Reclassification of Bracon mendocinus,a gall‐associated doryctine wasp,and description of a new closely related species of Allorhogas (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

One of the first reported gall‐associated braconids, from 1910, Bracon mendocinus Kieffer and Jörgensen, is removed from the subfamily Braconinae and transferred to the doryctine genus Allorhogas, A. mendocinus (Kieffer and Jörgensen) comb. nov. A new species morphologically similar to A. mendocinus, A. joergenseni Martinez and Zaldivar‐Riverón sp. nov., is also described. Additionally a neotype is designated for B. mendocinus Kieffer and Jörgensen. We base our conclusions on the morphological examination of recently collected specimens from central Argentina associated with galls on Lycium chilense (Solanaceae), as well as on the DNA variation at 28S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial DNA genes.     

Eucharitidae new to the fauna of Saudi Arabia (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), with the description of a new species and the previously unknown male of Eucharis (Psilogastrellus) albipennis Bouček

The present study summarizes additions to the known fauna of Eucharitidae of Saudi Arabia. Cherianella arabica Gadallah &; Soliman sp. nov. and the male of previously known female Eucharis (Psilogastrellus) albipennis Bou?ek, 1956 are described and illustrated. Three new records are also added to the fauna of Saudi Arabia: Eucharis (Eucharisca) intermedia Ruschka, 1924, Eucharis (Psilogastrellus) acuminata Ruschka, 1924 and Eucharis (Psilogastrellus) punctata Förster, 1859.

http:/zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F1B1C493-AA83-4696-AF8B-3B3F62C09B41     

First record of the genus Setelacher Bouček (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Eulophinae) from the Afrotropical region,with description of a new species

ABSTRACT

A new species of the genus Setelacher Bou?ek, S. lasallei sp. nov. Gumovsky and van Noort, is described from the Afrotropical region (Central African Republic, Gabon and Uganda). It confirms the presence of the genus in the region. The only described species of the genus, S. fasciatus Bou?ek, is of Australasian and Indo-Malayan distribution, and one undescribed species was previously recorded from South Africa. All images presented here are available on www.waspweb.org

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D6AA0B15-6EA7-4C93-827C-1807E69BD6D2     

Re‐description of the lycosiformis species group of Anyphops Benoit and description of two new species (Araneae,Selenopidae)

Anyphops Benoit is a heterogeneous genus with 62 known species restricted to the Afrotropical region. It is split into four species groups using the number of ventral spine pairs on tibiae I–II. The lycosiformis species group (?=?B‐B1 species group of Lawrence) is characterized by four ventral pairs of spines and includes Anyphops lycosiformis (Lawrence), A. natalensis (Lawrence) and A. parvulus (Pocock). In this paper, I revise this species group and include here A. mumai Corronca, A. lawrencei (Roewer) and two new species: Anyphops ngome n. sp. and A. lucia n. sp. from South Africa. Drawings of the female and male genitalia and some somatic characters are given, in some cases for the first time. A key for the lycosiformis species group and a map showing the distribution of each species are provided.     

Morphology and spatial constraints in a dorso‐ventrally flattened skull,with a revised species description of Platyallabes tihoni (Poll, 1944)

This study details the morphology of Platyallabes tihoni (Poll, ) as part of a complete revision of the anguilliform clariids. The overall body form of air‐breathing clariids ranges from fusiform to anguilliform genera (Boulenger ; Pellegrin ). Although P. tihoni has the typical external morphological features of other elongate clariids, this study shows that it occupies an intermediate position between fusiform and anguilliform taxa with regards to its cranial and postcranial morphology. The main morphological similarities of anguilliform species are a narrow skull roof with a high level of interdigitation between the bones, the reduced canal bones, a connection between the neurocranium and suspensorium via several processes, an extended tooth patch on the lower jaw, and the hypertrophied jaw muscle complex. Shared features typical for the fusiform species are a low coronoid process on the lower jaw and the posteroventral orientation of the opercular process on the hyomandibula. Platyallabes tihoni shows a series of unique features: an anterior fontanel situated entirely between the frontals, two tooth plates on the prevomer, a reduced height of the suspensorium, the absence of an anterior bony plate on the hyomandibula, a horizontal position of the sphenotic and pterotic, and a toothed entopterygoid. Many of these unique characters are linked to the spatial constraints associated with an extremely flattened skull in this species.     

