On three new species of Mesochra Boeck, 1865 (Harpacticoida: Canthocamptidae) from Iceland

Three new species of Mesochra Boeck, 1865, were found during two surveys in south‐western Iceland of the feeding ecology of juvenile lumpsucker Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus, 1758, in floating seaweed and the seasonality of harpacticoids in a low intertidal pool. Only two species of the genus, M. lilljeborgi Boeck, 1864 and M. rapiens (Schmeil, 1894), have been found in previous studies in Iceland. The three new species, Mesochra ingolfssoni sp. nov., Mesochra snoppa sp. nov., and Mesochra freyri sp. nov. resemble M. stellfeldi Jakobi, 1954 in the normal (not dwarfed) outer seta of both male and female P5 EXP, but differ in that M. stellfeldi possesses unequal inner baseoendopodal setae on the female P5. The three new species resemble M. pygmaea (Claus, 1863) in the equal inner baseoendopodal setae of the female P5, but differ in the dwarfed outer seta of the male and female P5 EXP present in M. pygmaea, and can be easily separated by shape of the rostrum, female P6, number of pinnate elements on the second antennular segment, general shape of the antenna and shape of the lateral and distal inner spines, among other character states.     

Mating behaviour of Staminodeus vectoris (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), and the value of systematics in behavioural studies

The mating behaviour of Staminodeus vectoris Franz (Curculionidae: Curculioninae: Derelomini) is described and discussed in light of a phylogeny of Staminodeus Franz. At La Selva, Costa Rica, S. vectoris is associated with the staminodes of the inflorescences of Asplundia uncinata Harling and several other species of Cyclanthaceae. The males have a row of 6–10 teeth along the margin of the protibia, whereas the females have a small, curved spine on the frons. The adults arrive in numbers at the inflorescences during the pistillate phase of the anthesis of A. uncinata, feeding on the staminodes. Eventually, a female detaches a staminode with her mandibles, falls to the ground, and transports it to the site of oviposition in the leaf litter. First, she crawls underneath the staminode, then moves it posteriorly with her legs, and finally returns to its distal end before repeating the process. The female turns on her back and maintains her original position during the movement of the staminode, using her frontal spine as a point of resistance against the substrate. Meanwhile, a male associates with the staminode. The males fight with their prothoracic legs, executing fast blows until their protibial teeth cling and dislodge competitors from the staminode. The positive and negative allometries of the lengths of the male protibia and female spine, are consistent with their functions in the contexts of sexual and natural selection, respectively. The phylogeny of all seven species of Staminodeus hypothesises that female transporting behaviour evolved before male fighting behaviour.     

Paranannopidae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from sublittoral soft sediments in Spitsbergen

Based on specimens of Paranannopidae collected from 30 to 123 m depth in Sassenfjord, Spitsbergen, two species of Paradanielssenia Soyer, 1970 (P. christineae sp. nov. and P. kathleenae sp. nov.) are described. These can be distinguished from known species by differences in the number of claviform aesthetascs on the mouthparts and in the arrangement or form of setae on the legs. A key to species of Paradanielssenia is provided. Mucrosenia gen. nov. (type species M. kendalli sp. nov.) is established on the basis of a single female and can be distinguished from all known paranannopid genera by the structure of the caudal ramus and the P2 endopod-2 which has no inner seta and a large mucroniform process at the outer distal corner. Psammis kliei Smirnov, 1946 is assigned to this genus as species incertae sedis. Danielssenia quadriseta Gee, 1988 is recorded for the first time outside its type locality in Oslofjord. Danielssenia spitsbergensis sp. nov. is described from a single male specimen and can easily be distinguished from other known species by the presence of only two outer spines on exopod-3 of P3-4. However, because of differences in the structure of the P2 endopod and P5, the species is placed incertae sedis within Danielssenia pending the discovery of the female.     

Apelaunothripini from the Philippines (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae)

Summary

The relationships of the phlaeothripine tribe Apelaunothripini is discussed. Four genera and thirteen species are recorded from the Philippines, including the following two new genera and nine new species: Apelaunothrips cephalicus sp. nov., A. fasciatus sp. nov., A. flavicornis sp. nov., A. marginalis sp. nov., A. philippinensis sp. nov., A. rostratus sp. nov., A. simpliceps sp. nov., Lizalothrips luzonensis gen. and sp. nov., Paradexiothrips bispinosus gen. and sp. nov. Keys are provided to the four genera included in the Apelaunothripini, and to the ten Apelaunothrips species from the Philippines.     

