A revision of the genus Ceratomerus (Diptera: Empididae: Ceratomerinae) of New Zealand

The genus Ceratomerus Philippi (Diptera: Empididae; Ceratomerinae) of New Zealand is revised and a key to species given. Thirteen species are recognized and the following new species are proposed: C. biseriatus sp. nov., C. flavus sp. nov., C. earlyi sp. nov., C. melaneus sp. nov., C. brevifurcatus sp. nov., C. tarsalis sp. nov. and C. vittatus sp. nov. The biology and phylogeny are briefly discussed.     

Cladistics and taxonomy of the Afrotropical Empis (Coptophlebia) chrysocera-group (Diptera,Empididae)

The Afrotropical Empis (Coptophlebia) chrysocera-group (Diptera: Empididae) is defined on the basis of two synapomorphies, namely epandrial lamellae connected anteriorly and male cerci made up of an anterior almost bare lobe and a posterior bristled lobe. This group includes 10 species: E. (C.) brazzavillensis sp. n., E. (C.) barbitos Smith, E. (C.) juxtaripa sp. n., E. (C.) lyra Smith, E. (C.) plumata sp. n., E. (C.) chrysocera Collin, E. (C.) cuthbertsoni Smith, E. (C.) machipandensis Smith, E. (C.) samaruensis sp. n. and E. (C.) singulare sp. n. All species are described and keyed. The relationships between these species are established and two complexes of species distinguished. The Empis (Coptophlebia) chrysocera-group apparently occurs everywhere in the Afrotropical region except South Africa.     

An Australian stiletto fly (Diptera: Therevidae) parasitised by a bee fly (Diptera: Bombyliidae)

Exechohypopion therephaga sp. nov. (Bombyliidae) emerged from the pupa of Parapsilocephala ambocerina sp. nov. (Therevidae) collected near Wentworth, New South Wales, Australia. The adults, pupae and mature larvae of the bombyliid and therevid are described and illustrated. Because the therevid host was collected from soil as a larva, the first instar bombyliid planidium is presumed to attach to the therevid in the larval stage. This is the second known record of a therevid being parasitised. Both known cases occurred in Australia and involved a bombyliid parasitoid.     

The Australian Chloropinae (Diptera: Chloropidae)

The Australian Chloropinae are revised and keys are provided to the 22 genera and 110 species now known. Two genera and 50 new species are described, and nine genera and eight species, previously known in the Oriental Region to the north, are recorded as new to Australia. The new taxa and taxonomic changes proposed are listed in the Appendix. Distribution within Australia, the phylogeny of the genera known in Australia and the biology of the Chloropidae are briefly discussed.     

The Anopheles (Anopheles) maculipennis complex (Diptera: Culicidae) in Greece

Mosquitoes belonging to the Maculipennis Complex of Anopheles subgenus Anopheles were collected in 10 prefectures across Greece: Attiki, Evros, Florina, Fthiotida, Ioannina, Lakonia, Magnesia, Rodopi, Serres, and Xanthi. DNA was extracted from 276 specimens and sequences for the nuclear rDNA ITS2 region were obtained from 257 of these (93.1%). Four members of the An. maculipennis Meigen complex were identified: An. maculipennis, An. sacharovi Favre, An. melanoon Hackett, and An. messeae Falleroni. Species were identified based on correlation of their sequences with those available in GenBank. All four species have been incriminated as primary or secondary vectors of malaria. Species distributions in relation to potential threats of reintroduction of malaria in Greece are discussed. This study comprises the most complete study of the Maculipennis Complex in Greece to date, and contributes substantially to the current knowledge of the genetics and distributions of the four species.     

Robber flies of Utah (Diptera: Asilidae)

Reported are 158 species of Asilidae (Diptera) in 50 genera from Utah. Keys to subfamilies, genera, and species are given, along with information on seasonal and distributional occurrence in Utah. Seventy-six maps and 56 line drawings show the Utah distribution of each species and illustrate important characters used in the keys. A table summarizes the current status of names used in earlier state lists.     

Mating behaviour and spermatophore transfer in the shrimp Heptacarpus pictus (Stimpson) (Decapoda: Caridea: Hippolytidae)

Summary

Heptacarpus pictus, a small caridean shrimp inhabiting the low intertidal of southern and Baja California, breeds during the winter, spring, and summer months. Fall is a period of growth. Life span of an individual does not exceed 18 months, with fish predation as the most likely source of mortality.

Females are multiple brooders, carrying developing embryos concomitant with increase in ovary size. Hatching of larvae is followed by a moult, after which the female is attractive to males and receptive to copulation. A distance pheromone does not appear to be involved in attraction of males to females. Males apparently respond to a non-diffusible substance on the exoskeleton of newly moulted females.

Precopulatory behaviour is absent. Copulation can be divided into a series of relatively stereotyped events. Female rejection of the male or his spermatophore is the chief cause of unsuccessful matings.

Males deposit the spermatophore on the underside of the female's first abdominal segment. Sperm packets are formed upon extrusion from the male's genital openings, and are composed of a mucoid material in which sperm are mixed. The glutinous spermatophores adhere to the female's smooth abdominal sternite.

