A review of Turkish Diglyphus Walker (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), with description of a new species

Two species Diglyphus begini Ashmead and D. sabulosus Erdös are new records for Turkey; one new species is described Diglyphus sensilis sp. nov., three species have new host record Liriomyza sativae and Chromatomyia horticola; 10 species of Diglyphus from Turkey are keyed.     

New species of Allorhogas Gahan (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) reared from galls on Lycium cestroides Schltdl. (Solanaceae) in Argentina

Allorhogas cordobensis sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae) is described from the province of Córdoba, Argentina. Its representatives can be distinguished from all other known species of the genus by the unusual morphology of the ovipositor tip and the expanded clypeus apically. Remarkably, this species is also characterized by having a tridentate mandible, a feature known only in exodont braconids, mostly of the subfamily Alysiinae. The new species was reared from stem galls on Lycium cestroides, which constitutes the second record of an Allorhogas species associated with galls on representatives of the plant family Solanaceae.     

Description of a second species of Nannogonalia Young, 1977 (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellini) from the Atlantic Forest of south Brazil

A second species of the poorly known sharpshooter genus Nannogonalia Young, 1977 is described and illustrated from the Atlantic Forest of south Brazil (state of Paraná). Types are deposited in DZUP. Nannogonalia inusitata n. sp. can be distinguished from the type-species (Tettigonia circumcincta Signoret, 1855) mainly by the color pattern and form of the male subgenital plates and female sternite VII. Nannogonalia circumcincta is newly recorded from the state of Paraná. The female genitalia of Nannogonalia are described in detail for the first time, based on the type-species and the new species. We discuss some peculiar features of the first and second ovipositor valvulae of this genus that were previously observed in Versigonalia Young, 1977.     

First record of Chinemesa Wygodzinsky (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae) from China,with the description of a new species

Summary

The “Borneo endemic” genus Chinemesa Wygodzinsky, 1966 is recorded from the mainland of Asia for the first time. A new species, Chinemesa chinensis n. sp., is described and illustrated. An updated key to species of Chinemesa is provided. Relationship between Chinemesa and Ocelliemesina Wang, Wang, Cao & Cai, 2015 is discussed, and diagnostic characters of Chinemesa are revised. Distribution of Chinemesa is briefly discussed.     

Oragua Melichar, 1926: key to species from southeastern Brazil and a new species from Rio de Janeiro State (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellini)

A new species of Oragua Melichar, 1926 is described and illustrated from the Atlantic rainforest of Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil, based on specimens collected in Casimiro de Abreu (Oragua casimirensis n. sp.). The new species can be distinguished from the other species of the genus by the following combination of features: dorsum dark brown with dispersed yellow dots and spots; male pygofer with well developed dentiform process, directed inwards, on posterodorsal portion; subgenital plates subtriangular and elongate, expanded basally, not extending as far posteriorly as location of dentiform pygofer processes; aedeagus slender and elongate, with pair of apical processes weakly connected to shaft; paraphyses with rami elongate, slightly asymmetrical, approximately parallel to each other. A key to males of the six Oragua species recorded from southeastern Brazil is provided. We propose a group of species within Oragua (linnavuorii group) based on features of the male genitalia of O. flavolineata Mejdalani, Silva & Takiya, 2016, O. linnavuorii Mejdalani, Silva & Takiya, 2016, and O. casimirensis n. sp.

http://urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:38469659-F0A0-416D-8509-E594EDBA8277     

Species versus genotypic diversity of a nitrogen-fixing plant functional group in a metacommunity

Exploring species and genetic diversity interactions provides new opportunities for furthering our understanding of the ecology and evolution of population and community dynamics, and for predicting responses of ecosystems to environmental change. Theory predicts that species diversity within communities and genetic diversity within populations will covary positively, because either species and genetic diversity interact synergistically or they respond in parallel fashion to common habitat conditions. We tested the hypothesis of positive covariation between species and genotypic diversity in a metacommunity of the species-rich southwest Australian flora. We hypothesised that the connection between genotypic diversity and species diversity is strong within functional groups, but weak or non-existent if the species considered extend beyond the functional group. We show that allelic richness of Daviesia triflora, an ant-dispersed pea, covaries positively with the species richness of six co-occurring nitrogen-fixing legume species. No pattern can be detected between allelic richness of D. triflora and species richness of ant-dispersed species when four non-legumes are added. We also show that genetic diversity of D. triflora is not governed by the same environmental factors that determine the presence of a group of large-shrub/small-tree species in the same metacommunity. This study shows that species and genetic diversity covariation are more likely to be confined to within, rather than between, plant functional groups.     

