Samy (2004) Variation in the helminth community structure in spiny mice (Acomys dimidiatus) from four montane wadis in the St Katherine region of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Parasitology, 129 (3). pp. 379-398. ISSN 0031-1820Access from the University of Nottingham repository: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/29201/1/Behnke%20et%20al%202004%20Parasitology %20129%2C%201%20spiny%20paper.pdf Copyright and reuse:The Nottingham ePrints service makes this work by researchers of the University of Nottingham available open access under the following conditions. This article is made available under the University of Nottingham End User licence and may be reused according to the conditions of the licence. For more details see: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/end_user_agreement.pdf A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact eprints@nottingham.ac.uk Variation in the helminth community structure in spiny mice (Acomys dimidiatus) from four montane wadis in the St Katherine region of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt We compared helminth communities in spiny mice (Acomys dimidiatus) from 4 wadis in the arid montane region of the southern Sinai in Egypt, in a 4-week period in late summer. Total helminth species richness was 14 (8 nematodes, 5 cestodes and 1 acanthocephalan) with 94 % of mice carrying at least 1 species and an overall mean species richness of 1 . 85. The most prevalent parasites were Protospirura muricola (47 . 8%) and Dentostomella kuntzi (46 . 3%). One larval cestode, Joyeuxiella rossicum, represents a new host record. The helminth community was dominated by intestinal nematodes (88 . 7%) of which 58 . 2% were arthropod-transmitted heteroxenic species. At the component community level, 70 % of the worms were recovered from mice in just two wadis (Gharaba and Tlah) and 48 . 6 % of intestinal nematodes were from Wadi Gharaba. Although only 7 species of helminths were recorded from Wadi Gharaba, this site gave the highest Berger-Parker dominance index because P. muricola. P. muricola was also dominant in Wadi El Arbaein whilst Syphacia minuta was the dominant species in Wadis Gebal and Tlah. At the infracommunity level, mean species richness and Brillouin's index of diversity were highest in Wadi Tlah and lowest in Wadi Gebal, and the former was age dependent. Whilst mice from different wadis differed in the nematodes that were most common, those from Wadi Gharaba carried the highest mean number of worms/mouse. The abundance of P. muricola in particular varied markedly between sites : Wadi Gharaba was distinct as the site showing the highest mean worm burden whereas mice from Wadi Gebal were uninfected. None of the directly transmitted oxyuroid nematodes showed significant variation in abundance bet...

Aim  Identifying areas of high species richness is an important goal of conservation biogeography. In this study we compared alternative methods for generating climate‐based estimates of spatial patterns of butterfly and mammal species richness. Location  Egypt. Methods  Data on the occurrence of butterflies and mammals in Egypt were taken from an electronic database compiled from museum records and the literature. Using Maxent, species distribution models were built with these data and with variables describing climate and habitat. Species richness predictions were made by summing distribution models for individual species and by modelling observed species richness directly using the same environmental variables. Results  Estimates of species richness from both methods correlated positively with each other and with observed species richness. Protected areas had higher species richness (both predicted and actual) than unprotected areas. Main conclusions  Our results suggest that climate‐based models of species richness could provide a rapid method for selecting potential areas for protection and thus have important implications for biodiversity conservation.

Summary 1. Females of the desert solitary bee Anthophora pauperata collect nectar and pollen almost exclusively from Alkanna orientalis (Boraginaceae). The bee and plant are found together in the early spring, living in the bottom of steep‐sided wadis (dry river valleys) at an altitude of 1500 m in Egyptian Sinai. 2. Female A. pauperata showed clear morning and afternoon peaks in foraging activity, separated by a 2–3 h midday period spent in their underground nests. This study analyses the following in order to identify the factors structuring this daily pattern: thermal aspects of the bee and its environment, temporal patterns of resource provision by the plant, and female nectar and pollen foraging behaviour. 3. Although A. pauperata can generate substantial heat endothermically, morning and evening ambient temperatures well below 10 °C defined a thermal window within which foraging occurred. Maximum air temperatures were moderate (25–30 °C), and examination of the physiology and behaviour of A. pauperata suggests that the midday reduction in flight activity was not due to thermal constraints. 4. Alkanna orientalis produces protandrous hermaphroditic flowers. Female A. pauperata collected pollen from male‐phase flowers and harvested nectar preferentially from female‐phase flowers. Although the nectar standing crop was relatively constant throughout the day, pollen availability peaked strongly in the early afternoon. 5. Female A. pauperata visited young male‐phase flowers as soon as they opened, generating an early afternoon peak in pollen foraging activity and depleting the pollen standing crop rapidly. A morning peak in pollen foraging occurred when females gleaned remnant pollen from flowers that had opened the previous day. Pollen availability in the morning was far lower than in the early afternoon, and the time taken to collect a full pollen load in the morning was significantly longer. Collection of pollen in the morning despite very low resource availability suggests that pollen may be a limiting resource for A. pauperata. 6. In contrast to many existing examples of bimodal activity patterns in highly endothermic bees, the bimodal activity patterns of female A. pauperata appear to be driven not by thermal considerations but by daily patterns of pollen release from its principal food source.

We studied an insect-plant pollination system in adjacent steep-sided wadis and a connecting plain in the mountains of southern Sinai (Egypt): this environment creates a strongly divided habitat, which may promote the local differentiation of sub-populations. We tested for spatial differences in phenotypic reproductive characters of the only plant flowering abundantly in early spring, Alkanna orientalis (Boraginaceae), and its major pollinator at that time of year, Anthophora pauperata (Apoidea, Anthophoridae). There were significant morphological differences between sub-populations of Alkanna, mainly between plants from the narrower wadis and those on the interconnecting plain. Flowers on the plain were larger, with wider corollas and more nectar standing crop; these plants retained more flowers on the inflorescence, but received many fewer visits to flowers. There was a significant selection gradient between flower size and maternal fitness (seed set) in the plain, but not elsewhere. Natural selection may have increased resources devoted to attracting insect visitors in response to fewer pollinating visits in the plain. Consistent with this explanation, by experimentally manipulating flower number per plant, we showed that within a wadi having more flowers on a plant secured more visits.