New and little‐known earthworm species from the Ivory Coast (Oligochaeta: Acanthodrilidae: Benhamiinae and Eudrilidae)

In the framework of the international project called “Conservation and Sustainable Management of Below‐Ground Biodiversity”, soil macrofauna collections were carried out in the Centre‐West Ivory Coast. Altogether, 13 earthworm species were recorded, of which four belonged to the family Eudrilidae and nine to the family Acanthodrilidae. From the species collected, two, Dichogaster (Dichogaster) eburnea sp. nov. and Dichogaster (Dichogaster) mamillata sp. nov., proved to be new to science. To accommodate the enigmatic eudrilid earthworm species Scolecillus compositus Omodeo, 1958 Omodeo, P. 1958. Oligochetes. In, La reserve naturelle integrale du Mont Nimba.. Memoire de la Institut Francais Afrique Noire, 53: 9–109.  [Google Scholar], a new genus, Lavellea gen. nov., is proposed.     

A biosystematic study of Aspidiotus nerii Bouché (Homoptera: Diaspididae), with the description of one new species

Summary

Uniparental (UP) and biparental (BP) populations of the oleander or ivy scale, Aspidiotus nerii Bouchè, were reared under similar conditions. Development of the UP population was always slower than that of the BP scales. UP females usually produced less than half the number of progeny the BP females had, and the patterns of development and oviposition were quite dissimilar.

The shield of UP females was slightly, but consistently, darker than that of BP females, and the latter never colonized Pittosporum undulation, the only host-plant on which UP population occur in Israel. These criteria are used to describe the uniparental population as Aspidiotus paranerii Gerson sp. nov. and to differentiate it from A. nerii. As the biology of A. paranerii clearly differs from that of a Californian uniparental sibling species of A. nerii, it is argued that the latter may have a series of such parthenogenetic relatives.     

A preliminary molecular phylogeny of the Sigalphinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), including Pselaphanus Szépligeti,based on 28S rDNA,with descriptions of new Afrotropical and Madagascan Minanga and Malasigalphus species

Minanga phoebea sp. n. Quicke, from Uganda, and Malasigalphus roa sp. n. Sharkey, from Madagascar, are described and illustrated. The new species of Minanga displays a distinct posterior metasomal carina and thus provides another example of the co‐occurrence of this feature with a metasomal carapace within the Braconidae. Malasigalphus roa is the second species of the genus recently described by Achterberg and Austin. A preliminary molecular phylogeny of the Sigalphinae is presented including the rare Neotropical genus Pselaphanus the placement of which has been debated. Sensitivity analysis to multiple alignment parameters was conducted and a single elided data set, based on the combined 21 separate alignments, was analysed. Strong support was obtained for the following relationships: Pselaphanus+(Malasigalphus+(other Sigalphinae)), (Minanga+(Sigalphus bicolor+(S. irrorator+S. gyrodontus))), and Earinini being basal (as a grade in these analyses) to other Agathidinae. The Mesocoelus group of genera (Mesocoelini in part) are shown to be derived agathidines rather than being associated with the Orgilini. The Microtypinae is shown be non‐monophyletic and Plesiotypus Achterberg is proposed as the sister group to the Agathidinae+Sigalphinae clade. The Acampsohelconinae does not appear as monophyletic; however, the placements of both of the two included genera, Afrocampsis and Canalicephalis, had less than 100% support in the elised analysis tree, and therefore monophyly of this recently redefined subfamily must be more rigorously tested.     

Five new species of Homalotylus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) − from India with a key to Indian species

Five new species of Homalotylus Mayr (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) – H. noyesi sp. nov., H. biharensis sp. nov., H. varicolorus sp. nov. (from Bihar province), H. montanus sp. nov. (from Tamil Nadu province) and H. insularis sp. nov. (from Andaman and Nicobar Island) – are described from India. A revised key to the Indian species of Homalotylus is provided.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9209CC16-7A20-49BF-B4C6-95EF0F5567DF     

New and little‐known species of Didemnidae (Ascidiacea,Tunicata) from Australia (part 4)

Forty‐eight species (including nine that are new) of the 288 Didemnidae now known from Australian waters are reported on in the present work. Dredged material is from benthic habitats in inter‐reefal areas of the Great Barrier Reef and from deeper water canyons off northeastern and northwestern Tasmania. Collections from shallower waters of Port Davey (western Tasmania) and Kangaroo Island (South Australia) were hand‐collected by scuba divers. Seven of the eight known genera of the Didemnidae are represented. Despite this emphasis on sampling in temperate waters, only 14 species (all indigenous) are recorded from around the southern half of the continent. The species diversity of this family is greater in the tropics, with 34 species being recorded. Nearly half of these are known also from the tropical western Pacific and some from the Indian Ocean as well. Tropical indigenous species are relatively few.