Palaearctic Osmia bees of the subgenus Hoplosmia (Megachilidae, Osmiini): biology, taxonomy and key to species

Hoplosmia, a subgenus of the osmiine bee genus Osmia (Megachilidae), comprises 21 species restricted to the Palaearctic region. Analysis of female pollen loads and field observations indicate that probably all O. (Hoplosmia) species are specialized on Asteraceae except for one pollen generalist species, which exhibits a preference for the pollen of Cistaceae. Among the Asteraceae specialists, differences exist with respect to the three main Asteraceae subfamilies exploited for pollen, with some species exclusively visiting Carduoideae, others exploiting only Asteroideae and Cichorioideae and again others collecting pollen on Asteroideae, Carduoideae and Cichorioideae. All O. (Hoplosmia) species build their brood cells within preexisting cavities: several species exclusively nest in empty snail shells, few species use small cavities in rock and stones and the remaining species colonize linear cavities in dead wood and plant stems or nest in abandoned burrows of other bees and wasps. Chewed leaves serve as material to construct brood cell partitions and nest plug except for two species, which use mud as nest building material. The taxonomic revision of O. (Hoplosmia) revealed the existence of an undescribed species, O. centaureae spec. nov., which occurs in a small area that ranges from the Dead Sea over the Jordan Valley to northernmost Israel. Due to clear morphological gaps and widely disjunct distribution with the nominotypical subspecies, O. pinguis carbo (Zanden 1974) is elevated to species rank. Based on morphology and biology, three species groups are recognized within Hoplosmia. Identification keys for all O. (Hoplosmia) species are given including the hitherto unknown male or female sex of three species.

Download Full-text

Taxonomic revision of Apteropilo Lea, 1908 (Coleoptera: Cleridae)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.2200.1.2 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2200 (1) ◽

pp. 41-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

JUSTIN S. BARTLETT

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Systematic Position ◽

Key To Species ◽

Dichotomous Key ◽

Species Groups

The endemic Australian genus Apteropilo Lea is revised and Pylusopsis Elston syn. n. found to be synonymous with the former. Apteropilo is redefined herein to include two previously described species (A. pictipes Lea (= Pylusopsis peckorum Kolibáč syn. n.) and A. chrysocome (Elston) comb. n.), and four new species (A. raldae sp. n., A. humerofuscus sp. n., A. clarinotus sp. n. and A. volans sp. n.). Species are arranged into three species-groups. A dichotomous key to species is provided and the systematic position of Apteropilo within Cleridae briefly discussed.

Download Full-text

Palaearctic Protosmia bees of the subgenus Chelostomopsis (Megachilidae, Osmiini): biology, taxonomy and key to species

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4227.2.9 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4227 (2) ◽

pp. 287

Author(s):

ANDREAS MÜLLER

Keyword(s):

Dead Wood ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Undescribed Species ◽

Key To Species ◽

Pollen Loads ◽

Species Analysis ◽

Nesting Sites ◽

Plant Families ◽

Pine Cones ◽

Pure Resin

Chelostomopsis represents a subgenus of the osmiine bee genus Protosmia (Megachilidae) containing three Palaearctic and one Nearctic species. Analysis of female pollen loads and literature data indicate that all Chelostomopsis species are broad pollen generalists exploiting the flowers of numerous plant families, such as Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Cistaceae and Brassicaceae. Preexisting linear cavities in dead wood or pine cones serve as nesting sites and pure resin is used to construct cell partitions and nest plug. The taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic P. (Chelostomopsis) species revealed the existence of a still undescribed species from the Levant, Protosmia (Chelostomopsis) angustimandibulae spec. nov. Keys for the identification of the three Palaearctic P. (Chelostomopsis) species are given.

Download Full-text

Discovery of Systenus in the Afrotropical Region with a description of a new species (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)

Zoosystematica Rossica ◽

10.31610/zsr/2009.18.2.285 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 285-290

Author(s):

I.Ya. Grichanov ◽

M.B. Mostovski

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Key To Species ◽

Afrotropical Region ◽

Species Groups ◽

First Time ◽

A New Species

The genus Systenus Loew, 1857 is recorded from Afrotropical Region for the first time. A description of a new species, Systenus africanus Grichanov sp. nov., and notes on females of another probably new Afrotropical species are provided. The genus is considered now as cosmopolitan. A key to species and species groups of the Systenus worldwide is compiled.

