The true identity of Obama (Platyhelminthes: Geoplanidae) flatworm spreading across Europe

Since 2008 there have been many records in Europe (British Isles, Spain, France, Italy) of a large terrestrial planarian morphologically very similar to the Brazilian species Obama marmorata. Sequences of mitochondrial (Cox1) and nuclear (18S, 28S, ITS‐1 and EF) genes from European specimens and some from Brazil indicate that they belong to a species different from that of other specimens also collected in Brazil. Moreover, the phylogenetic results show that they are not sister‐species. Histological sections of both Brazilian and European specimens reveal subtle morphological differences between the two species. Obama marmorata is confined to Brazil, and the second, herein described new species, O bama nungara sp. nov. , is found in Brazil and Europe. These cryptic species may be syntopic in areas in Brazil. The new species occurs in human‐modified environments both in Brazil and in Europe. We also conclude that the specimens from Spain and Argentina identified previously as Obama marmorata belong to the new species.     

Three new species,four new records and an updated checklist of Habenaria (Orchidaceae) from Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil

Three new species of Habenaria (Orchidaceae) section Nudae from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, are described and illustrated: Habenaria australis, H. kleinii and H. sobraliana. These are the first records of H. sect. Nudae for the state. Based on the examination of living and dried specimens, a total of 33 species and 400 collections of Habenaria were recorded for Rio Grande do Sul. Based on this survey, an updated checklist of the genus Habenaria for Rio Grande do Sul has been compiled. Four species are known only from this state, while seven other species are restricted to southern Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Habenaria hieronymi, previously known only from Argentina, is recorded for the first time from Brazil, and H. brachyphyton, H. ekmaniana and H. melanopoda are new records for Rio Grande do Sul.     

Notes on neotropical Amanoa (Euphorbiaceae)

Lectotypes are designated forAmanoa caribaea Krug & Urban andA. guianensis Aublet; presumed syntypes of the latter taxon are shown to be heterogeneous by inclusion of a previously unrecognized species. Four new species ofAmanoa are described:A. congesta from French Guiana and northeastern Brazil;A. gracillima from Manaus, Brazil;A. nanayensis from Amazonian Peru and adjacent Colombia and Brazil; andA neglecta from French Guiana and Surinam.Amanoa sinuosa is proposed as a new name for the later homonymA. robusta Leal. A key to the 13 neotropical species is presented.     

Notes on Neotropical Zoraptera, with descriptions of two new species

Characters used un specific identification of Zoraptera are briefly discussed. A list of Neotropical species is given, and the difficulties of associating sexes of some species outlined. Two new species are described and figured (Zorotypus weidneri sp.n., ♂, ♀, Brazil; Z.hamiltoni sp.n., ♂, ♀, Colombia) and additional records and information given on Z.shannoni Gurney (♂, Brazil) and Z.huxleyi Bolivar y Pieltain & Coronado G (♂, ♀, recorded from Brazil for the first time).     

New species of Hypolytrum Rich. (Cyperaceae) from the Neotropics

Five new species ofHypolytrum Rich. from South America are described and illustrated.Hypolytrum amorimii andH. jardimii, both of sect.Bullata T. Koyama, are species with pseudopetioles and colored leaves, and endemic to the rain forest of southeastern Brazil.Hypolytrum bahiense (sect.Hypolytrum), a species with a lax synflorescence and two, free and lightly scabridulous floral bracts, is endemic to the rain forest of southeastern Bahia, Brazil.Hypolytrum leptocalamum (sect.Hypolytrum), a species with lax synflorescence and spike ellipsoid to cylindrical, is restricted to area of tepuis in the Guayana Highland (Brazil, Guyana, and Venezuela).Hypolytrum paraense (sect.Hypolytrum), a species with three, partly connate and densely scabridulous floral bracts, is restricted to the rain forest of the Amazon Basin, in the state of Pará, Brazil.     

Two new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leptolobium</Emphasis> (Leguminosae,Papilionoideae) from Brazil

Two new species of Leptolobium from Brazil are described and illustrated. Leptolobium araguaiense, restricted to northern Brazil, is similar to L. panamense, but differs in raceme length, ovary pubescence, flower and bract length, hilum shape, habit, geographical distribution, and preferential habitat. Leptolobium multijugum, from midwestern Brazil, is perhaps most closely related to L. glaziovianum, but it has more numerous leaflets and smaller bracts and bracteoles than any other species in the genus.     

Pouzolzia saxophila sp. nov. (Urticaceae tribe Boehmerieae) from Bahia,Brazil

The paper supplements a taxonomic revision of the New World species of Pouzolzia by Wilmot‐Dear and Friis in 1996 and a supplement in 2011 with an additional new species. Here another new species of Pouzolzia, P. saxophila Friis, Wilmot‐Dear & A. K. Monro, is described from a restricted area of xerophytic scrub vegetation on rocky outcrops in the Boa Nova National Park, Bahia, Brazil. The new species is somewhat similar to P. pringlei, a Mexican endemic, and to P. amambaiensis from the Brazil–Paraguay border, but also to the widespread Asiatic P. zeylanica. However, the similarities with these species are probably due to adaptation to similar dry habitats on rocky outcrops.     

