A checklist of the genus Cyanus (Asteraceae, Cardueae) in Turkey, with notes on taxonomy and distribution

A taxonomic synopsis of the genus Cyanus in Turkey is presented. Cyanus hekimhanensis, C. cheiranthifolius var. purpurascens and C. reuterianus var. phrygius are proposed as new combinations. Some new synonymizations are proposed: Centaurea cana var. sultanensis with C. matthiolifolius, Centaurea pichleri var. ancyrensis with C. pichleri, Centaurea cana f. fulgens with C. triumfettii. Cyanus akcadaghensis is a synonym of C. matthiolifolius, Cyanus ermenekensis is a synonym of C. reuterianus, Cyanus banchevae is a synonym of C. thirkei. Lectotypes are designated here for ten accepted or synonymed names. The recognized taxa, the relevant synonyms, type details, lists of specimens examined, and a taxonomic key are provided for this genus in Turkey. In addition, the geographic distribution of all the taxa recognized in Turkey is presented and mapped.

Pseudocetherinae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) revisited: phylogeny and taxonomy of the lobe-headed bugs

The concept of the previously monogeneric subfamily Pseudocetherinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) is revised and expanded. We here transfer Gerbelius Distant, 1903, Kayanocoris Miller, 1954, Microvarus Jeannel, 1917, Paragerbelius Miller, 1958, and Voconia Stål, 1866 from Reduviinae to Pseudocetherinae and treat Kayanocoris, Microvarus, Paragerbelius, and Pseudocethera Villiers, 1963 as junior synonyms of Voconia, resulting in new combinations for Voconia conradti (Jeannel, 1917) comb. nov., V. ifana (Villiers, 1963) comb. nov., V. monodi (Villiers, 1963) comb. nov., V. motoensis (Schouteden, 1929) comb. nov., V. ornata (Distant, 1903) comb. nov., V. schoutedeni (Villiers, 1964) comb. nov., V. typica (Miller, 1958) comb. nov., and V. wegneri (Miller, 1954) comb. nov. We also describe 23 new species of Voconia: V. bakeri sp. nov., V. bracata sp. nov., V. brachycephala sp. nov., V. chrysoptera sp. nov., V. coronata sp. nov., V. decorata sp. nov., V. dolichocephala sp. nov., V. fasciata sp. nov., V. grandioculata sp. nov., V. hemera sp. nov., V. isosceles sp. nov., V. laosensis sp. nov., V. lasiosoma sp. nov., V. lirophleps sp. nov., V. loki sp. nov., V. mexicana sp. nov., V. minima sp. nov., V. nyx sp. nov., V. smithae sp. nov., V. tridens sp. nov., V. trinidadensis sp. nov., V. tuberculata sp. nov., and V. vittata sp. nov. Lectotypes are designated for Gerbelius confluens Distant, 1903, G. typicus Distant, 1903, V. conradti comb. nov., V. ornata comb. nov., and V. pallidipes Stål, 1866. A revised diagnosis and description of Pseudocetherinae are provided along with photographs of the species and of the male genitalia of 13 pseudocetherine and five closely related reduviine species. An identification key to the two genera of Pseudocetherinae as well as a key to species of Voconia are presented. A phylogenetic hypothesis is proposed for the relationships of Pseudocetherinae using parsimony analyses of 77 morphological characters.

Taxonomy and valve ultrastructure of new and interesting freshwater fossil diatoms (Bacillariophyta) of Miocene age from the Espanola Formation of New Mexico, U.S.A. II. Description of a New Grunowia species with comments on the genus

We describe a new species of the diatom genus Grunowia, G. mannii Kociolek & A.Danz, sp. nov., from a Miocene fossil deposit in New Mexico, USA. The species has wide fibulae, a keel that is off-center externally, with distinct proximal raphe ends, both internally and externally. The species is differentiated from others in the genus in the narrow valves that are swollen and rounded in the center. We formally transfer two species from Nitzschia to Grunowia, making the new combinations, Grunowia constricta (Chen & Zhu) Kociolek & A.Danz, comb. nov. and Grunowia pseudosinuata (Hamilton & Laird) Kociolek & A.Danz, comb. nov. We discuss the distribution of the genus over time and space. This report from the Miocene represents the oldest known member of the genus Grunowia in the fossil record.

