Two new aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Iran and keys to related Middle Eastern species

Summary

New species of Chaitophorus and Brevicoryne are described from Iran and keys are given to distinguish the apterae viviparae of the Middle Eastern species of Chaitophorus and the alatae viviparae of the world fauna of Brevicoryne, Aphthargelia and Pseudobrevicoryne.     

Three new species of Euragallia Oman, 1938 from Brazil (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Agalliinae)

Four new species of Clinotanypus Kieffer, 1913 (Diptera: Chironomidae: Tanypodinae) from Brazil are described and figured as male and immatures: Clinotanypus caritus, Clinotanypus gymnos, Clinotanypus setosus and Clinotanypus striatus. Keys to the Neotropical males, pupae and larvae of known species of Clinotanypus are provided. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DAE70C2F-15CA-4B72-9AE5-F601EAD76A7C     

Aquatic and semiaquatic Heteroptera of the Grand Canyon (Insecta: Hemiptera)

The aquatic and semiaquatic Hemiptera from 12 localities in Marble Canyon and Grand Canyon are reported, along with those from 1 locality in the Escalante Canyon. Fourteen species are recorded and compared to the water-bug fauna of the southwestern United States and western Mexico. Ochterus rotundus n. sp. is described from the Grand Canyon and the mountains of western Mexico.     

Aphidiinae parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) of Macrosiphoniella aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in the western Palaearctic region

The parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of Macrosiphoniella del Guercio (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from the western Palaearctic region are reviewed and keyed. The host associations and distribution of each species are summarized. Aphidius stigmaticus sp. nov. reared from Macrosiphoniella tanacetaria on Tanacetum polycephalum, which is another member of the Macrosiphoniella aphid parasitoid guild from high-mountain habitats in western Iran, is described in the present contribution. Some taxonomic problems within Macrosiphoniella parasitoid guilds are discussed as well.     

Wax glands,wax production and the functional significance of wax use in three aphid species (Homoptera: Aphididae)

The structural details of wax glands and the physical form of the secreted wax is described for the apterae of three aphid species beech woolly aphid, spruce root aphid and woolly apple aphid. The glands are composed of greatly enlarged epidermal cells underlying a modified cuticle that forms distinctive wax gland plates. Secreted wax in the form of threads passes out of the cuticle as filaments, the arrangement of these filaments in the cuticle above each epidermal cell gives rise to the distinctive wax skein found in each species hollow, solid or honeycombed. It is suggested that the primary role of the secreted wax is to prevent the aphids becoming contaminated by their own secreted honeydew and that of other members of the colony. Other secondary roles considered include: individual microclimate isolation; protection from fungi, parasites and predators; waterproofing and frost protection.     

New oriental aradid bugs in the collections of the British Museum (Natural History) (Insecta: Hemiptera)

Summary

The following new taxa of Oriental Aradidae are described: Acoryphocoris duodecimus sp. nov. (Sulawesi), A. minor sp. nov. (Sulawesi), Apaniocoris micropterus gen. and sp. nov. (Sulawesi), Aphelocoris minutissimus sp. nov. (Sarawak), Arictus gracilis sp. nov. (Sulawesi), Artabanus burmensis sp. nov. (Borneo), Chelonocoris tomentosus sp. nov. (Malaya), Chinessa kokodensis sp. nov. (New Guinea), C. major sp. nov. (New Guinea), Crimia tertia sp. nov. (Java), Magdalenia excelsa gen. and sp. nov. (Sulawesi), Mastigocoris insularis sp. nov. (Christmas Is, Indian Ocean), Mezira mekongensis sp. nov. (Laos), M. submontana sp. nov. (India), Mezira (Zimera) kachinensis sp. nov. (Burma), Neuroctenus perplexus sp. nov. (Bhutan), Notoplocaptera breviceps sp. nov. (N. Borneo), N. dollingi sp. nov. (N. Borneo), Overlaetiella elongata sp. nov. (Sulawesi), Parapictinus confusus sp. nov. (Sri Lanka), Proxius (Nesoproxius) malayensis sp. nov. (Malaya), Scironocoris malayensis sp. nov. (Malaya), and Usingerida longirostris sp. nov. (India).

