New species and records of Lycoriella Frey (Diptera, Sciaridae) from the Holarctic region

The following species of the genus Lycoriella Frey sensu Vilkamaa & Menzel from the Holarctic region are newly described and illustrated: Lycoriella ampla sp. n. (Canada: Ontario), L. barkalovi sp. n. (Russia: Krasnoyarsk region), L. canningsi sp. n. (Canada: British Columbia), L. eurystylata sp. n. (Canada: Quebec), L. excavata sp. n. (USA: Colorado), L. jakovlevi sp. n. (Russia: Karelia), L. kinbasketi sp. n. (Canada: British Columbia), L. longa sp. n. (USA: Colorado), L. nivicola sp. n. (Canada: Nunavut, NWT; Greenland), L. pearyi sp. n. (Greenland), L. taimyrensis sp. n. (Russia: Krasnoyarsk region) and L. tundrae sp. n. (Russia: Krasnoyarsk region). Lycoriella parva (Holmgren, 1869) is redescribed and illustrated and new faunistic records are given for some previously described species of Lycoriella. The newly described species raise the number of known species of Lycoriella from 38 to 50.

One new species of Fannia (Diptera, Fanniidae) from Yunnan, China with a key to the Fannia fuscinata-group in China

The Fannidae includes over 400 described species, mainly known from the Holarctic Region. The number of species in the Oriental Region are underestimated. The Fannia fuscinata-group was established by Wang et al. in 2011, consisting of nine species at present. A new species of the genus Fannia (Diptera, Fanniidae) is described from Yunnan, part of the Oriental Region in China, namely Fannia menglaensis sp. nov. The detailed description, photographs and drawings of adults and male terminalia of F. menglaensis sp. nov. are provided. All specimens are preserved in the Museum of Beijing Forestry University.

Revision of the Exechia parva group (Diptera: Mycetophilidae)

Exechia is a diverse genus of small fungus gnats, widespread in the Holarctic Region, while the fauna is largely unknown elsewhere, such as in the Afrotropical and Oriental Region. Members of Exechia can be arranged into several species groups, based on homologies in the male and female terminalia. The Exechia parva group is delimited, based on male terminalia possessing a pair of gonocoxal lobes on the apicoventral gonocoxal margin. Eight previously-described species can be placed in this group, of which six are from the Holarctic Region, while one is recorded each from the Oriental and the Afrotropical Regions. The Exechia parva group was reviewed and found to include 33 species, of which 24 were described as new to science and six were re-described. Identification keys to 32 species for males and nine species for females are provided together with illustrations and photos of male and female terminalia. Species delimitations were based on morphological examination of 94 male and female specimens, as well as DNA barcodes obtained from 124 specimens. Molecular and morphological species delimitations were mostly congruent, except in two cases where two species were delimited within a single Barcode Index Number (BIN). We found that each species is only known from a single zoogeographical region and that several species complexes are largely congruent with zoogeographical divisions, indicating that intercontinental barriers may have a strong impact on the species diversity of the group.

One new species of Fannia (Diptera, Fanniidae) from Yunnan, China

The Fannidae includes over 400 described species mainly known from the Holarctic Region. Species in Oriental Region is under estimate. A new species of the genus Fannia (Diptera, Fanniidae) is described from Yunnan, Oriental part of China, namely Fannia menglaensis sp. nov. The detailed description and morphological photographs of F. menglaensis are provided. All specimens are preserved in the Museum of Beijing Forestry University.

Red-headed ash borer Neoclytus acuminatus acuminatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae): the global distribution, current spreading and the seasonal activity depending on its different habitats

Holarctic expansion of Neoclytus acumiantus acuminatus due to its polyphagous character has been a major concern for plant health, which raises several questions about its spreading directions. I have examined all bibliographical references, phytosanitary reports and authentic photographs from the online sources in the quest of the determination of the worldwide distribution and flight phenology of N. a. acuminatus. The expansion, including the western Palearctic regions as well as several Neotropical habitats, is proven and has become more intense in the last decades. It can be found mostly on the Holarctic region including 21 countries, which is supported by 51 publications. Its spreading mostly northward and eastward in the Palearctic is continuous due to anthropogenic effects, climate change as well as movement of infested materials. Flight phenology and population densities as a function of habitats were mapped. The detection in novel habitats of this pest due to imported wood materials and products is envisaged in the foreseeable future. The primary criterion for controlling the species adapted to the commercial trade and climatic change would be the elaboration of a monitoring system in affected and exposed areas.