First record of the subfamily Coelotinae in Laos,with review of Coelotinae embolus morphology and description of seven new species from Laos and Vietnam (Araneae,Amaurobiidae)

First records of Coelotinae are reported from Laos. Five new species of the genus Draconarius are described from the northern Luang Nam Tha Province: Draconarius bounnami sp. nov. (male), D. latidens sp. nov. (female), D. postremus sp. nov. (male, female), D. songi sp. nov. (male) and D. tabularis sp. nov. (female). In addition, two new Coelotinae species are described from Vietnam: D. hanoiensis sp. nov. (female) and D. huongsonensis sp. nov. (female). Of the 429 currently valid Coelotinae species, 154 of them have only females described (36%). The embolus characteristics of those with males described (275 species, 64%) are reviewed. Two characters have been found that might be informative for the estimation of phylogeny, and their congruence with the current Coelotinae classification system is discussed. One character is the point from which the embolus arises and another is the embolus shape.     

Resource defence mating system in two flies from Sulawesi: Gymnonerius fuscus Wiedemann and Telostylinus sp. near duplicatus Wiedemann (Diptera: Neriidae)

Gymnonerius fuscus and Telostylinus sp. near duplicatus are two neriid flies which breed in rot-holes (often beetle larval borings) in fallen trees in tropical forests. Males of both species attempt to establish territories beside rot-holes likely to attract females for egg-laying purposes. Monopolization of incoming females and paternity of any eggs laid are therefore assured. Aggression between males of the larger species G. fuscus is largely through ritualized intimidatory signalling, i.e. wing-flicks. Actual physical aggression only occurs when opponents are evenly matched. By contrast, lengthy and hectic wrestling matches on stilted legs is the normal method of establishing site-ownership in the smaller species T. near duplicatus. Males only seek to exclude conspecific males, such that both species may establish simultaneous ownership of a single rot-hole without interacting. Males of G. fuscus who ‘sneak’ matings away from the territories of larger males, or who manage to mate within a territory, gain little or no reproductive benefit. This is because the territory-owner prevents all females, other than his own current mate, from laying eggs within his territory and females seem reluctant to utilize non-territorial rot-holes for oviposition.     

A new species of Macrobrachium from the south-west coast of India (Decapoda: Palaemonidae)

Macrobranchium veliense sp. nov. is described from Veli lake and Kuttiyadi river, on the south-west coast of India. This species is closely related to M. nipponense and M. equidens but is separated from them by the lanceolate shape of the rostrum, number of teeth of both dorsal and ventral margins, the almost smooth nature of the carapace, the slender telson and the ratios of the fingers to the merus, carpus, propodus and palm of pereipods 1 and 2. The carpus of the second pereiopod is equal to or longer than the chela and is a diagnostic character of the new species.     

Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) seed-predators of Syzygium and Eugenia spp. (Myrtaceae), with description of the Alcidodes expansitarsis species group (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae: Mecysolobini)

The weevils known to develop in Syzygium and Eugenia (Myrtaceae) fruit are reviewed. These weevils belong to the genera Curculio, Alcidodes, Acythopeus, Apotomorhinus (Curculionidae: Curculioninae, Molytinae and (the last two) Baridinae respectively) and Sitophilus (Dryophthoridae) in the Old World, and Atractomerus (Curculionidae: Anthonominae) in the Neotropics; two undescribed baridine species (one in Australia and the other in the USA) are also known to feed on the fruits, and the Omophorine Teleuropus (Curculionidae: Molytinae) has been found associated with them. Particular attention is paid to species of Alcidodes from aseasonal dipterocarp-dominated forests in South-East Asia. Two Bornean species (Alcidodes janetae sp. n. and A. eugeniophilus sp. n.) are the first of their genus to be reared from the fruit of Syzygium or Eugenia. These species, plus two other (A. expansitarsis sp. n. from Assam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and A. gymnasticus sp. n. from Malaysia) belong to a previously undescribed species group of Alcidodes; all four species are described and keyed.     

Two new deep-sea species of Argestidae and Ameiridae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida) from the Eastern Mexican Pacific and Gulf of California,with proposal of a new genus of the family Argestidae

ABSTRACT

A handful of benthic harpacticoid species are known from the Gulf of California. Here I describe Argestes analongises sp. n. (Argestidae), and Argestigens celibis sp. n. (Ameiridae) from the deep sea of the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Gulf of California. Argestes analongises sp. n. fits in the subfamily Argestinae (Argestidae) and was attributed to the genus Argestes by the presence of small spinules covering the body surface of, at least, the urosome, and by the presence of an extremely elongated distal seta on the sixth segment of the female antennule. This new species seems to be allied to A. angolaensis by the situation of all the caudal setae, and by the ventral position of caudal seta III. They differ in the relative length of the female caudal rami, size, shape and relative position of the sensilla-bearing tubercles associated to the anal somite, armature of the mandibular basis, shape of the exopodal and endopodal segments of swimming legs, and relative length of the setae on the female P5 endopodal lobe and position of the innermost seta of the exopod of the female fifth leg. Argestigens celibis sp. n. was attributed to the family Ameiridae based on the non-argestid maxilla, on the presence of a more or less well-developed endopodal lobe of the male fifth leg and three inner setae on the third endopodal segment of the third leg, and on the presence of the typically modified ameirid-like inner spine on the basis of the male first leg. The new species was attributed to Argestigens based on the non-prehensile endopod of first leg and presence of long inner spinules on the basis of second to fourth legs. Additionally, a new genus, Georgus gen. n., is proposed for Bodinia peterrumi, and some comments are given on the monophyly of that genus.

