On Simulium xanthinum,a curious yellow-bodied blackfly of the southwestern Palaearctic region (Diptera: Simuliidae)

An account is given of Simulium xanthinum, an unfamiliar simuliid of the southwestern Palaearctic area remarkable for its mainly bright orange-yellow adult and for the clear yellow-green colour of its larva when alive. The species is described in all life stages (except the unknown egg), and the name Simulium gaudi confirmed as a new synonym of S. xanthinum after examination of types and other material. The finding is reported of pupae and larvae in several limestone streams of Andalusia (southern Spain), notably in the headwaters of the Rio Guadalquivir. SEM examination of the heavily sculptured surface of the pupal gill seems to reveal the occurrence of rows of micropores, and this finding is briefly discussed for its bearing on current debate about the nature of the simuliid pupal gill plastron.     

Generic assignment and synonymy of Wiedemann's types of Oriental Tachinidae (Diptera)

Synopsis

All existing type-material has been studied of the Oriental Tachinidae described by Wiedemann: generic combinations and specific synonymies are confirmed or newly established as indicated by the examination of the types. One generic and twenty-two specific names are newly synonymised; nine lectotypes and one neotype are designated.     

The effect of elevation on the distribution of sibling species in the Simulium arcticum complex (Diptera: Simuliidae)

At least 5 sibling species and an additional 11 cytotypes of the Simulium arcticum complex occur in Montana. Consequently, this speciose complex might allow study of environmental correlates with genetic differentiation. We used conventional methods of collection and cytogenetic analysis to study 1128 male larvae of the Simulium arcticum complex at 15 sites within 5 drainages in western Montana to test the hypothesis that distribution of siblings is associated with elevation. We sampled at the mouth, at the headwaters, and at an intermediate site to span the range of elevations within each drainage. We restricted our analyses to the most abundant taxa of the S. arcticum complex within our study area and observed a statistically significant presence of S. apricarium at low-elevation sites. Simulium arcticum IIL-18 appeared more frequently than expected at high elevation sites. Simulium brevicercum and S. arcticum sensu strictu appeared to be distributed randomly. We suggest potential causal reasons for these distributions including differential use of habitats along these elevational gradients.     

The immature stages of Simulium speculiventre,type-species of Stilboplax Enderlein (Diptera: Simuliidae)

Synopsis

The previously unknown immature stages of Simulium speculiventre are described and figured, and a lectotype is designated for this species from the adult syntypes. S. speculiventre is assigned to the subgenus Eusimulium (new subgeneric combination) and the genus-group name Stilboplax Enderlein is sunk in synonymy with Eusimulium Roubaud (new synonym).     

Notes on Simulium ovazzae Grenier and Mouchet (Diptera: Simuliidae) and river crabs (Malacostraca: Potamidae) and their association

Summary

Collections of crabs in the forest zone of West Cameroon produced three species—Potamonautes africanus, P. orthostylis and P. pobeguini. The P. africanus carried populations of immature Simulium ovazzae.

Analysis of crabs collected by hand and those collected in traps indicates very little overlap in the sizes of the crabs obtained by the two techniques. This problem is discussed.

The infestation rates of S. ovazzae on P. africanus were found to be highest on medium-sized crabs. The attachment sites of the S. ovazzae on the crabs were found to vary with both the size of the crab and the size of the Simulium larva.

The size distributions of S. ovazzae larvae on small crabs were found to be different from those on medium and large crabs. The characteristic deficiency of smaller larvae on medium and large crabs reported for other crab-phoretic species was also found with S. ovazzae but the smaller crabs showed a deficiency of larger larvae. A hypothesis is put forward to explain the dearth of larger larvae on the smaller crabs and the higher infestation rate on medium crabs.

S. ovazzae are shown to arrive on their hosts as single larvae carried by the current.

Six adult S. ovazzae were reared from pupae in the laboratory. Small numbers of presumed S. ovazzae biting man in Cameroon are reported.     

An investigation of the blackfly fauna of Andalusia,southern Spain (Diptera: Simuliidae)

A detailed account is provided of the blackfly (Simuliidae) fauna of Andalusia, southern Spain. The work is based on a study of 14204 specimens, of which 13733 were collected by the authors from a total of 137 positive sampling sites during prospections made mainly in early summer 1986 and in the spring seasons of 1994—1998. In all, 25 identified species and two possible species of uncertain identity are recorded. The topographical and climatic background is briefy described, data from previous literature and material from earlier collections are covered, a checklist of the blackflies of Spain and Portugal is provided, and the character of the simuliid fauna is discussed for areas within and outside Andalusia.     

