A new species of Hyalella from Colombia,and the redescription of H. meinerti Stebbing, 1899 from Venezuela (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

The new species H. quindioensis is described from Colombia. This species is close to H. paramoensis Andres, 1988 also in Colombia. Hyalella meinerti Stebbing, 1899 is figured and redescribed. The type locality for this species is Venezuela. However, it has a wide distribution including Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil.     

Morphological variation of Eucyclops elegans (Herrick, 1884) (Copepoda: Cyclopoida) in the Americas and comments on records of Eucyclops conrowae Reid, 1992

Based on an examination of material from different areas of the American continent, we evaluate the morphological variations of Eucyclops elegans (Herrick, 1884) with an emphasis on characters used in the current taxonomy of the genus. Eucyclops elegans is clearly a member of the serrulatus group. Differences in both female and male specimens from North America and South America and the lack of records in southern Mexico and Central America suggest that it is possible that this nominal species contains at least two taxa. Characters such as the ornamentation of the antennal basis and coxa of P4 are described for the tropical species E. conrowae Reid, 1992. This species is clearly not a member of the serrulatus group and differences with respect to the type specimens indicate that records of E. conrowae in Mexico do not correspond to this taxon and should be reassigned to other species.     

An overview of Hexabathynella (Crustacea,Syncarida, Parabathynellidae) with the description of a new species

A new species of the cosmopolitan genus Hexabathynella is described from Spain. This new species has four setae on the expopod of the uropod, the rest of the species in the genus have between one and three. The endopod of the uropod has two smooth setae of similar length and one plumose seta, these characters only appear in the new species within the genus. The antennal organ in the males is shown to be a new unique character for the genus. It is the third species of this genus that has been found in Spain. To date the genus consists of 18 species in the world. A key for identification of the 18 species of Hexabathynella is provided. It is the only cosmopolitan genus of Bathynellacea and it is distributed in Europe (nine species), Africa (one species), South America (two species), North America (three species) and Australia and New Zealand (three species).     

Introduced and exported American Scolytidae (Coleoptera)

Fourteen North, Central, and South American Scolytidae have reached areas outside of America, namely Hawaii (5), Australia (3), Southeast Asia (2), Africa (7), Europe (1), and worldwide (1). The 44 species introduced into North and Central America have originated in South America (10), Southeast Asia (15), Africa (14), or Europe (7). Four North and Central American species have extended their ranges into new territory within this region. Most of the species that breed in the bole or roots of their host were imported more than a half century ago; those imported since 1950 breed mostly in seeds, pods, dry fruits, or small branches. Forty - five of the 62 species apparently can reproduce by means of facultative arrhenotokic parthenogenesis.     

The aberrant and monotypic soft coral genus Malacacanthus Thomson, 1910 (Octocorallia: Alcyoniidae) endemic to southern Africa

The monotypic soft coral genus Malacacanthus has recently been rediscovered by means of scuba and is shown to be locally common and endemic in the shallow sublittoral of South Africa. Malacacanthus capensis (Hickson, 1900) is shown to be the proper taxonomic designation for the species. This species has previously been a problematic one due to the possession of several unusual morphological characteristics, including the total lack of sclerites and possession of a tough horny cuticle covering the stalk. The taxon is here shown to belong in the family Alcyoniidae by the possession of a full complement of mesenterial filaments, and not to the family Xeniidae as assigned by several previous authors. The species is here redescribed and the systematic status is revised. New observations on ecology and natural history from living colonies are also included.     

New Neotropical Haplothripini (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) with a key to Central and South American genera

The tribe Haplothripini includes a large diversity of Thysanoptera–Phlaeothripinae, comprising more than 550 species in about 35 genera. They are characterised by having a maxillary bridge in the head, prosternal basantra well developed and fore wings with a median constriction. Members of this group are present in all geographical regions, but are particularly poorly studied in Central and South America. In this study, we describe a new genus and species, Myrciathrips variabilis gen. et. sp. nov., and a new Haplothrips species; and propose two new combinations: Karnyothrips grassoi (De Santis), and Mirothrips vespicola (De Santis). A key to the nine Haplothripini genera now recognised from Central and South America is provided, together with an updated key to Haplothrips and Mirothrips species. A total of 45 species of Haplothripini are now recognised from Central and South America, and a list of these and their distributions is given. The genera Karnyothrips, Haplothrips and Leptothrips are the most commonly encountered, and some exotic species such as Androthrips ramachandrai and Dolichothrips indicus are now widespread in the Americas.     