www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4BD580B0-E856-4FBC-ABA6-B031A9B6E1F9     

Asymmetrical male mandibular horns and mating behavior in Agathidium Panzer (Coleoptera: Leiodidae)

Males of some species of Agathidium Panzer have a prominent horn on the dorsal surface of the left mandible. The horn is unique in that it is highly asymmetrical. One species, A. marae Miller and Wheeler, has an additional horn on the right side of the frons. The horns are categorized into four general morphological types. Scaling relationships are investigated for two species, A. angulare Mannerheim and A. pulchrum LeConte. These species exhibit a scaling relationship that is strongly discontinuous (sigmoid) with a prominent “switch point”. Measurement data (pronotal width versus mandible height) are fit to a nonlinear regression model to determine the switch points and slopes at the switch points for the populations of each species. Behaviors associated with mating and other behaviors are described for A. pulchrum. Males use a head‐thrusting behavior to dislodge rival males from the substrate. Horned males appear better able to dislodge opponents. Head thrusting is also used less vigorously on females before and after mating.     

Hysterothylacium,Iheringascaris and Maricostula new genus,nematodes (Ascaridoidea) from Australian pelagic marine fishes

The state of knowledge of Australian fish parasitic ascardioids is briefly reviewed. The following species are described in full: Hysterothylacium cornutum, H. pelagicum, H. scomberoidei n. sp. Additional data are provided for Iheringascaris inquies. Maricostula n. gen. is established for those species that have lips with lateral flanges, deep postlabial grooves, interlabia, and elongate intestinal caecum, pyriform ventriculus, long sac-like ventricular appendix, an expanded filamentar excretory system and excretory pore near the nerve ring. The males of all the species have precloacal crests. Species included are: M. caballeroi (Deloya), M. cenatica n. sp., M. histiophori (Yamaguti), M. incurva (Rudolphi), M. makairi n. sp. and M. tetrapteri n. sp. All are recorded from billfishes, and all but M. caballeroi are recorded from Australian waters. The systematic position of the genus is discussed. New characters of taxonomic utility used in the discrimination of fish parasitic ascaridoids are discussed. These include fine details of alae, male caudal crests and papillae. We demonstrate that these characters can be used to separate species of Maricostula. Remarks are also given on nomenclatural problems within the Indo-Pacific fish parasitic Ascardioidea.     

Two new species of nematode (Spirurida: Physalopteridae) from Australian lizards (Reptilia: Scincidae: Gekkonidae)

Two new species of physalopterid nematodes are described from a skink (Scincidae) and a gecko (Gekkonidae) from the West Australian desert. Kreisiella chrysocampa gen. et sp. nov. (Spirurida: Physaloperidae) from Egernia inornata is characterized by the possession of a row of straight parallel denticles along the medial pseudolabial margins, male caudal alae unsupported by papillae, a truncated female tail and an anteriorly-placed vulva. The original female specimen of Physaloptera heterocephala Kreis, 1940 is transferred to this genus. In Physalopteroides filicauda sp. nov. (Physalopteridae) from Nephrurus laevissimus the external apical tooth present in immature worms is represented in adults by a knob-like structure, larger on the left pseudolabium. Both sexes possess a long slender tail terminating in a small knob. The spicules are markedly dissimilar and the vulva is surrounded anteriorly and posteriorly by horizontal rows of tubercules.     

A taxonomic revision of the genus Stempellinella (Diptera: Chironomidae)

The species of the chironomid genus Stempellinella are revised, described, and figured, and keys to known larvae, pupae, and male and female adults are presented. Five species new to science are diagnosed and described. An emended generic diagnosis of Stempellinella is given and morphological differences from its putative sister genus Zavrelia are discussed. The partial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequences (DNA barcodes) of 10 Stempellinella species are presented and the variation in genetic distances within and between species is compared. The results indicate that DNA barcodes are suitable molecular markers for identification of Stempellinella species. The following life stages and species are diagnosed and described: the larva, pupa, male, and female of S. brevis, S. chambiensis, S. ciliaris, S. edwardsi, S. fimbriata sp. n., S. flavidula, S. leptocelloides, S. saltuum, and S. truncata; the pupa, male, and female of S. reissi and S. tamaseptima; the larva, pupa, and male of Stempellinella boltoni sp. n.; the pupa and male of S. lamellata sp. n.; the male and female of S. coronata; and the male of S. apicula, S. brevilamellae, S. distincta sp. n., and S. sublettorum sp. n. Two pupal types are described but not formally named. The following changes of combination are made: Stempellina chambiensis and Stempellina truncata are transferred to the genus Stempellinella. Zavrelia inopinata is listed as a new junior synonym of Stempellinella ciliaris.     