Palaearctic species of Ammoplanus (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

The Palaearctic species of the genus Ammoplanus Giraud are revised, based on material of over 1750 specimens from Europe, North Africa and Central Asia. For almost all species it was possible to examine the type material and in six species the lectotypes have been designated, in two cases (A. perrisi and A. marathroicus) the neotypes. As a result 38 species are recognized as valid, keyed out and commented on. Eight species are described as new and four species names are here placed in synonymy. Several species are of wide distribution, which made it necessary to include also those described from Central Asia and Mongolia. The keys are made to all Palaearctic species but no material is known from the regions east of Mongolia, although four undescribed species are available from South-East Asia. The Afrotropical species are listed and most of them were also examined. Two subgenera are recognized in the region; 32 species are classified in Ammoplanus sensu stricto and six in the subgenus Ammoplanellus. In the nominal subgenus the following species are described as new: A. atlasensis from Morocco, A. biscopula from Israel, A. biskrensis from Algeria, A. denesi from Turkey (Anatolia), A. freidbergi and A. kaplanae from Israel, A. minutus from Bulgaria and Turkey and A. strumae from Bulgaria and Greece. New synonymy: A. angelae becomes a junior synonym of rhodesianus (known before only from Africa), A. crudelis a synonym of A. kaszabi, A. handlirschi a synonym of A. marathroicus, A. suarezi a synonym of A. kohlii, A. subcompressus of A. gegen, A. orbiculatus of A. simplex and A. zarcoi of A. kohlii; A. wesmaeli is confirmed as a synonym of A. perrisi. Otherwise the synonymy is corrected under A. bischoffi and the names A. dusmeti and A. curvidens are re-established as valid. In a short review of the African species A. (Ammoplanellus) cradockensis Arnold, 1959 is placed as a new synonym under A. (Ammoplanellus) latiscapus Leclercq, 1959. The nomenclatural changes are explained under the relevant species.     

Tasmanian Phoridae (Diptera) and some additional Australasian species

The list of Phoridae recorded from Tasmania is increased from five species in three genera to at least 52 species in eight genera. One species on the original list is transferred to the status of being incertae sedis. One new genus and 37 new species are described, two being reported from mainland Australia also. One species was previously only known from New Zealand, five from mainland Australia, four from Europe but one of which is now an almost cosmopolitan tramp species and one being from the Holarctic Region. However, one of the 'European' species may have orginally been introduced to Europe from Tasmania. Keys to genera, to all known species of Aphiura, to the Tasmanian species of Megaselia and to the Australasian species of Metopina are provided. A newly named and a new mainland Australian species of Aphiura, three mainland Australasian species of Metopina and three from Papua New Guinea are described and seven undescribed males (given code letters only) of this genus are included in the key (four from Papua New Guinea, two from Western Australia and one from Tonga). Aphiura and Paraphiura are transferred to the tribe Metopinini and the tribe Beckerinini is set aside, as it cannot be satisfactorily characterized as it is currently conceived. Megaselia dissita is synonymized with M. comparabilis.     

Reproductive status and continuity of taxa of the Simulium arcticum complex (Diptera: Simuliidae) at the Clearwater River, Montana (2007, 2008, and 2009)

We made 27 collections over nine years at the Clearwater River and conducted preliminary cytogenetic analysis on 232 individuals of the Simulium arcticum complex there. Based on these preliminary findings, we analyzed an additional 1825 larvae from Clearwater collections in 2007, 2008, and 2009 to investigate the reproductive statuses of the two prevalent taxa of the complex there and to determine whether cytogenetic diversity and frequency of types were similar from year to year. We describe a cytotype new to science and a potentially derivative cytotype of S. arcticum sensu stricto. We also determine that these two taxa are present in similar frequencies from year to year and are in genetic equilibrium, suggesting that they are not reproductively isolated. This study constitutes the fourth positive test of our Geographic Distribution/Taxon Age hypothesis.     

The blackfly fauna of Majorca and other Balearic Islands (Diptera: Simuliidae)

Results are presented of a survey of the Simullidae of the Balearic Islands, an archipelago not previously studied for its blackfly fauna. Four morphospecies occur, none endemic, of which Prosimulium aculeatum is a rare species previously known only from Sardinia and Sicily, and Simulium cryophilum, S. velutinum and S. intermedium widespread in western Europe and North Africa.     