Revision of the Neotropical genus Yagra Oiticica (Lepidoptera: Castniidae)

The Castniidae, or butterfly moths, are characteristically colourful diurnal moths, distributed throughout the tropics except in Africa. The Neotropical representatives forage almost exclusively on monocotyledonous plants and many species are crop pests with more than 60% of the Neotropical castniids found or endemic in Brazil. Research studies that focus on taxonomy, systematics, and morphology of this group are scarce. In this study, Yagra Oiticica, a small genus restricted to south-eastern South America, is revised and the diagnostic morphological characters of male and female genitalia are illustrated. This research is part of long-term study on the Castniidae for future phylogenetic analysis.     

Systematics and biology of the Rhinocolinae (Homoptera: Psylloidea)

Based on a cladistic analysis, the subfamily Rhinocolinae is redefined to comprise 13 genera and 39 species, of which two genera and eight species remain unnamed. Four new genera and 14 new species are described; one subfamily and one genus are synonymized, and two species are recombined; one lectotype is designated. The subfamily is divided into two groups, one with a Gondwanan distribution comprising four genera in Australia, New Zealand, South America and Africa, and another with Laurasian distribution in the Palaeotropics, the Western Palaerctic and North America comprising nine genera. Twenty-one species develop on host plants in the Rutales, three on Asteraceae, three on Cistaceae and one on Zygophyllaceae. The genus Pistacia (Anacardiaceae) in particular hosts six species whose biology is discussed.     

First record of Monobrachium parasitum Mereschkowsky, 1877 (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from Brazil,in the tropical southwestern Atlantic,and its implication for bipolarity concepts

Project HABITATS was recently initiated in the Campos Basin (20.5–24° S), state of Rio de Janeiro, to assess biological impacts of petroleum exploration and exploitation on the continental shelf and slope of Brazil. Among species discovered in benthic samples from the area is the hydroid Monobrachium parasitum Mereschkowsky, 1877, occurring in an epibiotic association with the pelecypod mollusc Mendicula ferruginosa (Forbes, 1844): this is the first report of an association between the two species. Monobrachium parasitum has always been reported from cold waters, and is generally considered bipolar. This report records the occurrence of M. parasitum at lower latitudes, where they have seldom been collected: it is also the first account of this species from South America and the southwestern Atlantic. Moreover, the bathymetric distribution of M. parasitum is extended to a depth of 998 m. No previous records exist of hydroids from the Brazilian continental slope.     

Zoogeography and evolutionary ecology of the genus Platorchestia (Crustacea,Amphipoda, Talitridae)

ABSTRACT

Species of the genus Platorchestia occur both in the northern hemisphere (18 species) and southern hemisphere (three species plus a synanthropically introduced species in South America and South Africa). The greater number of endemic Platorchestia species in the North Pacific Ocean suggests that it could be the epicentre of evolution for this genus. North-western Pacific Platorchestia includes 15 species which occupy five ecotopes: wrack (seven species), terrestrial leaf litter (five species), freshwater (one species), marsh (one species) and tentatively present in caves (one species). North-eastern Pacific Platorchestia includes only one putative driftwood specialist, with no other species found in North American coastal habitats. This compares with three good endemic Platorchestia species (plus two putative additional species) and only two ecotopes: wrack (three species) and freshwater (two species) from the North Atlantic Ocean, inclusive of the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean Sea. Insufficient data is available to consider Platorchestia zoogeography for the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Synanthropic dispersal involving Platorchestia in Polynesian outrigger canoes, or in solid ballast carried in the holds of wooden sailing ships has been identified as a potential complicating factor in the zoogeography of this genus. Platorchestia is proposed to have arisen on Laurasia and is therefore basically a northern hemisphere genus. Questions concerning Platorchestia zoogeography and evolutionary ecology are posed and two methods (more intensive field sampling and molecular genetics) are suggested to be the way to solve them.     