New species of the cave-dwelling genus Huasteca (Opiliones: Stygnopsidae: Karosinae), from Northern Oaxaca,Mexico, with a SEM survey of the sexually dimorphic areas on legs and structures related to chelicerae in the genus

ABSTRACT

The new species Huasteca kardia sp. nov. is described from material collected in the Huautla cave system, Oaxaca, Mexico. Based on recent literature on morphology and male genitalia, the diagnosis of the genus is amended and an identification key of the species of the genus is provided. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), all Huasteca species were reviewed in detail for the following: describing and reporting an unusual modification of the lateral channels on H. kardia sp. nov., searching for any evidence of sexual glandular openings on swollen parts of legs II on males which were absent, and recording the cheliceral comb on the fixed finger in Karosinae, reported previously only in Podoctidae.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FDB9EDDA-63A8-43C9-903C-48BF15C45F03     

Copepoda (Cyclopinidae and Misophriidae) from a deep-sea hydrothermal site in the northeastern Pacific

Two new copepods are described from a depth of 2254m at a hydrothermal site on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, northeastern Pacific. In Barathricola rimensis, gen. nov., sp. nov. (Cyclopoida: Cyclopinidae), the antennule is 13-segmented, the antenna lacks an exopod, the second segment of the endopod of legs 1–4 has 1, 2, 2, 2 setae, and leg 5 is three-segmented in both sexes, the last segment (exopod) having I, I, l, I in the female and I, I, l, I, l in the male. In Misophriopsis longicauda, gen. nov., sp. nov. (Misophrioida: Misophriidae), the antennule is 18-segmented in the female, 13-segmented in the male, the antenna has a six-segmented exopod, legs 1–4 are biramous with three-segmented rami, leg 5 is biramous with a one-segmented endopod and an exopod which is two-segmented in the female, three-segmented in the male.     

Sound production in primitive Orthoptera from Western Australia: sounds used in defence and social communication in Ametrus sp. and Hadrogryllacris sp. (Gryllacrididae: Orthoptera)

Sound production in two undescribed species of Gryllacrididae belonging to the genus Ametrus sp. and Hadrogryllacris sp. takes the form of defensive stridulation and intra-specific signalling by drumming on the substrate. Defensive stridulation is produced as part of an elaborate visual display, by femoro-tergal stridulation. Two rows of spines on abdominal tergites II and III of both species are rubbed by an elongate area of tubercules on the inner femoral surface of the hind legs. Analysis showed that the motion of the leg relative to the abdomen involves a complex counter-rotation of the leg between leg and abdomen. The defensive display may be performed in day light. Social signalling in both species occurs after dark, and involves drumming on the substrate by both hind legs in loose synchrony. Drumming is rhythmic and species' specific. Males respond to playback calls and females duet with males. The evolution of this calling behaviour is discussed and comparisons are made with the other primitive ensiferan family known to produce both tergo-abdominal defensive stridulation and femoral drumming behaviour, the Stenopelmatidae.     

A troublesome sibling species complex of scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) revisited

The complex of species resembling Megaselia pulicaria (Fallén) has proved to be one of the most troublesome challenges to attempts to resolve the recognition of species within the huge genus Megaselia Rondani. The new data presented allow more confident recognition of species and reveal that most published records represent misidentifications. The penis complex is discussed and its use in species identification demonstrated. All specimens currently assigned to M. pulicaria, other than the lectotype, are consequently reassigned to other species. These include the reinstatement of M. angusta (Wood) and its newly designated subspecies M. angusta angustina Schmitz, M. eupygis Schmitz, M. longifurca (Lundbeck) and M. monochaeta (Strobl) as valid species, and the recognition of M. buchsi sp. nov. from Germany, M. iberiensis sp. nov. from Spain, M. martensi sp. nov. from Nepal, M. nectergata sp. nov. from Britain, M. oviaraneae sp. nov. from Britain, and M. rotundapicis sp. nov. from Scotland. Five synonyms are proposed. The hitherto unknown male of M. petraea Schmitz is described. It and M. longifurca are reported from Britain and the latter from the Nearctic Region also. Natural history information is summarized for each species. In particular, it is reported that the species whose larvae prey upon spider eggs are M. angusta, M. longifurca and M. oviaraneae.