A remarkable new Veturius (Veturius) of the Brazilian Central Amazonas,with an inventory of the genus in Brazil (Coleoptera: Passalidae)

A new species of Veturius (Veturius) Kaup, of Brazil, Central Amazonas, lower basin of Urucu, Tefé and Coari, is described and illustrated. V. urucuensis n. sp. belongs to the “cephalotes” species group, and has an external autapomorphy for the family Passalidae: a large tuft of setae on the medioposterior area of the metasternum. The species is closely allied to V. jolyi Boucher, 2006, from the Brazil-Venezuela-Guyana border. The peculiar endemism of the new species suggests an intra-continental island vicariance into the Amazon Basin. No similar process was known in the large genus Veturius. A complete inventory of the 22 Veturius species in Brazil is given, with their distribution, and following the previously established monophyletic species groups. From Brazil, two species are newly reported, V. (Ouayana) guyanensis Boucher, 2006 (Pará) and V. (O.) dominicae Boucher, 2006 (Roraima), and one species is confirmed, V. (O.) unicornis Gravely, 1918 (Amazonas). New details are given on some other Brazilian Veturius.     

New species of parasitic copepods of the Genus Acusicola (Poecilostomatoida: Ergasilidae) from gill filaments of coastal and freshwater Brazilian fishes, and proposition of Acusicola rogeri n. sp. for A. tenax sensu Cressey & Collette (1970)

Four new species of Acusicola are described based on adult females found on gill filaments of several species of coastal and freshwater fishes caught in Brazilian basins. The distribution area of the genus in Brazil is significantly enlarged, since until now the previous Brazilian species had been known only from Amazonian fishes. The specimens identified as Acusicula tenax by Cressey and Collette (1970) are considered representatives of a new species, A. rogeri. A key for identification of the species of Acusicola is provided.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Allamanda calcicola</Emphasis> (Apocynaceae), an overlooked new species from limestone outcrops in the States of Minas Gerais and Bahia,Brazil

Summary   Allamanda calcicola Souza-Silva & Rapini, an overlooked new species endemic to the limestone outcrops along the S?o Francisco River Basin, in south-western Bahia and northern Minas Gerais, Brazil, is described and illustrated. It was confused with A. martii and A. schottii, two species from eastern Brazil, which (along with A. polyantha) form a different complex of closely related species. However, A. calcicola is more closely related to A. puberula, another species from the semi-arid region of Brazil.     

Dilleniaceae Novae Neotropicae VIII. Two new species of Davilla from Brazil

Two new species of the genusDavilla from Brazil are described and illustrated (D. kubitzkii andD. morri). The new species are assigned to sect.Homalochlaena and their relationships with allied species are discussed.     

Goeppertia mendesiana sp. nov. (Marantaceae) from Bahia,Brazil, with a key to the species of Goeppertia with ornamented leaves in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

Goeppertia mendesiana, a new species from the Atlantic Forest of Bahia, Brazil, is described and illustrated. It resembles G. widgrenii (Körn.) Borchs. & Suárez, but differs from that species by its villose petioles and peduncles (vs glabrous in G. widgrenii) and by the absence of bracteoles and interphylls, a rare feature in the genus. The ecology, distribution and conservation status of the new species is presented, along with a key to the species of Goeppertia with ornamented leaves in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.     

A new family of Gonyleptoidea from South America (Opiliones,Laniatores)

A new family of Laniatores, Gerdesiidae fam. nov., is proposed based on molecular and morphological evidence. Data also indicate that this new family is the sister family of Tricommatidae. Gerdesiidae fam. nov. has a disjunct distribution, occurring in northern South America (Peru, Brazilian Amazon) and at a spot in south‐eastern Brazil (Minas Gerais State). The new family is composed of two genera: Gerdesius Roewer, 1952 (type genus) and G onycranaus gen. nov. (type species G onycranaus androgynus sp. nov. ). We propose the synonymy of Huralvioides H. Soares, 1970 with Gerdesius Roewer, 1952 based on molecular and morphological evidence. Three new species are described: G erdesius mapinguari sp. nov. (type locality: Brazil, Amazonas, Manaus, Reserva Km 41); G onycranaus androgynus sp. nov. (type locality: Brazil, Minas Gerais, Conceição do Mato Dentro); and an obligate cave‐dwelling species, G onycranaus pluto sp. nov. (type locality: Brazil, Minas Gerais, Morro do Pilar). © 2015 The Linnean Society of London     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Matayba obovata</Emphasis>, a new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Matayba</Emphasis> sect. <Emphasis Type="Italic">Matayba</Emphasis> (Sapindaceae) from Brazil

The new species, Matayba obovata (Sapindaceae), from southern and southeastern Brazil is described, illustrated, and contrasted to its putatively closest relatives. Palynological characters are also described. The new species belongs to sect. Matayba. A key to identify M. obovata and related species in the Atlantic Forest is included.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Leandra altomacaensis</Emphasis> (Melastomataceae), a new species from Brazil

Leandra altomacaensis (sect. Oxymeris), a new endemic species of Melastomataceae from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is described and illustrated. Diagnostic characteristics of the species are the leaves sparsely stellulate-lepidote, triplinerved, and calyx lobes small, with apex acute-apiculate. Leandra gracilis var. glazioviana is proposed as a synonym of this new species.     

Four new species of Cayaponia (Cucurbitaceae) from Brazil and Bolivia

Four new species ofCayaponia are described and illustrated: three from Brazil (C. cogniauxiana, C. nitida andC. rugosa) and one from Brazil and Bolivia (C. ferruginea).