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Many nineteenth-century Chinese migrants to Pacific Rim countries died far from their home villages. Diverse approaches were adopted to mark graves, possibly anticipating the subsequent, culturally important, repatriation of their bones. This paper evaluates the morphology of grave markers from eight northeast Australian sites and considers reasons for the variations. Physical appraisal of each site was undertaken and, where they exist, cemetery records and allied documentation examined. In an unusual departure from the norm the inscriptions on most identified grave markers rarely indicate date of death. The seemingly meticulous attention to grave identification in some areas contrasts with others where markers are absent. This study indicates divergent approaches to identification and recording of individual graves over time and place. Rather than indicating full-fledged ethnogenesis, wherein Australian Chinese developed new cultural practices, these behaviors suggest that ca.1870–1930 was a transitional period, during which extant cultural processes were adapted to meet immediate needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platycephalids Ambiserrula jugosa (McCulloch 1914) and Inegocia harrisii (McCulloch 1914) were described as new species based on 10 and 2 specimens, respectively, collected from the coast of Queensland, Australia by the F.I.S. Endeavour in 1910. McCulloch (1914) listed additional specimens at the end of the description, which he did not exclude from the type series. Previous authors considered the specimens, which McCulloch stated the species to have been described from, to be types of the two species, it was revealed that all 43 and 9 specimens included in these species by McCulloch are type specimens, according to the fourth edition of International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, stating "type series of a nominal taxon consists of all the specimens included by the author in the new nominal taxon" in Article 72.4.1. In I. harrisii, it was assumed that a specimen later designated as the lectotype was figured with the original description. Because its plate legend includes the words "sp. nov. Type", the specimen is regarded to be the holotype of the species and the designation of the lectotype was unnecessary. This study newly recognizes additional 12 paratypes of A. jugosa and 5 paratypes of I. harrisii, and gives taxonomic accounts of the two species to show range extensions of intraspecific variation and distribution newly found. Also comments are given about the type status of other species taken by the Endeavour described by McCulloch in a series of five papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incursions by exotic tephritids continue to threaten Australia. Host suitability for a specific tephritid is ranked by the number of adults which can emerge from one kg of fruit or the Host Reproduction Number (HRN). Bactrocera dorsalis has previously invaded northern Australia but was eradicated. However, Bactrocera dorsalis remains the largest exotic threat and is likely to invade through northern Australia but B. tryoni and other tephritids are already well established. One question is what hosts would likely provide the best early warning for an exotic incursion. Here, the HRN for 40 hosts for Bactrocera dorsalis and B. tryoni were established from the scientific literature. The reproductive advantages of one species over the other were calculated by dividing the higher HRN by the lower HRN. The fruits with the highest reproductive advantage (> 30) favouring B. dorsalis were soursop, mango and capsicum. The reproductive advantage estimate was compared to surveillance data collected during B. dorsalis eradication in north Queensland from 1995 to 1997. Mangoes and capsicum were among the mostly commonly infested hosts. Capsicums provided the second highest number of samples and would seem ideal candidates as sentinel plants for current surveillance programs. Some inconsistencies are identified and discussed. The HRN and reproductive advantage may have the potential to identify hosts and industries for early warning exotic fruit fly surveillance, better-targeted eradication programs and risk assessments for imports/exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]