based on molecular data for a diversity of lichen-forming 

 fungi that demonstrated at least five independent origins of 

 this type of symbiotic association. The research , which was 

 conducted in the laboratories of the Department of Botany 

 with assistance from the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics, 

 was funded by Research Initiative Awards, a Scholarly Studies 

 Gtant, and departmental funds. 



Additionally, Dr. DePnest was the 1994 winner of the 

 Tuckerman award for the best lichen paper in Volume 97 of 

 "The Bryologist." The paper, "Variation in the Cladoma 

 chlorphaea Complex II: Ribosomal DNA Variation in a South- 

 ern Appalachian Population," described extensive genetic vari- 

 ation within an interbreeding population ot pixie cup lichens. 



Department of Botany curator Dr. Pedro Acevedo's manu- 

 script, "Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands," has been ac- 

 cepted for publication by the New York Botanical Garden. 

 The work treats the 747 native and naturalized species of vas- 

 cular plants occurring on St. John, the strategic geographical 

 position of which will ensure the volume's value as a tool for 

 students of the Caribbean flora in general. 



Department of Entomology 



The Department of Entomology teceived the donation of the 

 Kawabe Lepidoptera collection, totaling approximately 

 50,000 specimens. This collection contains the finest represen- 

 tation of Asiatic moths of the superfamily Totricoidea ever as- 

 sembled. Included in this group of moths are several of the 

 most serious pests of fruit and forest trees known. 



Butterfly curator Dr. Robert K. Robbins published an arti- 

 cle with Paul A. Oppler (National Biological Survey) in a new 

 book ("Biodiversity II") that for the first time documents but- 

 terfly diversity in each state and in each of the world's major 

 biogeographic realms. The authors show that butterflies dis- 

 play a greater proportion of their diversity in the tropics than 

 either birds or mammals. This result further emphasizes the 

 importance of conserving tropical ecosystems, particularly if 

 the diversity of other terrestrial arthopods mirrors that of 

 butterflies. 



The Department of Entomology prototype GOPHER went 

 on-line in October 1994. It contains information about staff, 

 resources available to visitors, newsletters maintained by staff 

 members and information about the collections. It also con- 

 tains information about, and from, various associated organiza- 

 tions located at the National Museum of Natural History, 

 including the USDA Systematic Entomology Laboratory, the 

 Walter Reed Biosystematic Unit, and the Maryland Center 

 for Systematic Entomology at the University of Maryland. 

 The Department's World List of Systematic Entomologists is 

 particularly popular and its lists of type holdings are currently 

 being expanded. 



The Department of Entomology was one of two depart- 

 ments that participated in the testing of the CRIS Transaction 

 Management computer system. The CRIS system facilitates 

 our management of loans and exchanges. The state-of-the-art 

 system will provide network access to individual curators and 



technicians as well as a crucial link to the NMNH Registrar's 

 Office. 



Department of Invertebrate Zoology 



Department of Invertebrate Zoology curator Dr. Steven Cairns 

 published "The Marine Fauna of New Zealand: Scleractinia," 

 (Cnidaria: Anthozoa). The volume is a major contribution to 

 the knowledge of the world's deep sea corals . 



The proceedings of the Cephalopod International Advisory 

 Council Conference, held in Washington, D.C. in 1988, were 

 edited by Dr. Clyde Roper, Dr. Mike Vecchione, and Michael 

 Sweeney and are in press with Smithsonian Contributions to 

 Zoology . Five papers in the volume are authored by Depart- 

 ment of Invertebtate Zoology staff. 



Dr. Robert Hershler was elected President of the American 

 Malacological Society for 1998, at the annual meeting in Hilo, 

 Hawaii, in June 1995. 



The World List of marine and aquatic isopods, comprising 

 about 5,000 species and prepared by Dr. Brian Kensley and 

 Marilyn Schotte, was placed on the SI Gopher server, along 

 with an authority file bibliography. The list, which provides 

 original author, type locality, and some indication of depth of 

 capture, will be invaluable to isopod systematists. 



Dr. Klaus Ruetzler and Kate Smith completed develop- 

 ment of a multimedia taxonomic key and database for Carib- 

 bean mangrove sponges supported by an award from the 

 Smithson Society. The first results of this pilot study were pre- 

 sented and discussed with other experts at the Xth Interna- 

 tional Sponge Taxonomy Workshop - Biodiversity Database 

 and Identification Systems - in Brussels in April 1995. 



Department of Mineral Sciences 



Drs. Tom Simkin (Department of Minetal Sciences) and Lee 

 Siebert published "Volcanoes of the World: A Regional Direc- 

 tory, Gazetteer, and Chronology of Volcanism During the Last 

 10,000 Years," (Geoscience Press, Tucson). This book is a com- 

 pilation of all known worldwide volcanic activity for the past 

 10,000 years, with statistics and diagrams showing frequen- 

 cies and patterns of eruptions. 



Department of Mineral Sciences curator Dr. Glenn Mac- 

 Pherson and colleagues published an invited paper on the evi- 

 dence for the presence of the tadioactive isotope of aluminum 

 in the solar system at the time of the latter's formation. The 

 isotope has a very short half life, 700,000 years, and may have 

 been one of the major sources of the heat that caused whole- 

 sale melting of planets to form cores early in their existence. 



Department staff completed a major project in collabora- 

 tion with the staff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 

 evaluate several new methods of identification, characteriza- 

 tion, and tracing of soil samples taken from crime scenes. 



In Septembet 1995, the Department hosted an international 

 conference, the Meteontical Society Annual Meeting, at the 

 Ripley Center. Over 200 talks and poster presentations cov- 

 ered all aspects of research on the solar system: its fotmation 



4! 