Geographic distribution,host plants,and morphological variation of the currently radiating phytophagous ladybird beetle Henosepilachna diekei

To overview the morphological and ecological diversification within a species of phytophagous ladybird beetle Henosepilachna diekei, information concerning its distribution and host plant use was studied. This species was found widely in South East and South Asia from the Philippines through the Greater Sunda islands, a western part of Lesser Sundas, the Malay Peninsula to Sri Lanka. Mikania species (Asteraceae), Mikania micrantha in particular, were the most frequently used host plants, but some other plants belonging to Lamiaceae or Acanthaceae were also used by some local populations. Each population is possibly monophagous. According to morphological analyses, seven populations from four host plants at six sites on four Indonesian islands were grouped into two, one occurring on Java and Kalimantan (Borneo) and another on Sulawesi and Lombok, indicating that they were separated by the Wallace line. This morphological distinction was not correlated with the host plant use.     

Taxonomic revision and systematic notes on some Halecium species (Cnidaria,Hydrozoa)

Although the genus Halecium is easy to recognize, identifications at the species level are often difficult, this even for quite common and supposedly well‐known species of the north‐eastern Atlantic. This paper revises and re‐describes some Halecium species which resemble each other closely and which are not easy to distinguish. Additional information on a few rare species is also provided. The study is based on material collected from the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, South Africa, and New Zealand. Halecium scutum Clark, is recognized as a valid species and distinct from both H. beanii and H. halecinum; colony form and microscopic characters allow a distinction. The pinnate colony form of H. halecinum is a characteristic trait, but not all colonies show this growth form. Halecium beanii can occur in monosiphonic and polysiphonic colonies. Monosiphonic colonies of H. beanii have probably been misidentified by some authors as H. lankesterii. The differences of H. lankesteri to H. beanii and H. petrosum are discussed. The South African population of the reportedly cosmopolitan H. beanii has distinct gonothecae and could belong to a separate species. The Mediterranean Halecium mediterraneum is hardly distinguishable from the New Zealandic H. delicatulum, but it is kept separate mainly for biogeographic reasons. The rare Mediterranean Halecium banyulense is re‐described based on a second find from Naples. The male gonothecae of Halecium corrugatissimum are described for the first time.     

Two new species of Clinocentrus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Argentina,with notes on South American species

The Argentine species of the genus Clinocentrus Haliday are revised. Two new species are described, Clinocentrus mamull sp. nov. and Clinocentrus roigi sp. nov., which represent the southernmost records of the genus in South America. Additionally Clinocentrus nigripectus Enderlein is redescribed and a key to known South American species is provided.     

Distribution and ecology of freshwater Ostracoda (Crustacea) collected from springs of Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon: a preliminary study

Fourteen freshwater ostracod species collected from 24 springs in Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon between 1991 and 1994 were classified. Their ecology, based on major water parameters (i.e., temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity), and biogeographical distribution in North America were studied. Among these 14 species, 9 ( Ilyocypris bradyi , I. gibba , Darwinula stevensoni , Candona candida , Heterocypris incongruens , Herpetocypris reptans , H. chevreuxi , Prionocypris canadensis , P. longiforma ) are new records for Nevadas ostracod fauna, while 3 ( H. reptans , P. canadensis , and Cypria turneri ) are new species for Oregon. H. reptans , P. canadensis , and Heterocypris salina are also recorded as new for the ostracod literature of Idaho. Scottia pseudobrowniana , collected from Nevada, is a new ostracod species for the United States. The occurrence of 5 Holarctic species in the northern Great Basin area may suggest a possible historical relationship with the European ostracod fauna.     