Download Full-text

The genus Gennadas (Benthesicymidae: Decapoda): morphology of copulatory characters, phylogeny and coevolution of genital structures

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.171288 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (12) ◽

pp. 171288 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Alexander L. Vereshchaka ◽

Anastasia A. Lunina ◽

Jørgen Olesen

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Anterior Part ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Posterior Part ◽

Key To Species ◽

Internal Part ◽

Species Groups ◽

Aristaeomorpha Foliacea ◽

External Part ◽

Scanning Electron

Species within Gennadas differ from each other largely only in male (petasma) and female (thelycum) copulatory characters, which were restudied in scanning electron microscopy and used as a basis for phylogenetic analyses. Twenty-six petasma characters and 49 thelycum characters were identified. All 16 recognized species of Gennadas and Aristaeomorpha foliacea (outgroup) were included as terminals. Four robust monophyletic clades were retrieved, described and diagnosed as new species groups. The thelycum characters had greater impact on tree topology and supported deeper nodes than did the petasma characters. We hypothesize that features of the thelycum evolved first followed by aspects of the petasma. Relatively more conservative characters include parts of the sternites of the thelycum and of the petasma, while the scuti and protuberances on the thelycum and the shape and subdivisions of the petasma lobes are evolutionarily plastic. We identified two groups of copulatory characters, which are likely coupled functionally and interlinked evolutionarily: (i) the external part of the petasma and the posterior part of the thelycum and (ii) the internal part of the petasma and anterior part of the thelycum. We reconstruct possible mating position during copulation for each of the new species groups presented here. We also present an updated key to genera of Benthesicymidae and key to species of Gennadas .

Download Full-text

Corrigenda — A taxonomic revision of Alstonia (Apocynaceae) in Australia

Australian Systematic Botany ◽

10.1071/sb9920745c ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 5 (6) ◽

pp. 745

Author(s):

PI Forster

Keyword(s):

Conservation Status ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Key To Species

The genus Alstonia R. Br. is revised for Australia. Six species are recognised, namely A. actinophylla (A. Cunn.) Schurnann, A. constricta F. Muell., A. linearis Benth., A. muelleriana Domin, A. scholaris (L.) R. Br. and A. spectabilis R. Br. Two subspecies are recognised for A. spectabilis, with A. ophioxyloides F. Muell. being reduced to subspecific status. A. muelleriana is lectotypified. Generic and specific descriptions, a key to species; notes on variation, distribution, habitat and conservation status are provided. Ethnobotanical use in Australia and adjacent Papuasia is briefly reviewed.

Download Full-text

A revision of the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species group (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettini) with 14 new species from mainland Australia

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4340.1.1 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4340 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

LINDSAY W. POPPLE

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Species Complex ◽

Species Group ◽

Undescribed Species ◽

Key To Species ◽

Species Groups ◽

Song Types

The genus Myopsalta Moulds is distributed throughout much of Australia. Previous studies have associated several undescribed species with the Myopsalta crucifera (Ashton) species complex. The present study informally divides the cicadas in the genus Myopsalta into two species groups. It provides a revision of the M. crucifera species group, which includes redescriptions of M. crucifera s. str. and M. mackinlayi (Distant). The identity of the latter species is further refined and attributed to material formerly presented under the name Myopsalta atrata (Goding & Froggatt). In addition to the redescriptions, 14 new species belonging to the M. crucifera species group are described, including M. albiventris n. sp., M. bassiana n. sp., M. chrysopedia n. sp., M. gordoni n. sp., M. leona n. sp., M. longicauda n. sp., M. majurae n. sp., M. melanobasis n. sp., M. parvula n. sp., M. platyptera n. sp., M. riverina n. sp., M. septa n. sp., M. umbra n. sp. and M. xerograsidia n. sp. A key to species in the genus Myopsalta is provided. Standard morphological descriptions and descriptions of calling songs unique to each species are included along with a discussion on different song types in the M. crucifera species group.