The endopods of pleopods 1 and 2 of the male are different in shape, size and setation from homologous rami of females and juveniles. Endopods of pleopod 1 possess a distally located appendix interna, absent in juveniles and females. An anteriorly projecting process, the appendix masculina, is located on the endopod of pleopod 2 in males. Experiments were performed which showed that these modifications insure proper deposition of spermatophores. Males which had the copulatory rami removed did not transfer spermatophores as successfully as normal males.

Transfer of the spermatophore from the male to the female is a result of the interplay of male pleopods 1 and 2 during copulation. The large expanded abdominal pleurae of females prevent the male's genital opening from contacting her abdominal sternite. Thus, the male's anterior pleopods have become modified to lift the emitted spermatophore from his genital orifices to the first abdominal sternite of the female.     

Additional information on Atherimorpha White (Diptera: Rhagionidae)

Material from Southern Chile and Patagonia was revised, and information on distribution and adult morphology of Atherimorpha imitans Malloch, A. nemoralis (Philippi), A. scutellaris Malloch and A. triangularis Malloch is given.     

The saproxylic hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of Serbia

The revision of the saproxylic hoverflies collected in Serbia from 1950 to 2010 has revealed a total of 56 species, of which Sphiximorpha subsessilis (Illiger in Rossi) is new to the Balkan Peninsula and Arctophila superbiens (Muller), Blera fallax (Linnaeus), Brachyopa panzeri Goffe, Brachyopa testacea (Fallén), Brachyopa vittata Zetterstedt and Chalcosyrphus piger (Fabricius) are new to Serbia. According to “Syrph the Net, the database of European Syrphidae”, 16 of the 56 species are threatened with extinction in Europe, while 6 species are “strictly protected” and 13 are “protected” under Serbian legislation. Distribution maps for each species, as well as new data on adult habitats, are provided. The conservation status of the saproxylic hoverflies of Serbia is discussed. The present study attempts to provide a basis for the conservation of the saproxylic hoverflies of this Balkan country.     

Revision of Afrotropical Chonocephalus Wandolleck (Diptera: Phoridae)

Chonocephalus justini sp. nov., C. modestus sp. nov. and C. pudicus sp. nov. are described from the Seychelles; C. cummingae sp. nov. is described from Madagascar, South Africa and Zimbabwe; and C. cautus sp. nov. and C. steineri sp. nov. from Madagascar. C. dimakae Paulian is synonymized with C. depressus Meijere. A key to males and a partial key to the females of the 14 Afrotropical species are provided.     

Sandflies (Diptera: Phlebotominae) of the Canary Islands

Of the four species of phlebotomine sandflies known from the Canary Islands one is endemic. The subgenus Phlebotomus (Abonnencius), created to accommodate this endemic species, is newly synonymized with Ph. (Anaphlebotomus). The biology of Canary Island sandflies is summarized and a comparison of the fauna to that of continental Africa suggests a closer affiliation to the eremic Palearctic than to the Afrotropical Region.     

Mating behaviour in two closely related sympatric species of Philonthus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

Summary

The intra-specific mating behaviour of two closely related sympatric staphylinid beetles, Philonthus cephalotes (Grav.) and P. sordidus (Grav.) is described in detail. Mating is essentially similar in the two species, although differing in the duration of copulation (1·7 min in cephalotes, 44·6 min in sordidus), and consists of four phases (A)-(D); (A) pre-copulatory phase, (1) examination of female abdominal apex by male, (2) examination of male abdominal apex by female, (3) prolonged examination of female by male, (4) mounting by male (5) extrusion of male genitalia; (B) copulatory phase; (C) terminal phase; and (D) post-copulatory phase.

An attempt to test the role of species specific patterns of peg setae, occurring on the genitalia of males, as a tactile signalling system was made by observation of inter-specific interactions between males and females of the two species. Under the trial conditions inter-specific intromission did not occur and behaviour was predominantly aggressive. Evidence suggests that signals during the early stages of an encounter between the sexes of different species are generally sufficient to deter further courtship. In two instances courtship reached a more advanced stage and here the patterns of peg setae on the male genitalia may have come into play, operating as a signalling device.     

Mating behaviour and sexual selection in the African ball-rolling scarab Khepher platynotus (Bates) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Mating behaviour of the ball-rolling dung beetle Kheper platynotus (Bates), adults of which are active in rainy seasons, was studied in southeastern Kenya. Male mating behaviour changed with the progression of the rainy season. In the early season when females made food balls, males attempted forced copulation with wandering and food-ball-making females on dung mounds. As the season progressed, females made brood balls, and males attempted to pair off with such females, as well as attempting forced copulation with wandering and food-ball-making females. A male who paired off with a brood-ball-making female cooperated with the female to make the ball. The male usually copulated after burying the ball (pre-copulatory mate guarding), but sometimes copulated during ball-making. In the latter case the male usually showed post-copulatory mate guarding until ball burial, but sometimes left soon after copulation. In the late season, when available females decreased because of maternal care in the underground nests, males started to make food balls to secure food resources for survival until the next rainy season. Male mate guarding involving ball-making, -rolling and -burying seemed to function to raise paternity confidence, but such assistance seemed to be less beneficial to females. Fights frequently occurred between guarding and intruding males on brood balls. Both residency and relative body sizes of fighters were important asymmetries influencing contest outcome. This seemed to result in not active but passive mate choice by brood-ball-making females.