Three new genera of the family Nesticidae (Arachnida:Araneae) from Tibet and Yunnan,China

Three new genera of the spider family Nesticidae, Hamus gen. nov., Nescina gen. nov. and Wraios gen. nov., are reported. Three new species, Hamus bowoensis sp. nov., Nescina minuta sp. nov. and Wraios longiembolus sp. nov., showing remarkable characters in palpal and epigynal morphology, are described based on specimens collected in Tibet and Yunnan, China. All the type specimens are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(IZCAS) in Beijing.     

A taxonomic study on Endotricha Zeller （Lepidoptera： Pyralidae： Pyralinae） in China

A checklist of 30 species ofEndotricha Zeller in China is presented in this paper. Six species （E. dumalis sp. nov., E. lunulata sp. nov. E. medogana sp. nov., E. nigra sp. nov., E. purpurata sp. nov. and E. simipunicea sp. nov.） are new to science and three （E. admirabilis Kirpichnikova, E. fuscobasalis Ragonot and E. valentis Kirpichnikova） are recorded for the first time in China. The adult features and genital structures of the new species are illustrated and a key to the Chinese species is given.     

Report on the Hippolytidae Bate (sensu lato) from China seas

Thirty species belonging to 13 genera of three families in the Hippolytidae Bate, 1888(sensu lato) are reported in the present paper, including two new species and two newly recorded ones from the China seas. The two new species are named as Thinora leptochelus sp. nov. and Thor singularis sp. nov. Thinora leptochelus sp. nov. differs from the only knwon species of the genus, Thinora maldivensis(Borradaile, 1915), by the developed supraorbital tooth and the slender and cone-shaped chelae of the first 2 pereopods. Thor singularis sp. nov. can be dinstingershed from the other members of the genus Thor by the first 2 pereopods with epipods. The two newly recorded species from China seas are Eualus kikuchii Miyake & Hayashi, 1967 and Heptacarpus commensalis Hayashi, 1979.     

Revision of Phaedon Latreille from China (Coleoptera:Chrysomelidae)

Sixteen species of the genus Phaedon Latreille are revised and illustrated from China, including five new species described herein, namely P. geminatus sp. nov., P. huizuensis sp. nov., P. igori sp. nov., P. insolitus sp. nov., P. prosternalis sp. nov. All species are redescirbed or original described. Figures of important morphological features are provided. The natural history of some species are provided including the host plants records. A key to species of Phaedon from China is presented. The type specimens of the new species described here are deposited in Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences(IZCAS), Mauro Daccordi collection(MDC), Horst Kippenberg collection(HKC) and Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences(ZIN).     

Three new species of imitator-group of the genus Macrophya (Hymenoptera,Tenthredinidae) from China

Three species, Macrophya circulotibialis Li, Liu & Heng, sp. nov., M. curvatitheca Li, Liu & Heng, sp. nov. and M. changbaina Li, Liu & Heng, sp. nov., of the imitator-group of the genus Macrophya Dahlbom(Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae) from China are described as new to science. A key to all known species of the imitator-group from China is provided. The specimens examined in this study, including all holotypes and paratypes of the new species, are deposited in the Insect Collection of Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan, China, and the Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.     

Two new species of the genus Eotmethis from China (Orthoptera: Acridioidea: Pamphagidae)

Two new species of the genus Eotmethis Bey-Bienko, 1948 are described in this paper, namely E. daqingshanensis sp. nov. and E. gansuensis sp. nov. from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province, respectively. The type specimens of the new species are deposited in College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China.     

A new genus and four new species of Eriophyidae from China (Acari: Eriophyoidea)

One new genus and four new species of eriophyoid mites from Hainan, China are described and illustrated in this paper: Dicoxiseta Wang, Tan & Yang, gen. nov., D. litsea Wang, Tan & Yang, sp. nov. infesting Litsea monopetala(Roxb.) Pers.(Lauraceae), Eriophyes casearius Wang, Yang & Tan, sp. nov. infesting Casearia glomerata Roxb.(Flacourtiaceae), Phyllocoptruta alstonia Wang, Gu & Tan, sp. nov. infesting Alstonia scholaris(L.) R. Br.(Apocynaceae) and Aculus paederius Wang, Gu & Tan, sp. nov. infesting Paederia scandens(Lour.) Merr.(Rubiaceae). Tegolophus artocarpi Keifer, 1977 is newly recorded from China. E. casearius Wang, Yang & Tan, sp. nov. distorts severely new foliage of its host plant. Three species, P. alstonia Wang, Gu & Tan, sp. nov., A. paederius Wang, Gu & Tan, sp. nov. and T. artocarpi, cause rust on the undersurfaces of host plants, while D. litsea Wang, Tan & Yang, sp. nov. is a vagrant on the undersurface of host plant leaves, without visible symptom.     

