Review of Proxima DeLong & Freytag (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Gyponini) with description of two new species from Brazil and identification key to species

The previously monotypic genus Proxima DeLong & Freytag, 1975 is reviewed and new diagnostic characters are added. The type-species Proxima ocellata DeLong & Freytag, 1975 described from the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil, is redescribed and newly recorded from the State of Minas Gerais. Also, two new species are described and illustrated: Proxima nigromaculata sp. nov. from the states of Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul and Proxima meloi sp. nov. from the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais. An identification key to the species of the genus is provided.

A distinctive new species of the genus Polyonyx Stimpson, 1858 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura: Porcellanidae) from Okinawa, southwestern Japan

The new porcellanid crab Polyonyx deezi n. sp. is described on the basis of two specimens from Okinawa Island, Ryukyu Islands, southwestern Japan. The new species belongs to the P. sinensis group and may be closest to P. socialis Werding & Hiller, 2019 in the comparatively broad proportions of the carpi of the chelipeds and meri of the ambulatory legs. However, P. deezi n. sp. is immediately distinguished from all other congeners by the median branchial margins of the carapace being bluntly angular and produced laterally and the dorsal surfaces of the carapace and chelipeds with distinct protuberances. The occurrence of P. deezi n. sp. from coral reefs may be unusual in species of the P. sinensis group because many of the known species have been recorded from estuaries or coastal embayments. An identification key to the Indo-West Pacific species of the Polyonyx sinensis group is provided.

A new species of Clypeocaenis Soldán 1978 (Ephemeroptera: Caenidae) from Tamil Nadu, India

Clypeocaenis malzacheri sp. nov. is described from the Kottakudi River in southern India, based on larvae and eggs. Clypeocaenis malzacheri sp. nov. appears to be closely related to C. bisetosa Soldán. The new species is distinguished from this species and other congeners based on the structure of the frons; the structure, setation, and maculation of legs; the shape and orientation of the abdominal tergum II projection; and by the shape and denticulation of abdominal sternum IX. Updated couplets for an identification key to Clypeocaenis larvae in the Indomalayan region are provided. The total number of Clypeocaenis species is thereby increased to twelve in the world and seven in India.

Three new Xylaria species (Xylariaceae, Xylariales) on fallen leaves from Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park

Three new species of Xylaria on fallen leaves in Hainan Province of China are described and illustrated, based on morphological and molecular evidence. Xylaria hedyosmicola is found on fallen leaves of Hedyosmum orientale and featured by thread-like stromata with a long sterile filiform apex. Phylogenetically, X. hedyosmicola is closely related to an undescribed Xylaria sp. from Hawaii Island, USA and morphologically similar to X. vagans. Xylaria lindericola is found on fallen leaves of Lindera robusta and characterised by its subglobose stromata and a long filiform stipe. It is phylogenetically closely related to X. sicula f. major. Xylaria polysporicola is found on fallen leaves of Polyspora hainanensis, it is distinguished by upright or prostrate stromata and ascospores sometimes with a slimy sheath or non-cellular appendages. Xylaria polysporicola is phylogenetically closely related to X. amphithele and X. ficicola. An identification key to the ten species on fallen leaves in China is given.

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.

Contribution to the knowledge of the oribatid mite genus Tritegeus (Acari, Oribatida, Cepheidae), with description of a new species from Nepal

A new species of oribatid mites of the family Cepheidae (Oribatida)—Tritegeus janosbaloghi sp. nov.—is described based on adults from soil-litter in Nepalese forest. The generic diagnosis of Tritegeus is updated. An identification key and data on distribution of known species of Tritegeus are provided.

New species and records of Neanurinae (Collembola: Neanuridae) from Mazandaran Province (Northeastern Iran), with a key to Iranian species of the subfamily

Four new species of the subfamily Neanurinae, namely Cryptonura dohezarensis sp. nov., Cryptonura abmalensis sp. nov., Cryptonura sariensis sp. nov. and Neanura persica sp. nov. from different forests in the Northern Iranian province of Mazandaran are described and illustrated. C. dohezarensis sp. nov. is characterized by body without pigment, dorsal tubercles rounded, mandible with 3 teeth, tubercles Cl and Af on head separate, tubercles Di on Th II–III with 3 chaetae and tubercle L on Abd III with 3 chaetae; C. abmalensis sp. nov.—by body with bluish pigment, dorsal tubercles triangular, mandible with 4 teeth, tubercles Cl and Af on head fused, chaetae A on head absent, tubercles L on Abd II and III with 4 chaetae and tubercle De+Dl+L on Abd V with 5 ordinary chaetae; C. sariensis sp. nov.—by body with bluish pigment, dorsal tubercles rounded, mandible with 5 teeth, tubercles Cl and Af on head separate and a reduced dorsal chaetotaxy; N. persica sp. nov. belongs to the group of Neanura with ventral chaetae L’ on Abd V, without chaetae Ocp on the head and tubercles Di on Th I absent, and is characterized by one character unknown in other members of the genus, e.g., the fusion of cephalic tubercles Cl and Af. In addition four other taxa have been found in the same forests: Cryptonura persica Smolis et al., 2012 and three species that may represent new species but there is insufficient material available to prepare full descriptions (one species in the genus Cryptonura, one in Vitronura and one in Endonura). An identification key of the genus and species of Neanurinae recorded so far from Iran is given.

New species of Andropromachus (Phasmatodea: Lonchodidae: Necrosciinae: Necrosciini) from Yunnan Province, China

The genus Andropromachus (Lonchodidae: Necrosciinae: Necrosciini) is a small genus of stick insects including four species with a distribution in northern Vietnam and south-western China. A new species of stick insects Andropromachus gulinqingensis sp. n. is described from Yunnan Province of China. Diagnostic characters of the new species are illustrated and an identification key to male and female Andropromachus is provided along with a checklist for all described species.

Synopsis of the genus Drosera (Droseraceae) in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

While some African Floras were continuously revised and several are now almost completed, the Flora of Angola’s ‘Conspectus Florae Angolensis’ still remains incomplete. This applies also for Droseraceae and the genus Drosera. Our study aims to provide an identification key for Drosera of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including all morphological characters of the different Angolan and Congolese taxa. Loans from different herbaria were studied. A list of important morphological characters was combined with data obtained by observations and measurements. Beside the identification key, nine species descriptions with drawings of the main characteristics, distribution maps and SEM-pictures of pollen and seed morphology are provided. The possibility of hybridisation is discussed. Despite difficulties such as varying morphology or hybridisation in some species, the identification key enables researchers to identify specimens by morphological characters.