Chironomidae: Biology, Ecology and Systematics

The family of Chironomidae is a group of Diptera insects belonging to the suborder of Nematocera, commonly called “non-biting midges” in the adult stage and “bloodworms” in the larval stage. The Chironomidae are often the most abundant group of macroinvertebrates, in number of species and individuals, encountered in all aquatic environments of freshwater, brackish, terrestrial and even the sea. Likewise, Chironomidae occur in all the continents. The Chironomidae family is divided into 11 sub-families that have diffrent ecological statues. Despite the wealth of data on Chironomidae in the Holarctic region, other parts of the world are poorly studied and few guides to identifying Chironomidae have been produced. This chapter includes a theoretical synthesis on the Chironomidae, it deals with the Biology (life cycle and description of different stages), description of all subfamilies and the ecology of this important family of Diptera.

Unexpected larger distribution of paleogene stem-rollers (AVES, CORACII): new evidence from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina

Here we present the first record of a stem-Coracii outside the Holarctic region, found in the early Eocene of Patagonia at the Laguna del Hunco locality. Ueekenkcoracias tambussiae gen. et sp. nov. consists of an incomplete right hind limb that presents the following combination of characters, characteristic of Coracii: relatively short and stout tibiotarsus, poorly developed crista cnemialis cranialis, short and wide tarsometatarsus, with the tuberositas m. tibialis cranialis located medially on the shaft, and curved and stout ungual phalanges. Although the presence of a rounded and conspicuous foramen vasculare distale and the trochlea metatarsi II strongly deflected medially resemble Primobucconidae, a fossil group only found in the Eocene of Europe and North America, our phylogenetic analysis indicates the new taxon is the basalmost known Coracii. The unexpected presence of a stem-Coracii in the Eocene of South America indicates that this clade had a more widespread distribution than previously hypothesized, already extending into the Southern Hemisphere by the early Eocene. Ueekenkcoracias tambussiae represents new evidence of the increasing diversity of stem lineages of birds in the Eocene. The new material provides novel morphological data for understanding the evolutionary origin and radiation of rollers and important data for estimates of the divergence time of the group.

Decolonizing Psocopteran Systematics: Holarctic Lineages Cannot Inform Diversity and Evolution in Tropics

Despite tropical psocids comprise ~60% of species diversity within the Psocidae (Insecta, Psocodea), previous studies on the Psocidae phylogeny have poorly sampled tropical species (<40% species in trees). Here we discuss the evolution and systematics of the Psocidae based on the most comprehensive species-level sampling of the Psocidae. We sequenced and inferred the phylogenetic position of 43 previously unsampled Neotropical species from COI, H3, WNT, 18S, 16S, and 12S. Based on our phylogenies we found that Neotropical psocids are generally not closely related to morphologically similar taxa in the Holarctic region. Consequently, the monophyletic status for the major groups within Psocidae (subfamilies and tribes) is recovered only when Holarctic groups are sampled (7–10 of 11 higher-level groups are monophyletic) but violated when Neotropical species are included in the dataset (1 of 11 higher-level groups are monophyletic). Leveraging the largest phylogeny of the Psocidae, our study pinpoints the downfalls of simply extending taxonomic knowledge from lineages of a certain area to inform diversity and evolution of lineages in other regions.HighlightsTropical psocids comprise >60% of the extant family richnessPrevious phylogenies have undersampled Tropical psocidsHolarctic and Neotropical species are classified under the same morphological groupsHolarctic and Neotropical generally correspond to evolutionarily distinct lineagesPhylogenies based on Holarctic psocids poorly inform evolution in the Neotropics

Wheeleriola perplexa gen. et sp. nov., the first member of Catotrichinae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) found in New Zealand

Catotrichinae, a small, relict subfamily of the Cecidomyiidae, are of peculiar interest to the phylogeny of gall midges. Three genera and eight species of extant catotrichines were previously known to science, all found in the Holarctic region and Australia. Here, the first New Zealand member of this group is described and named Wheeleriola perplexa, new genus, new species. The adult morphology of Wheeleriola is characterized by two peculiarities: the vestiture on the male flagellomeres shows beginnings of girdle formation, and the medial veins are largely reduced. Both conditions challenge the hypothesis of Catotrichinae being the earliest branching lineage of the cecidomyiid clade, which is explained and discussed.