Cladistic,phenetic and biogeographical analysis of the flightless dung beetle genus,Gyronotus van Lansberge (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), in threatened eastern Afrotropical forests

By virtue of their low vagility, flightless insects are useful indicators of biogeographical history. Relationships of the flightless dung beetle genus, Gyronotus, are of particular interest due to its Gondwanaland ancestry, distinctive relict distribution along the south-eastern seaboard of Africa, and its restriction to forests which are seriously threatened by exploitation. Because of the limited number of diagnostic morphological characters, it was necessary to code morphometric data in order to conduct distance and cladistic parsimony analysis of interspecific relationships in Gyronotus. There was a good correlation between relationships indicated by the dendrograms/cladograms and those determined by an examination of aedeagus character states both of which indicate a disjunction between south and east African species and a broad separation between northern and southern South African species. Comparison of the bilaterally asymmetrical aedeagi of Gyronotus with the symmetrical aedeagi of the sister genus, Anachalcos Hope, suggests geographical polarization of character states from greater plesiomorphy in east African Gyronotus to greater apomorphy in South African species, particularly in the southernmost element in which the aedeagus shows extreme asymmetry. Furthermore, body shape follows a similar geographical gradient in that the three Gyronotus species of tropical east Africa are significantly more elongate than the three ovoid, lowland/afromontane species of South Africa. An examination of historical factors suggests that this spatially-restricted distribution is the relict of a very old tropical lowland pattern. In extant taxa, the phylogenetic polarization is towards one of five main centres of afrotropical forest biodiversity in the geologically old Eastern Arc and the adjoining lowland forest (Swahili centre of endemism). Survivors from old lineages may be one reason for such centres of high biodiversity.     

A new species of Phoxocephalidae and some other records of sand-burrowing Amphipoda (Crustacea) from Argentina

A new species from the Argentine Sea, Metharpinia iado (Phoxocephalidae), is described. It is distinguished by many morphological character states from Metharpinia longirostris Schellenberg, 1931, found in South America for Argentina and Chile; primarily, they differ in numbers of spines and setae on mouthparts and appendages, and shape of epimeron plate 3. The new species is recorded in Buenos Aires and Chubut provinces. Two other Phoxocephalidae, Microphoxus cornutus (Schellenberg, 1931) and Fuegiphoxus fuegiensis (Schellenberg, 1931), partially illustrated, are compared in different populations, and some variations in number of spines and setae on mouthparts and appendages are noted. Microphoxus cornutus, known in Chile (Punta Arenas) and Argentina (Ushuaia), extends its geographical distribution towards the north of Argentina, in Buenos Aires and Chubut. Fuegiphoxus fuegiensis, known in the austral part of South America (Punta Arenas and Ushuaia) and in Chubut (Puerto Madryn), expands its geographical distribution in Chubut. The Ipanemidae Ipanema talpa Barnard and Thomas, 1988 is figured in part, both males and females are compared with the male specimen described from Brazil; it constitutes a new record in Argentina. All taxa were collected from sandy substrata in the intertidal and subtidal regions, in Buenos Aires and Chubut provinces.     

Diversity and life-history traits of wild bees (Insecta: Hymenoptera) in intensive agricultural landscapes in the Rolling Pampa,Argentina

The decline of bees is a major concern due to their vital role in pollinating many crops and wild plants. Some regions in South America, and especially the Pampas, are amongst those parts of the world where stressors of bee populations have been little studied. The Pampas has been intensively transformed for agriculture, being presently one of the most productive areas of agricultural commodities in the world. Here, we aim to provide first insights on the taxonomic and functional composition of bee assemblages in the Rolling Pampa, the most intensively managed part of the Pampas. Soybean (herbicide-tolerant genetically modified varieties) is the predominant crop in this region. Bees were sampled with coloured pan traps. Sampling points were located on field margins in either the cropped or the semi-natural grassland area of a farmland site devoted to annual cropping. A total of 2384 individuals were caught, representing 33 taxa [mainly (morpho)species]. The subgenus Lasioglossum (Dialictus) largely dominated captures (78% of the total abundance) and was relatively abundant in the entire study area, suggesting that some species are likely to reach their ecological requirements in cropped areas. No-till fields and field margins may provide large areas for these below-ground nesting species, while their polylectic food preferences allow them to collect pollen on a wide range of plant species, among them possibly soybean. On the contrary, the richness and the abundance of other taxa were higher in the semi-natural area than in the cropped area. Among them, above-ground nesting or oil-collecting species, which have more specialised nesting and floral requirements, were highly associated with the semi-natural area. Our findings highlight the large dominance of L. (Dialictus) species in this highly intensively managed landscape, and the urgent need of preserving semi-natural habitats to maintain species-rich and functionally diverse bee communities in the Pampas.