Males of Artabanus magnificus Kormilev and Dimorphacantha luchti (Kiritshenko) are described for the first time. Brachyrhynchus lignicolus Kirby is transferred to the genus Neuroctenus as a new combination and redescribed. The following new synonymies are proposed: Melvertes Vásárhelyi, 1976=Notoplocaptera Usinger and Matsuda, 1959 syn. nov., and Chinessa furcella Vásárhelyi, 1976=C. bispiniceps Walker, 1873 syn. nov.     

Morphology of abdominal evaporatoria in larvae of some Lygaeoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera): function and bearing on classification

The dorsal abdominal scent glands of nymphs in Lygaeoidea are diverse. Some related characters, such as number and distribution of dorsal abdominal scent gland openings (DSOs), and shapes of dark plates surrounding DSOs have been commonly used in taxonomic and/or phylogenetic studies of Lygaeoidea. However, comparative studies of the cuticular fine structures surrounding the DSOs in lygaeoid (and other Heteroptera) nymphs are few. We examined the cuticular fine structures surrounding DSOs of fifth‐instar nymphs of 25 species in seven families of Lygaeoidea with scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the structures surrounding DSOs, such as distribution pattern of cell network, type of network, type of non‐latticed area, pattern of channels for glandular secretion, are complicated and diverse at the family level, indicating that they are valuable in taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses.     

Morphometry and chaetotaxy of the nymphs of Ectemnostega (Ectemnostegella) quechua (Bachmann 1961) (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Corixidae)

The egg and the five nymphal instars of Ectemnostega quechua are described and illustrated for the first time. The eggs of Ectemnostega have a short stalk, and the shape, size and chorionic structure differ among groups of species. The nymphal characters most useful in identifying instars I–V of Ectemnostega are: body length; number of rostrum sulcations; number of setae on inner surface of protibiotarsus; spines and setae, and spines on posteroventral surface of mesofemur and mesotibia, respectively; setae on posterodorsal surface of mesotibia and mesotarsus; spines and setae on anteroventral surface and setae on posterior surface of metatibia; swimming hairs on anteroventral and posterodorsal surfaces of metatarsus; and the grade of development of wing pads. The nymphs of E. quechua can be easily distinguished from other species of Ectemnostega by the number of spines and setae on the posteroventral surface of mesofemur.     

Life cycle variation and adaptation in jumping plant lice (Insecta: Hemiptera: Psylloidea): a global synthesis

This paper integrates the scattered information on the life histories of the jumping plant lice or psyllids, examining those aspects of their biology that contribute to successful life cycle completion. Variation in life history parameters is reviewed across the world's psyllids and the relative importance of phylogeny and environment, including host‐plant growth strategy, in determining life history strategies is assessed. Elements of life cycles considered include: development rate and voltinism, response to high temperature and drought, cold‐hardiness and overwintering strategy, seasonal polymorphism, diapause, metabolism, host‐plant selection and range, phenological and other adaptations to host plants, disease transmission and host amelioration, dispersal, reproduction and mate finding. Life history parameters are analyzed for 342 species. While a phylogenetic signal can be identified within the data, the main drivers for life history adaptation are environmental temperatures and water availability, acting directly on the psyllids or mediated through their host plants.     

A new parasitoid (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of the invasive bamboo aphids Takecallis spp. (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Western Europe

A long-term survey of tritrophic (plant–aphid–parasitoid) associations in the urban ecosystems of Lleida (Catalonia) and Paris (France) resulted in the detection of associations of two bamboo aphids, Takecallis arundinariae (Essig) and Takecallis taiwanus (Takahashi), respectively, with a new aphid parasitoid species. Trioxys remaudierei Starý & Rakhshani sp. nov. is described and illustrated as a unique parasitoid of Takecallis aphids outside the area of their origin. The new species is easily distinguishable from its congeners in having the ventral prongs of the abdomen fused over two-thirds of their length, then bifurcated towards the tip. The only morphologically similar species is Trioxys betulae (Marshall), which exhibits a clearly different prong shape (and has a different host range, Symydobius Mordvilko and Clethrobius Mordvilko). The new species is compared with allied taxa associated with bamboo aphids. The occurrence of Takecallis taiwanus on bamboo is recorded in France for the first time.

