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Temperature is one of the most important ecological factors affecting species survival and distributions. Therefore, global climate change, involving increases in mean surface temperature and the occurrence of extreme weather events, may pose a substantial challenge to biodiversity. Whereas tropical ectotherms are believed to be very sensitive to climate change, temperate-zone species may actually benefit from higher temperatures. However, as in temperate zones large parts of the year are unsuitable for growth and reproduction, seasonal time constraints may complicate matters. Against this background we here investigate the impact of simulated climate change, involving increased mean temperatures and heat waves, across developmental pathways of the butterfly Lycaena tityrus (Poda) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Increased temperatures speeded up development but decreased pupal mass as expected. However, we found no evidence for detrimental effects of increased temperatures or even simulated heat waves. Furthermore, patterns did not differ between indirectly and directly developing individuals, which are assumed to be more time constrained. Our findings support the notion that not all species will be detrimentally affected by climate change, and suggest that species attributes may be more important than potential time constraints imposed by different developmental pathways.

We report a 34-year-old homosexual man who developed a maculopapular, non-itchy exanthema mainly on the trunk in addition to fever up to 39.8 degrees C, general malaise, arthralgias, generalized enlargement of the lymph nodes, watery diarrhoea and weight loss. The patient was in an acute phase of the HIV infection according to standards of WHO and CDC (i.e. acute infection with duration from 3 days to 3 weeks with occasional mononucleosis-like symptoms and positive antibody tests). We documented the seroconversion from HIV-negativity to HIV-positivity 15 days after the onset of the acute illness, concomitant with the resolution of the clinical symptoms. Haematological changes were monitored during the conversion. The infection with HIV-1 was shown by the reduction of T4 helper cells (262/microliters) and the inversion of the CD4:CD8 ratio (< 0.5 during seroconversion). The patient also developed generalized candidiasis owing to the acute immunodeficiency.

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