Stempellina and Zavrelia from China (Diptera,Chironomidae, Tanytarsini)

The first records of the Tanytarsini genera Stempellina and Zavrelia in the Oriental Region based on adult males are presented. Two species, Stempellina clavata sp. n. and Zavrelia clinovolsella sp. n. from southern China, are described, and the generic diagnoses of the two genera are emended to accommodate the new species. A key to the male imagines of the genus Zavrelia is given.     

Stabilization of the population of a parasite on fruit by the population of a cleptoparasite

When there exist two species such that one is a parasite on fruit and the other exploits the parasitized fruits, they must compete for a limited resource with each other. The relation between Dacus cucurbitae and Atherigona orientalis is an example of such a situation. We raise a question whether the population of a parasite on fruit can be stabilized by the existence of the cleptoparasite of the parasite on fruit. The changes in their population densities are represented as a differential equation with time delayed parameters, which is deduced from the context of life histories of the two species. An index representing degree of overlapping of generations (g) is defined as an average oviposition period devided by the average preoviposition period, and the value is assumed to be the same in the two species. The stability of the system is classified by three parameters: the reproductive rate of the parasite on fruits (R), the survival probability of it through competition against the cleptoparasite (p), and the generation overlapping index (g). For small values of g, e.g. less than some 0.5, the stability is determined mainly by a product of Rp: the values larger than 1 result in no equilibrium and infinite increase of both species, the values near 0 lead to large amplitude oscillations, and the intermediate values make stable equilibria or regular small oscillations. As g takes the larger values, the stability region in the space (p, R) occupies the larger area. The model presented here is well adjusted to the fluctuating pattern of the population of D. cucurbitae on Okinawa Is., and would also be applied to analysis of both hyperparasitisms and inquilin.     

Detection of two new cryptic species of Kiefferia (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) by means of morphological,molecular and ecological studies

Morphological, molecular and ecological studies revealed that Kiefferia Mik, 1985 (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is not a monotypic genus. Two new species, Kiefferia ezoensis sp. nov. and K. olla sp. nov. from Japan and Korea are added to the known European species, Kiefferia pericarpiicola. The new and known species are distinguishable from each other mainly by the shape of the larval sternal spatula. Molecular data support the results of morphological classification. Species of Kiefferia induce fruit galls on various plant species of Apiaceae. We found that K. ezoensis and K. olla utilized exclusively Angelica ursina and Oenanthe javanica, respectively. In contrast, we listed 37 apiaceous species belonging to 23 genera as hosts for K. pericarpiicola from previously published reports, suggesting the existence of additional undescribed species. Life history patterns of the three species are distinctly different from each other. Mature larvae of K. ezoensis and K. olla drop to the ground with the fruit gall in October and September, respectively, whereas mature larvae of K. pericarpiicola quit the galls and drop to the ground in August. A key to the Kiefferia species is provided based on morphological features and information on life history patterns and host ranges.     

<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.     

Bryobartramia schelpei T.A.Hedderson,a new species to accommodate the South African populations of the genus

Abstract

South African populations of Bryobartramia have been treated as B. novae-valesiae, a species otherwise restricted to Australia. However, material from the two regions differs in a number of traits, and the African populations are here described as a new species, B. schelpei. The Cape species differs most obviously from B. novae-valesiae in the markedly prorate-papillose, narrow, thick-walled cells of the calyptra. Nested analysis of variance reveals further morphometric differences, including the relatively narrower, more cylindrical, calyptra with a longer rostrum, and the smaller leaf cells and spores. Bryobartramia schelpii is known only from arid portions of the winter rainfall region in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa.     

Four new species of Halicyclops Norman, 1903 (Copepoda,Cyclopoida) from Brazil

Four new species of Halicyclops are described and figured from plankton samples of the brackish waters of Pomonga River, Sergipe State (NE Brazil). The ornamentation of the median apical setae of the furcal rami is proposed as useful diagnostic character for species distinction.     

A new species of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Platimeliphyllum</Emphasis> N. Maslova from the Paleocene of the Amur Region,Russia

A new species, Platimeliphyllum valentinii, is described from the Paleocene of the Amur Region on the basis of macromorphological and epidermal characters. It was shown that leaves of Platimeliphyllum N. Maslova associate with two fundamentally different types of reproductive structures: platanaceous Archaranthus N. Maslova et Kodrul and Bogutchanthus N. Maslova, Kodrul et Tekleva, which combines characters of the Platanaceae and Hamamelidaceae. The higher evolutionary stability of leaf structures in comparison with reproductive organs is discussed.