www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:ED15BA16-E8A9-4CEA-BDA7-FBAB02FEB091     

Balcha opaca Fusu sp. n. (Insecta: Hymenoptera): availability of the species name

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to describe the circumstances of publication of an unavailable name of chalcid wasps, and to make the name Balcha opaca Fusu sp. n. (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae) available.

www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:38F49D79-F5AA-4516-8E48-55CFFA61A71C     

Encarsia (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) parasitoids of Bemisia species in Taiwan (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

The whitefly genus Bemisia (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is represented by five species in Taiwan, including the notorious global pest Bemisia tabaci. A catalogue of Encarsia species attacking these whiteflies, based almost entirely on previously unpublished records, is provided. A key for the identification of the 17 Encarsia species known to parasitize Bemisia species in Taiwan is provided. Three new species, E. guangxingana Shih, Ko and Polaszek sp. nov., E. lineolata Shih, Ko and Polaszek sp. nov. and E. magnalata Shih, Ko and Polaszek sp. nov., are described from Taiwan. These new species were all reared from Bemisia giffardi.     

A new genus and two new species of Philotarsidae. (Insecta: Psocoptera) from East Africa

Summary

Genus Tarsophilus and its species lineatus and aequabilis (Insecta: Psocoptera: Philotarsidae) are described as new. The specimens, all males, were collected in highland areas of East Africa. The new genus is placed in Philotarsidae rather than Pseudocaeciliidae on characters of hypandrium, phallosome, and lacinial tip. Its position in the subfamily Philotarsinae is justified and it is compared to the other genera of this group on both male and on trans-sexual characters.     

Field observations of Irbisia pacifica (Hemiptera: Miridae): feeding behavior and effects on host plant growth

The interaction between a grass-feeding mirid, Irbisia pacifica (Uhler), and plant growth of intermediate wheatgrass, Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkw. & D. R. Dewey, was examined on a field site in northern Utah in 1985. With egg hatch beginning in April, the bug completed its life cycle within two months. Ovarian development was completed by 11 June, a week after all bugs had become adults. The proportion of feeding damage per leaf (35.1%) peaked on the seventh week of the twelve-week study (18 July). Green leaf area per tiller decreased initially from bug feeding and then continued to decrease because of seasonal aging. All plants senesced within three months. Grass bugs predominantly attacked the second and third youngest leaves. Analyses of age-specific leaf cohorts demonstrated that the major effect of bug feeding was the loss of green leaf area and potential foliage production over time. Bug feeding may also exacerbate other physiological stresses on the host plants.     

Analysis of teeth outlines: a morphometric tool for distinguishing three species of Crocidurinae (Soricidae,Insectivora, Mammalia) in France

Crocidurinae (Soricidae, Insectivora) are represented by many present-day species which are morphologically very similar. The efficiency of morphometric analyses in the discrimination between species has already been proved for various organisms, and the discriminant model developed here is based on the analysis of teeth outlines in three living species, Crocidura leucodon, Crocidura suaveolens and Crocidura russula, using the Fourier transform method. The application of this method on the upper and lower premolars and molars permits the three species to be clearly separated, and the model can be used for the identification of fossils.     

A synopsis of Martarega White, 1879 (Insecta: Heteroptera: Notonectidae) occurring in the Brazilian Amazonia,with descriptions of three new species

The genus Martarega comprises 15 species and nine of these have been recorded in northern Brazil. Martarega pydanieli sp. nov. from Rondônia, while Martarega nieseri sp. nov. and M. barcelos sp. nov. from Amazonas are described here. Six known species are recorded in the Brazilian Amazonian Region (Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia and Roraima): M. brasiliensis, M. chinai, M. gonostyla, M. membranacea, M. oriximinaensis, and M. uruguayensis. At the outset of this survey the genus Martarega of the Brazilian Amazonian Region held 12 species, but no specimens of M. mcateei, M. hungerfordi, and M. williamsi were collected in the regions sampled. Martarega brasiliensis is newly recorded from Roraima, which comprises the first record of members of this genus in this State. Martarega uruguayensis is newly recorded from Pará and Rondônia, while M. gonostyla from Rondônia. Distinct keys to males and females of Martarega occurring in this region, including these new species, are provided.