Reports on the free-living platyhelminthes from Australia: typhloplanoida, with the description of three new taxa

Five typhloplanoids from the Australian East Coast are reported, three of them new to science. Two taxa are members of Promesostomidae: Vauclusia conica n.g. n.sp., characterised by a cone-shaped stylet, the presence of a female bursa and a very long, partially-swollen female duct; Brinkmanniella australiensis n.sp. has a funnel-shaped stylet with a smooth distal tip. Pilamonila bimascula n.g. n.sp. is a representative of the Solenopharyngidae, characterised by a stylet within a cirrus. The known species found are Ceratopera axi and Ptychopera scutulifer.     

Anatomy and Taxonomy of Some Species of Polycystididae (Turbellaria, Kalyptorhynchia) from N. Atlantic and Mediterranean Coastal Areas

Acrorhynchides styliferus sp.n. from Norway and the British Isles and Polycystis contorta sp.n. and Typhlopolycystis coomansi sp.n. from Norway and the Mediterranean are described. Additional notes are given on the anatomy and distribution of Paracrorhynchus bergensis Karling, Polycystis groenlandica (Levinsen), P. crocea (Fabricius) and Typhlopolycystis mediterranea Brunet. The taxonomy of the species and the corresponding genera is discussed.     

World species of the genus Platyscelio Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae)

The genus Platyscelio Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae, Scelioninae) is a widespread group in the Old World, found from West Africa to northern Queensland, Australia. The species concepts are revised and a key to world species is presented. The genus is comprised of 6 species, including 2 known species which are redescribed: Platyscelioafricanus Risbec (Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Yemen, Zimbabwe); and Platysceliopulchricornis Kieffer (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Thailand, Vanuatu, Vietnam). Five species-group names are considered to be junior synonyms of Platysceliopulchricornis: Platyscelioabnormis Crawford syn. n., Platysceliodunensis Mukerjee syn. n., Platysceliomirabilis Dodd syn. n., Platysceliopunctatus Kieffer syn. n., and Platysceliowilcoxi Fullaway. The following species are hypothesized and described as new taxa: Platyscelioarcuatus Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (Western Australia); Platysceliomysterium Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa); Platysceliomzantsi Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (South Africa); and Platysceliostriga Taekul & Johnson, sp. n. (Western Australia).     

A new citrus-feeding psyllid from the Comoro Islands, with a review of the Diaphorina amoena species group (Homoptera)

ABSTRACT. Analysis of host plant data for the seventy-one species of Diaphorina shows the genus to be unusually polyphagous, the species developing on eighteen families of dicotyledonous angiosperms. Apart from the common Asian citrus pest, Diaphorina citri , a second citrus-feeding species is described and discussed. This species belongs to the amoena species-group which is defined and a key to nine of the ten included species is given. Seven new species are described: flavipennis sp.n. and nigripennis sp.n. from East Africa on Strychnos usambarensis; huila sp.n. from Angola on Ptaeroxylon obliquum; turned sp.n., from South Africa (host unknown); orantimina sp.n. from Madagascar (host unknown); auberti sp.n. from Comoro Islands on citrus trees; and bispinulata sp.n. from Madagascar (host unknown).     

Branchiobdellida (Oligochaeta) from the farthest South-East of the U.S.S.R.

Eight species of the genera Branchiobdella and Cirrodrilus are reported from the Soviet Far East. Six of them from the Komarovka Stream in the Ussuriiski State Nature Reserve: Branchiobdella cheni (Liu, 1964), B. domina sp.n., Cirrodrilus chosen (Yamaguchi, 1934), C. suzukii (Yamaguchi, 1934), C. pugnax sp.n., and C. fimbriatus sp.n. Branchiobdellidans are abundant in this stream, occurring on the crayfishes Cambaroides dauricus wladiwostokensis as well as in benthic samples. Two from the northern Amur River basin near Khabarovsk: Branchiobdella minuta Pierantoni, 1912, and Cirrodrilus quadritentacularis (Liu, 1984), living on the crayfishes Cambaroides dauricus dauricus and C. schrencki . The genus Cirrodrilus demonstrates several trends of parallel variation on the Asian continent and the Japanese Islands; the more apomorphic genus Branchiobdella seems to be absent in Japan.     

Five new species of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) of the Nansei Islands.

Five new species of Culicoides of the Nansei Islands are described: C. sasai sp.n. from Amami-oshima Is., C. toshiokai sp.n. from Ishigaki Is., C. iriomotensis sp.n. from Iriomote Is., C. flavipunctatus sp.n. from Yonaguni Is., and C. yaeyamaensis sp.n. from the latter three islands. C. toshiokai sp.n. and C. iriomotensis sp.n. are tree-hole breeders, such as C. dendrophilus Amosova, which is common in similar habitats extending from Okinawa to Honshu.     