Download Full-text

Akamboja gen. nov., a new genus of railroad-worm beetle endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest, with five new species (Coleoptera: Phengodidae, Mastinocerinae)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4306.4.3 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4306 (4) ◽

pp. 501 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

ANDRÉ SILVA ROZA ◽

HINGRID YARA SOUZA QUINTINO ◽

JOSÉ RICARDO MIRAS MERMUDES ◽

LUIZ FELIPE LIMA DA SILVEIRA

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

New Genus ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Atlantic Rainforest ◽

Disjunct Distribution ◽

Key To Species ◽

Diagnostic Features ◽

Mountain Ranges ◽

Phylogenetic Studies

The Atlantic Rainforest is a hotspot of biodiversity, housing several endemic species. Environmental stasis through broad time scales, vast latitudinal extension and landscape heterogeneity are thought to contribute in explaining the greater species richness of this biome. Unfortunately, it is threatened mainly due to anthropic-driven habitat loss. Ectotherms of low-mobility, such as tropical, small soft-bodied railroad-worms, may be especially threatened by anthropogenic climate changes. Many of such species have narrow climatic niches and therefore might become extinct before we know them. Here we describe a new genus endemic of the Atlantic Rainforest mountain ranges, and five spatially disjunct new species. Akamboja gen. nov. is unique by its ten-segmented antenna, IV to VIII with two short symmetrical branches, branches of antennomere IX fused in a singular flabellum, slightly depressed medially; elytron short, surpassing the second to fourth abdominal segment (depending on species); first tarsomere of anterior leg with a ventral comb; claws with six long and asymmetrical teeth; aedeagus with patch of bristles at paramere apex. We provide a key to species as well as illustrations for the diagnostic features. We highlight that Akamboja cleidae sp. nov., as defined here, has a disjunct distribution and its populations are surrounded by an unsuitable environmental matrix, thus are probably reproductively isolated. Future phylogenetic studies should address the evolutionary history and delimitation of this taxon. We also provide a key to genera of Mastinocerinae with ten antennomeres, including Akamboja gen. nov.

Download Full-text

Revision of the pollen beetle genus Meligethes (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae)

Fragmenta Entomologica ◽

10.4081/fe.2014.71 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 46 (1-2) ◽

pp. 19 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paolo Audisio ◽

Simone Sabatelli ◽

Josef Jelìnek

Keyword(s):

Taxonomic Revision ◽

Central China ◽

Pollen Beetle ◽

Sw China ◽

Species Complexes ◽

Western Palearctic ◽

Specific Rank ◽

Species Groups ◽

Available Information ◽

First Time

A taxonomic revision of members of the genus Meligethes Stephens, 1830 is carried out. Taxonomic and distributional notes are provided on fiftythree Meligethes species, mostly known from the Eastern Palearctic and marginally from the Western Palearctic and the Oriental Regions. Among these, twentythree new species of Meligethes are diagnosed, figured and described: M. argentithorax sp. n. (Central China: Shaanxi, Shanxi), M. aurantirugosus sp. n. (Nepal), M. aureolineatus sp. n. (Central China: Sichuan), M. aurifer sp. n. (Central China: Shaanxi, Shanxi), M. brassicogethoides sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan), M. clinei sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan), M. elytralis sp. n. (Central China: Sichuan), M. ferruginoides sp. n. (Central China: Sichuan), M. cinereoargenteus sp. n. (Central China: Sichuan), M. henan sp. n. (Central China: Henan), M. luteoornatus sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan), M. marmota sp. n. (Nepal), M. nivalis sp. n. (SW and central China: Xizang and Chongqing), M. martes sp. n. (Central China: Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan), M. nigroaeneus sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan), M. occultus sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan), M. pseudochinensis sp. n. (Central China: Hubei), M. pseudopectoralis sp. n. (SW China: Yunan), M. schuelkei sp. n. (Central China: Sichuan, Shaanxi), M. simulator sp. n. (Central-N China: Shanxi), M. stenotarsus sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan, Xizang), M. tryznai sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan), and M. volkovichi sp. n. (SW China: Yunnan). Revaluations at specific rank from synonymy are introduced for Meligethes lutra Solsky 1860, and for M. melleus Grouvelle, 1908. Three new synonymies are established: Meligethes brevipilus Kirejtshuk, 1980 = M. auripilis Reitter, 1889 (syn. n.), Meligethes zakharenkoi Kirejtshuk, 2005 = M. shirakii Sadanari Hisamatsu, 1956 (syn. n.), and Meligethes shirozui Sadanari Hisamatsu, 1965 = M. wagneri Rebmann, 1956 (syn. n.). Complete redescriptions are given for Meligethes binotatus Grouvelle, 1894, M. castanescens Grouvelle, 1903, M. ferrugineus Reitter, 1873, and M. melleus Grouvelle, 1908. The male of Meligethes lloydi Easton, 1968, is described and figured for the first time. The female genitalia of Meligethes auricomus Rebmann, 1956, M. cinereus Jelínek, 1978, and M. griseus Jelínek, 1978 are described and figured for the first time. Available information on insect-host-plant relationships and ecology are summarized for each species; probably all are associated as larvae with flowers of Rosaceae, chiefly of members of the closely related genera Rosa L., Rubus L., Prunus L., and Crataegus Tourn. ex L. All treated species are grouped in two here revaluated subgenera (Meligethes s.str. and Odonthogethes Reitter, 1871), and tentatively grouped also in species-groups and (when necessary) species-complexes, based on their morphology.

