignment of ribosomal DNA reveals Cenozoic diversification. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:1984-1998. [PMID: 33717436 PMCID: PMC7920784 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Revised: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Dryophthorinae is an economically important, ecologically distinct, and ubiquitous monophyletic group of pantropical weevils with more than 1,200 species in 153 genera. This study provides the first comprehensive phylogeny of the group with the aim to provide insights into the process and timing of diversification of phytophagous insects, inform classification and facilitate predictions. The taxon sampling is the most extensive to date and includes representatives of all five dryophthorine tribes and all but one subtribe. The phylogeny is based on secondary structural alignment of 18S and 28S rRNA totaling 3,764 nucleotides analyzed under Bayesian and maximum likelihood inference. We used a fossil-calibrated relaxed clock model with two approaches, node-dating and fossilized birth-death models, to estimate divergence times for the subfamily. All tribes except the species-rich Rhynchophorini were found to be monophyletic, but higher support is required to ascertain the paraphyly of Rhynchophorini with more confidence. Nephius is closely related to Dryophthorini and Stromboscerini, and there is strong evidence for paraphyly of Sphenophorina. We find a large gap between the divergence of Dryophthorinae from their sister group Platypodinae in the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary and the diversification of extant species in the Cenozoic, highlighting the role of coevolution with angiosperms in this group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Lourdes Chamorro
- Systematic Entomology LaboratoryARS, USDA, c/o National Museum of Natural HistoryWashingtonDCUSA
| | | | - Brian D. Farrell
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary BiologyHarvard UniversityCambridgeMAUSA
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Antolín F, Schäfer M. Insect Pests of Pulse Crops and their Management in Neolithic Europe. ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF HUMAN PALAEOECOLOGY 2020; 29:20-33. [PMID: 38230265 PMCID: PMC10790631 DOI: 10.1080/14614103.2020.1713602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
Insect pests affecting standing and stored crops can cause severe damage and reduce yields considerably. Was this also the case in Neolithic Europe? Did early farming populations take a certain amount of harvest loss into account? Did they decide to change crops or rotate them when they became too infested? Did they obtain new crops from neighbouring communities as part of this process? Or did they actively fight against pests? This paper focuses on pulse crop pests, presenting the earliest evidence of fava beans displaying boreholes and of the presence of pea weevil in two different archaeological sites: Can Sadurní (in a phase dated to ca. 4800-4500 cal BC), located in the NE Iberian Peninsula and Zürich-Parkhaus Opéra (in a phase dated to ca. 3160 BC), located in Central Switzerland. Evidence suggests that early farmers were aware of the damages produced by pests and we propose different strategies for their management, including potential evidence for the use of repellent or trap plants in the plots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ferran Antolín
- IPAS (Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Marguerita Schäfer
- IPAS (Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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Silva AA, Braga LS, Corrêa AS, Holmes VR, Johnston JS, Oppert B, Guedes RNC, Tavares MG. Comparative cytogenetics and derived phylogenic relationship among Sitophilus grain weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Dryophthorinae). COMPARATIVE CYTOGENETICS 2018; 12:223-245. [PMID: 29997743 PMCID: PMC6037651 DOI: 10.3897/compcytogen.v12i2.26412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 06/13/2018] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Cytogenetic characteristics and genome size are powerful tools for species characterization and identification of cryptic species, providing critical insights into phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships. Sitophilus Linnaeus, 1758 grain weevils can benefit from such tools as key pest species of stored products and also as sources of archeological information on human history and past urban environments. Moreover, the phylogenetic relationship among these weevil species remains controversial and is largely based on single DNA fragment analyses. Therefore, cytogenetic analyses and genome size determinations were performed for four Sitophilus grain weevil species, namely the granary weevil Sitophilus granarius (Linnaeus, 1758), the tamarind weevil S. linearis (Herbst, 1797), the rice weevil S. oryzae (Linnaeus, 1763), and the maize weevil S. zeamais Motschulsky, 1855. Both maize and rice weevils exhibited the same chromosome number (2n=22; 10 A + Xyp). In contrast, the granary and tamarind weevils exhibited higher chromosome number (2n=24; 11 A + Xyp and 11 A + neo-XY, respectively). The nuclear DNA content of these species was not proportionally related to either chromosome number or heterochromatin amount. Maize and rice weevils exhibited similar and larger genome sizes (0.730±0.003 pg and 0.786±0.003 pg, respectively), followed by the granary weevil (0.553±0.003 pg), and the tamarind weevil (0.440±0.001 pg). Parsimony phylogenetic analysis of the insect karyotypes indicate that S. zeamais and S. oryzae were phylogenetically closer than S. granarius and S. linearis, which were more closely related and share a more recent ancestral relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Avelar Silva
- Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Lucas Soares Braga
- Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
| | - Alberto Soares Corrêa
- Departamento de Entomologia e Acarologia, Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz", Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP 13418-900, Brazil
| | | | | | - Brenda Oppert
- USDA-ARS, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | | | - Mara Garcia Tavares
- Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG 36570-900, Brazil
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