The genera Coccus and Prococcus (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) in China, with two new combinations and descriptions of two new species

The Chinese soft scale species in the genus Coccus Linnaeus, 1758 (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) were studied. Coccus cambodiensis Takahashi and the Malaysian species C. cameronensis Takahashi are considered to be non-congeneric with Coccus hesperidum Linnaeus, 1758, the type species of Coccus, and are transferred to Prococcus Avasthi, 1993, as Prococcus cambodiensis (Takahashi, 1942), comb. n. and Prococcus cameronensis (Takahashi, 1952), comb. n. The generic diagnosis of Prococcus is revised. In the genus Coccus, two new species are described and illustrated based on adult females: Coccus nanningensis Cao & Feng, sp. n. from Guangxi, China, on Ficus carica (Moraceae), and Coccus cephalotaxus Cao & Feng, sp. n. from Shannxi, China, on Cephalotaxus sinensis (Taxaceae). Identification keys to separate adult females of Prococcus from Coccus, the 14 species of Coccus found in China, and all three species of Prococcus are provided.

Redefinition of Liroetis, with descriptions of two new species and an annotated list of species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae)

The genus Liroetis Weise, 1889 is redefi ned. The following new synonymies are established: Liroetis Weise, 1889 = Siemssenius Weise, 1922, syn. nov. = Pseudoliroetis Laboissière, 1929, syn. nov. = Zangia Chen, 1976, syn. nov. Consequently, the following new combinations are proposed: Liroetis coeruleus (Jiang, 1990) comb. nov.; Liroetis latispinus (Chen, 1976) comb. nov.; Liroetis nigricollis (Jiang, 1990) comb. nov.; Liroetis pallidulus (Jiang, 1990) comb. nov. (all from Zangia); Liroetis nigropictus (Fairmaire, 1889) comb. nov. (from Leptarthra); Liroetis cheni (Lee, 2016) comb. nov.; Liroetis elongatus (Kimoto, 1977) comb. nov.; Liroetis jeanvoinei (Laboissière, 1929) comb. nov.; Liroetis jungchani (Lee, 2016) comb. nov.; Liroetis liui (Lee, 2016) comb. nov.; Liroetis metallipennis (Chûjô, 1962) comb. nov.; Liroetis modestus (Weise, 1922) comb. nov.; Liroetis nigriceps (Laboissière, 1929) comb. nov.; Liroetis rufi pennis (Chûjô, 1962) comb. nov.; Liroetis sulcipennis (Zhang & Yang, 2008) comb. nov.; Liroetis tsoui (Lee, 2016) comb. nov.; and Liroetis yuae (Lee, 2016) comb. nov. (all from Siemssenius). Two new species, Liroetis aurantiacus sp. nov., from continental South East Asia, and L. baolocanus sp. nov., from Vietnam, are described. A new substitute name, Liroetis medvedevi nom. nov., is proposed for L. nigricollis Medvedev, 2009 preoccupied by L. nigricollis (Jiang, 1990). The following new synonyms are established: Liroetis aeneipennis Weise, 1889 = L. tiemushannis Jiang, 1988, syn. nov.; Liroetis ephippiatus Laboissière, 1930 = Zangia signata Jiang, 1990, syn. nov. = L. postmaculatus Lopatin, 2004, syn. nov.; Liroetis leechi Jacoby, 1890 = L. verticalis Jiang, 1988, syn. nov.; Liroetis nigricollis (Jiang, 1990) = L. unicolor Zhang, Li & Yang, 2008, syn. nov.; Liroetis reitteri (Pic, 1934) = Pseudoliroetis trifasciata Jiang, 1992, syn. nov. The spelling of Liroetis tiemushannis Jiang, 1988 is fixed using the First Reviewer Principle. Species of Liroetis are divided into five species-groups based on the combination of the following characters: presence/absence of border on anterior pronotal margin, width/length ratio of pronotum, structure of aedeagus, presence/absence of metatibial spur. The established groups are: the aeneipennis group, the aurantiacus group, the flavipennis group, the fulvipennis group, and the grandis group. The gender of Liroetis is masculine.

