Temperature dependent larval pupation site preference in Drosophila. - Vandal N.B., Shivanna N. - The pupation site preferences (PSP) in sibling, sympatric and closely related species of Drosophila belonging to different groups were studied at different temperatures. The study has revealed that the pupation site choice varies significantly at extreme temperatures compared to the control one. Different species of Drosophila differ in PSP at different temperatures. The deviations from the control among the sibling species, sympatric and closely related species indicate that temperature affects the PSP.

Key words: Drosophila, adaptation, temperature, larva, habitat choice.

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Influence of the phytopathologic state of Betula pendula Roth. fluctuating asymmetry of its leaf laminae. - Gelashvili D.B., Lobanova I.V., Yerofeeva E.A., Naumova M.M. - Be means of nonparametric statistical techniques, deterioration of the phytopathological state of Betula pendula Roth. has been shown to decrease its development stability estimated by the fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of leaf laminae. The diagnostic accuracy of such estimations is a function of a certain algorithm to calculate an integrated index of FA; e.g. convolution techniques show a higher accuracy in comparison with standardization difference ones. FA estimation enables early diagnostics of pathologies when the tree still seems healthy.

Key words: Betula pendula, fluctuating asymmetry, development stability, phytopathologic state of trees.

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Bats in Penza City and its vicinities. - Zolina N.F., Il'in V.Yu., Smirnov D.G., Shepelev A.A. - The paper is devoted to the modern structure, occurrence, and distribution features of bats in Penza City and its vicinities. The presence of 11 bat species has been established. Pipistrellus nathusii (27.3%) and Nyctalus noctula (21.6%) are most abundant. Further, in decreasing order of occurrence there follow Vespertilio murinus (11.4%), Plecotus auritus (9.1%), Myotis daubentonii (9.1%), Myotis brandtii (5.7%), Pipistrellus pipistrellus (5.7%), Myotis dasycneme (3.4%), Eptesicus serotinus (3.4%), and Nyctalus lasiopterus (1.1%). Pipistrellus kuhlii, Eptesicus serotinuss, and Vespertilio murinus show the highest degree of synanthropy. The maximum number of bats (58.0%) was found in a wood suburb while in the areas of private and multi-storey buildings 14.8 and 12.5 % of the animals were met. The Sura river coast and the park zone of the city have provided the least numbers of animals (8.0 and 6.6%, respectively).

Key words: bats, occurrence, biotop, Penza City.

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Host-plant relationships and biotopical characteristics of Pterophoridae (Lepidoptera) fauna in Daghestan. - Kovtunovich V.N., Anikin V.V. - The Pterophoridae fauna of Daghestan includes 55 species of 19 genera. 14 species were found on the territory of the republic for the first time, namely, Agdistis adactyla (Hubner, 1819); A. intermedia Caradja, 1920; A. falkovitshi Zagulajev, 1986; A. ingens Christoph, 1885; Stenoptilia stigmatoides Sutter and Skyva, 1992; S. parnasia Arenberger, 1986; Procapperia linariae (Chretien, 1922); Capperia maratonica Adamczewski, 1951; Pselnophorus poggei Mann, 1862, and others. The plume-moths of Daghestan have been found to possess a considerable width of their host-plant relationships. The species are inspecializated oligophages (57.8%), polyphages (13.3%), and monophages (28.9%). Cluster analysis of the plum-moth fauna distribution over 6 main biotops shows two big clusters, the first one to combine the species from forest biotops while the second one to include the complexes of open landscapes. 'Liana' forests are a special case but they may be classified among the first group by their species composition.

Key words: Lepidoptera, Pterophoridae, host-plant relationships, biotopical distribution, Daghestan, Russia.

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Petty passerine bird communities of reeds in the Saratov Trans-Volga region. - Oparina O.S., Oparin M.L., Ilieva M.N. - Petty passerine bird communities of reeds on coastal lakes and steppe small rivers in the Saratov Trans-Volga region were studied. The surveys were carried out in the spring (May) and autumn (August - September), 1998 - 1999, and in the summer (June - July), 2006. Species ratio of the communities of various habitats and the demographic structure of each species are presented for various seasons. 22 bird species have been registered during the whole survey period in reeds of reservoirs. More arid areas (south-east of the Saratov region) feature a narrower specific variety. 7 species (Acrocephalus agricola, A. arundinaceus, A. scirpaceus, A. schoenobaenus, Locustella luscinioides, Panurus biarmicus, and Luscinia svecica) were most representative. Basic bird species in the communities are characterized. Morphometric data of the birds depending on sex and age are presented.

Key words: birds, community, steppe, reeds, Saratov region.

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A cadastre and cadastral map of Small Pika distribution (Ochotona pusilla Pallas, 1768) from 1759 till 2002. - Rybakova N. - A cadastre and cadastral map of the Small Pika distribution from 1759 until 2002 years are presented. Unpublished as well as published data were used. The cadastre includes 733 sites surveyed formerly, 73 literature sources, unpublished data from seven institutions of the former USSR, questioning data. 10 different-scale maps presented in the paper were made with the help of GIS programs (ArcInfo and ArcView). Besides the geographical location of every surveyed site, this technique allows reporting some features of the Small Pika habitat structure and the exploration degree of separate places of the habitat.

Key words: cadastre, cadastral map, Ochotona pusilla, geoinformation systems.

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Ecologo-karyological features of Bufo viridis in the northern Lower-Volga region. - Kaybeleva E.I., Krasnikova Yu.A., Tabachishina I.E. - The chromosomes of Bufo viridis from Krasnyi Kut district (the vicinity of v. Diakovka, n = 3) and Khvalynsk district (near Khvalynsk City, n = 5) of the Saratov region were analyzed. The diploid set of B. viridis comprises 22 chromosomes (2n = 22) which clearly come under two groups (6 pairs of big and 5 pairs of small ones). The morphological karyotype characteristics is: the 1st - 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8 - 11th pairs are metacentrics, the 4th and 7th ones are submetacentrics: 2n = 18V + 4sV = 22, NF = 44. Nucleus organizers were observed at the long arm of the 5th pair approximately for a half of the metaphase plates under study.

Key words: Bufo viridis, distribution, karyotype, Saratov region.

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Trophic relations of Kestrel in natural and anthropogenic landscapes in the Ukrainian Carpathians. - Skilsky I.V., Meleshchuk L.I. - The qualitative and quantitative structure of Kestrel nutrition objects in the plain and foothill parts of the Chernovtsy and Transcarpathian regions of the Ukraine is considered. Some nutrition selectivity and the related pronounced nutrition specialization are shown for these birds.

Key words: Falco tinnunculus, trophic relation, Bukovina, Transcarpathian, Ukraine.

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Red oak (Quercus rubra L., Fagaceae) as a new adventive flora species of the northern Lower-Volga region. - Yakushev N.N., Berezutsky M.A. - Data about spermatic renewal and naturalization of a Northern American wood species (red oak) in an urban forestry (Volsk district, the Saratov region) are presented. The quantify, density, and height of young trees, the maximum distance between them and adult fructiferous trees are given. This fact is the first registered case of running wild and naturalization of this species in the northern Lower-Volga region.

Key words: Quercus rubra, adventive species, Saratov region.

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