New synonymy and new species of bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

  New synonymy in Scolytidae is proposed as follows: Camptocerus opacicollis (Eggers) ( = Camptocerus aquilus Wood), Cladoctonus corumbensis (Eggers) (= Hoplitophthorus bolivianus Wood), Cladoctonus interruptus (Eggers) ( = Hoplitophthorus sentus Wood), Cnemonyx errans (Blandford) ( = Ceratolepis barbatus Schedl), Cnemonyx flavicornis (Chapnis) (= Cnemonyx vianai Schedl), Cnesinus dividuus Schedl (= Cnesinus dryographus Schedl, Cnesinus laevicollis Schedl), Cryptocurus spinipennis Schedl (= Hyloperus caudatus Browne, Hyloperus bicornis Browne), Dendrosinus ater Eggers (= Dendrosinus hirsutus Schedl), Hylesinus aculeatus Say ( = Hylesinus imperialis Eichhoff), Hylesinus cordipennis Lea (= Hylesinus papuanus Eggers), Hylesinus macmahoni (Stebbing) (= Hylesinus alternans Schedl, Leperisinus fraxinoides Beeson, Leperisinus fraxinoides Schedl), Hylesinus niligrinus Eggers (= Trogloditica robusta Schedl), Phloeosinopsoides triseriatus (Schedl) (= Xylechinus papuanus Schedl), Phloeotribus scarabaeoides (Bernard) ( = Phloeotribus americanus Dejean), Scolytogenes darwini Eichhoff ( = Nigritus similis Eggers, Nigritus major Eggers, Scolytogenes cryptolepis Schedl), Scolytodes notatus Eggers ( = Hexacolus pseudobicolor Eggers, Hexacolus subparalleus Eggers, Hexacolus pelicerinus Schedl), Scolytopsis puncticollis Blandford ( = Scolytopsis argentinensis Schedl, Scolytus bruchi Schedl, Scolytopsis toba Wichmann), Tomicus piniperda (Linnaeus) (= Blastophagus khasianus Murayama), Xylechinus spathifer Schedl (= Pteleobius lomatiae Schedl). Species new to science are described as Acanthotomicus ipsimorphus (Costa Rica), Acrantus opimus (Indonesian New Guinea), Bothrosternus hirsutus (Venezuela), Cnesinus discretus (Venezuela) Cnesinus minor (Costa Rica), Corthylus trunacatus (Peru), Hylurgus indicus (India), Pachycotes minor (Australia), Phloeosinopsoides pumilus (Papua New Guinea), Xylechinosomus pilosus (Brazil).           

A supplement to the checklist of Chinese blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae)

This work provides a summary of all simuliid species described or reported from China over the past 10 years. Text references pertaining to each additional species are accompanied by statements of the type localities, sexes and life stages described.     

Taxonomy and geography of the blackflies of the Canary Islands (Diptera: Simuliidae)

The Canary Islands provide a difficult habitat for Simuliidae because of the scarcity of running water for the early stages, but the archipelago currently supports a fauna of six species (one other species formerly present is considered extinct). Breeding is confined to three of the seven islands (Gomera, La Palma, Tenerife), but once occurred also in Gran Canaria, an island that now lacks flowing streams. The taxonomic and faunal conclusions are based on a study of all available specimens, including material of early stages and reared adult flies collected by the author and aided by cytological data from the larval polytene chromosomes of several species. Twenty-one nominal species have at some time or another been reported from the Canaries, but, following this revision, only seven are recognized in the fauna (most past records being erroneous and based on misidentifications or false assumptions of endemicity); full synonymies clarify the old records in relation to modern nomenclature. All species belong to Simulium Latreille s.l., and keys are given to them in adult, pupal and larval stages. Three species are endemic (two newly described) and the other four common to the Palaearctic mainland. Some remarks are included on simuliid colonization and extinction in the islands.     

Ten new species of the subgenus Steganina (Diptera: Drosophilidae: Stegana) from southern China

Ten new species of the subgenus Stegana (Steganina) are described from southern to south-western China: S. (S.) convena sp. nov., S. (S.) cylindrica sp. nov., S. (S.) eurystoma sp. nov., S. (S.) hamata sp. nov., S. (S.) hirticeps sp. nov., S. (S.) latigena sp. nov., S. (S.) planiceps sp. nov., S. (S.) rhomboica sp. nov., S. (S.) setivena sp. nov. and S. (S.) sphaerica sp. nov. They cannot be placed under any established species groups. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D4B6C5A7-3700-4B0C-8355-E4564C2A7296     

The puparia of some West African species of Mepachymerus and Steleocerellus (Diptera: Chloropidae)

The puparia of two species of Mepachymerus and three species of Steleocerellus (Diptera: Chloropidae, Chloropinae), reared from wild grasses in West Africa, are described.     

A gynandromorph of Austrosimulium (Austrosimulium) australense (Schiner) from New Zealand (Diptera: Simuliidae)

Summary

A gynandromorph of Austrosimulium (Austrosimulium) australense (Schiner) is described. This individual had the head of a female, whereas the thorax and abdomen were a mosaic of male and female characters. The genitalia of both sexes were present, but only the female set was complete. Overall, the female characters of this specimen appeared to be more fully expressed than those of the male.