The genus Orionis Shaw (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae) in the Old World

The euphorine braconid genus Orionis Shaw, 1987 is found to be more diverse in the Old World than had previously been recognised. Orionis was regarded previously as largely Neotropical, with one Oriental species (Orionis orientalis Shimbori & Shaw, 2016) known from Thailand, but we recognise an additional three species from the Oriental and Palaearctic regions. Three species of Euphorinae are transferred to Orionis Shaw, 1987 and are new combinations: Orionis coxator (Belokobylskij, 1995), comb. nov., Orionis erratus (Chen & van Achterberg, 1997), comb. nov., and Orionis flavifacies (Belokobylskij, 2000), comb. nov. Previously known from the Far Eastern Palaearctic, O. coxator has surprisingly been found in Europe, in Belgium, England and the Netherlands. The inclusion of these species in Orionis, whereas most previous species have been described from the Neotropics, is justified by Bayesian analysis of the D2 region of 28S, Cytochrome Oxidase I barcode sequences, and morphology.

Vegetative and Leaf Anatomical Traits for Taxonomic Delimitation of Salacia L. In Sri Lanka

Salacia comprises 200 species throughout the tropical countries. In Sri Lanka, five species of this genus S. chinensis, S. diandra, S. oblonga, S. reticulata and S. acuminatissima are recorded that are considered as the synonyms under S. diandra by Wadhwa in 1996 during the revision of genus. These species are very much similar in vegetative morphology and their flowering is irregular and rare. Due to these reasons, their proper identification and determination are difficult and identification of new combinations of taxonomic characters is necessary. A multivariate analysis was conducted for 98 distinct populations using 20 vegetative and 43 leaf anatomical characters including PCA, PCO, CA, SIMPER and correlation analysis. The results support the recognition of four phenetic groups, which corresponds to species S. chinensis, S. reticulata, S. oblonga and S. diandra. S. acuminatissima that was recognized by Kostermans (1992) was not supported by the analysis and formed a cluster together with S. diandra with no support as a separate cluster. The study failed to recognize any distinct vegetative characters to define these taxa but propose a combination of vegetative or leaf anatomical characters and also highlights the necessity of molecular data to supplement the vegetative and leaf anatomical data to resolve the ambiguity between the S. acuminatissima and S. diandra. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 429-439, 2021 (December)

Asymmetric Hybrids: Dialogues for Computational Concept Combination

When people combine concepts these are often characterised as “hybrid”, “impossible”, or “humorous”. However, when simply considering them in terms of extensional logic, the novel concepts understood as a conjunctive concept will often lack meaning having an empty extension (consider “a tooth that is a chair”, “a pet flower”, etc.). Still, people use different strategies to produce new non-empty concepts: additive or integrative combination of features, alignment of features, instantiation, etc. All these strategies involve the ability to deal with conflicting attributes and the creation of new (combinations of) properties. We here consider in particular the case where a Head concept has superior ‘asymmetric’ control over steering the resulting concept combination (or hybridisation) with a Modifier concept. Specifically, we propose a dialogical approach to concept combination and discuss an implementation based on axiom weakening, which models the cognitive and logical mechanics of this asymmetric form of hybridisation.

Taxonomic Re-evaluation of Actinocephalus (Eriocaulaceae) in Light of New Morphological and Molecular Evidence

Abstract— A recent phylogenetic tree for the large paraphyletic genus Paepalanthus showed that the genus Actinocephalus is also paraphyletic with two species of Paepalanthus nested within it: Paepalanthus macrocephalus and Paepalanthus camptophyllus. These species have the diagnostic morphological traits of Actinocephalus, but they are too small to be seen in Paepalanthus macrocephalus and difficult to interpret in Paepalanthus camptophyllus, which has resulted in them being overlooked until now. Furthermore, Paepalanthus macrocephalus has a challenging circumscription, with several putative synonyms whose nomenclatural confusion has persisted for decades. Here we analyzed the morphology of Paepalanthus camptophyllus and Paepalanthus macrocephalus to confirm their relationship with other species of Actinocephalus as shown in the phylogeny and to investigate the diagnostic features that distinguish these species in Actinocephalus. The opportunity was also taken to evaluate putative synonyms of Paepalanthus macrocephalus and Paepalanthus camptophyllus, and to include the remaining variety of A. phaeocephalus (Paepalanthus phaeocephalus var. foliosus) in Actinocephalus, which was lacking in the revision of the genus. Four new combinations and eight lectotypes are provided, as well as six new synonyms. We also provide comments on diagnostic characteristics, distribution, and notes on Actinocephalus.