THREE NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS SPILOGONA （DIPTERA： MUSCIDAE） IN CHINA

Three new species of the genus Spilogona Schnabl, namely S. carbiarenosa sp. nov., S.dasyoomma sp. nov. and S. kunjirapensis sp. nov. are described from China. The type specimens of S. kun-firapensis sp. nov. are kept in the Institute of Zoology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and those of S. carbi-arenosa sp. nov. and S. dasyoomma sp. nov. are deposited in Shenyang Normal University.     

Two new species of the genus Veigaia from China (Acari: Mesostigmata: Veigaiaidae)

Two new species in the genus Veigaia Oudemans, 1939 from soil are described from Liaoning Province, China, Veigaia yinsuigongi sp. nov. and V. beinaxinae sp. nov. The type specimens are deposited in the Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, Liaoning Province, China.     

NEW SPECIES OF FOSSIL PROBOSCIDEA FROM SOUTH CHINA

Three new species of fossil Proboscida,two trilophodonts and one stegolophodont,arepreliminarily described in the present note.The species described are:(1)Trilophodon yangziensis sp.nov.This was sent for study by the Department of Culture of the District Government ofWushan,Szechuan.The specimen was collected from a cave in the mountains not farfrom the Yangzi (=Yangtse) River.(2)Trilophodon guangxiensis sp.nov.     

Helminth species diversity of mammals: parasite species richness is a host species attribute

Studies investigating parasite diversity have shown substantial geographical variation in parasite species richness. Most of these studies have, however, adopted a local scale approach, which may have masked more general patterns. Recent studies have shown that ectoparasite species richness in mammals seems highly repeatable among populations of the same mammal host species at a regional scale. In light of these new studies we have reinvestigated the case of parasitic helminths by using a large data set of parasites from mammal populations in 3 continents. We collected homogeneous data and demonstrated that helminth species richness is highly repeatable in mammals at a regional scale. Our results highlight the strong influence of host identity in parasite species richness and call for future research linking helminth species found in a given host to its ecology, immune defences and potential energetic trade-offs.     

Population dynamics of species with gynogenetic sibling species

Models are formulated for the population dynamics of a monoecious or dioecious species with an all-female parthenogenetic sibling species which is also gynogenetic. Continuous, deterministic reproduction and mortality, a stationary age distribution, random mating, and limited sexual competence for all individuals are posited. It is also supposed that in the dioecious case males do not distinguish between true and gynogenetic females. Similarly, hermaphrodites do not differentiate hermaphrodites and gynogens. The model implies that extinction is highly likely in the dioecious situation, but much less so in the monoecious one. Empirical evidence is reviewed and related to the assumptions and conclusions.     

Phylogenetic species recognition and species concepts in fungi

The operational species concept, i.e., the one used to recognize species, is contrasted to the theoretical species concept. A phylogenetic approach to recognize fungal species based on concordance of multiple gene genealogies is compared to those based on morphology and reproductive behavior. Examples where Phylogenetic Species Recognition has been applied to fungi are reviewed and concerns regarding Phylogenetic Species Recognition are discussed.     

Distinguishing species

Given two organisms, how can one distinguish whether they belong to the same species or not? This might be straightforward for two divergent organisms, but can be extremely difficult and laborious for closely related ones. A molecular marker giving a clear distinction would therefore be of immense benefit. The internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) has been widely used for low-level phylogenetic analyses. Case studies revealed that a compensatory base change (CBC) in the helix II or helix III ITS2 secondary structure between two organisms correlated with sexual incompatibility. We analyzed more than 1300 closely related species to test whether this correlation is generally applicable. In 93%, where a CBC was found between organisms classified within the same genus, they belong to different species. Thus, a CBC in an ITS2 sequence-structure alignment is a sufficient condition to distinguish even closely related species.     

Confronting species distribution model predictions with species functional traits

Species distribution models are valuable tools in studies of biogeography, ecology, and climate change and have been used to inform conservation and ecosystem management. However, species distribution models typically incorporate only climatic variables and species presence data. Model development or validation rarely considers functional components of species traits or other types of biological data. We implemented a species distribution model (Maxent) to predict global climate habitat suitability for Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). We then tested the relationship between the degree of climate habitat suitability predicted by Maxent and the individual growth rates of both wild (N = 17) and stocked (N = 51) Grass Carp populations using correlation analysis. The Grass Carp Maxent model accurately reflected the global occurrence data (AUC = 0.904). Observations of Grass Carp growth rate covered six continents and ranged from 0.19 to 20.1 g day⁻¹. Species distribution model predictions were correlated (r = 0.5, 95% CI (0.03, 0.79)) with observed growth rates for wild Grass Carp populations but were not correlated (r = −0.26, 95% CI (−0.5, 0.012)) with stocked populations. Further, a review of the literature indicates that the few studies for other species that have previously assessed the relationship between the degree of predicted climate habitat suitability and species functional traits have also discovered significant relationships. Thus, species distribution models may provide inferences beyond just where a species may occur, providing a useful tool to understand the linkage between species distributions and underlying biological mechanisms.