Download Full-text

A new micropolydesmoid millipede of the genus Eutrichodesmus Silvestri, 1910 from Cambodia, with a key to species in mainland Southeast Asia (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Haplodesmidae)

ZooKeys ◽

10.3897/zookeys.996.57411 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 996 ◽

pp. 59-91

Author(s):

Ruttapon Srisonchai ◽

Natdanai Likhitrakarn ◽

Chirasak Sutcharit ◽

Ekgachai Jeratthitikul ◽

Warut Siriwut ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Southeast Asia ◽

Mating Behaviour ◽

Morphological Evidence ◽

Distribution Map ◽

Key To Species ◽

Current Distributions ◽

Species Groups ◽

First Time ◽

Mainland Southeast Asia

The micropolydesmoid millipede family Haplodesmidae is here recorded from Cambodia for the first time through the discovery of the first, new species of the genus Eutrichodesmus Silvestri, 1910: E. cambodiensissp. nov. This new species is described from two limestone habitats in Kampot Province, based on abundant material. It is easily distinguished from all related congeners by the following combination of characters: body greyish-brown; limbus roundly lobulate; solenomere partially divided from acropodite by a digitiform lobe, but without hairpad. Brief remarks on the previously-proposed “pecularis-group” are provided and a second group, the “demangei-group”, is established and discussed on the basis of morphological evidence, updating the number of recognised species groups of Eutrichodesmus to two. Detailed morphological illustrations, photographs and a distribution map, as well as remarks on its habitat and mating behaviour of the new species are presented. Furthermore, the current distributions of all 55 presently-known species of Eutrichodesmus are provided and a key to all 23 species that occur in mainland Southeast Asia is given.

Download Full-text

A taxonomic revision of Gaultheria series Trichophyllae (Ericaceae)

Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas ◽

10.17348/jbrit.v14.i2.1010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 289-341

Author(s):

Peter W. Fritsch ◽

Lu Lu

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Central Asia ◽

Taxonomic Revision ◽

High Elevation ◽

Key To Species ◽

East Central ◽

Present Treatment ◽

Taxonomic Changes ◽

Species Descriptions ◽

The Himalaya

The last taxonomic revision of Gaultheria series Trichophyllae (Ericaceae), a clade of high-elevation species endemic to the Himalaya-Hengduan Shan region of east-central Asia, was published in 1941. Since then, a number of new species have been described and other taxonomic changes have occurred in the group, prompting the need for a comprehensive revision. The present treatment of the series comprises 21 species, including Gaultheria x biluoensis, a newly described hybrid between G. crassifolia and G. major. A key to species and species descriptions is provided, and lectotypes are newly designated for G. cardiosepala, G. gonggashanensis, G. marronina, and G. stenophylla.

Download Full-text