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: III. Five new species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius bocourti,P. djambal and P. hypophthalmus

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius bocourti Sauvage, 1880; P. djambal Bleeker, 1846; P. hypophthalmus (Sauvage, 1878) and P. gigas Chevey, 1930 (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) revealed the presence of seven species of Monogenea among which five are considered new species. They all belong to Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001). P. bocourti: T. combesi n. sp., T. komarudini n. sp. and T. vietnamensis n. sp. P. djambal: T. caecus (Mizelle & Kritsky, 1969), T. combesi n. sp., T. euzeti n. sp., T. komarudini n. sp. and T. sadilii n. sp. P. hypophthalmus: T. caecus, T. siamensis (Lim, 1990) and T. vietnamensis n. sp. P. gigas: no Monogenea were found on this host species.     

Three new species of Paralomis (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura, Lithodidae) from the Pacific and Antarctic Oceans

Three new species of the lithodid genus Paralomis from the Sulawesi (Celebes) Islands, P. ochthodes sp.n., Chilean coast, P. tuberipes sp.n., and Antarctic Ocean, P. birsteini sp.n., are described and illustrated. The first two species have features that set them well apart from other species of the genus. Characters are also given to distinguish P. birsteini from the closely allied P. spectabilis Hansen (North Atlantic).     

Three new genera of Braconini from Australasia and Malaysia (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Braconidae)

Ancilibracon gen.n. (type species: Ancilinracon townesi sp.n.). Ancilibracon bakeri sp.n., Gelasinibracon gen.n. (type species: Gelasinibracon sedlaceki sp.n.), Gelasinibracon simplicicaudatus sp.n., Esengoides gen.n. (type species: Esengoides crentdatus sp.n.) and Esengoides fulvus sp.n. are each described and illustrated. Ancilibracon towensi is from Malaysia. A. bakeri is from Borneo, both Gelasinibracon species are from Guinéa, E. crenulatus is from the solomon Islands and E. fulvus is from Australia. These three new genera belong to the Plesiobrscon Cameron group of the Braconina. Their relationship are discussed.     

A new species of Procamallanus (Nematoda: Camallanidae) from Pacific eels (Anguilla spp.)

A new species of parasitic nematode, Procamallanus (Procamallanus) pacificus n. sp., is described from the stomach of the Pacific shortfinned eel, Anguilla obscura (type host), and from the speckled longfin eel, Anguilla reinhardtii, from northern New Caledonia (Melanesia, South Pacific); from Anguilla sp. (cf. obscura) from the Fiji Islands (Melanesia, South Pacific); and from the giant mottled eel Anguilla marmorata from Futuna Island (Wallis and Futuna Islands, Polynesia). Although a total of 450 nematodes were collected, all specimens were females; this suggests either an extremely rare occurrence of males or parthenogenetic reproduction in this species. Procamallanus pacificus differs markedly from all congeners from fish hosts in possessing a greater number (4-9) of caudal mucrons in the female and by other morphological features. This parasite might become a serious pathogen of cultured eels in the region of the South Pacific. Batrachocamallanus Jackson and Tinsley, 1995 is considered a junior synonym of Procamallanus Baylis, 1923, to which 2 species are transferred as Procamallanus occidentalis (Jackson and Tinsley, 1995) n. comb. and Procamallanus siluranae (Jackson and Tinsley, 1995) n. comb. One third-stage larva of Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) sp. was also recorded from Anguilla sp. (cf. obscura) from the Fiji Islands.     

Pararalichus gen.n. (Acarina, Pterolichidae) from New World parrots (Aves, Psittacidae)

Pararalichus gen.n. (Pterolichidae, Pterolichinae) is described; two species groups, from species of Brotogeris Vigors and Touit Gray, respectively, include two named and ten new species. From Brotogeris : the type species Pararalichus dilatatus (Favette & Trouessart) stat.n., comb.n. [= Protolichus ( Mesolichus ) hemiphyllus dilatatus ] from Brotogeris jugularis (Müller), Brazil, Guatemala, Panama; P. chrysopteri sp.n. from B. chrysopterus (L.). Guyana, Surinam; P. cyanopterae sp.n. from B. cyanoptera (Pelzeln), Bolivia, Peru; P. pyrrhopteri sp.n. from B. Pyrrhopterus (Latham), Ecuador, Peru; P. sanctithomae sp.n. from B. sanctithomae (Müller), Bolivia, Peru; P. tiricae sp.n. from B. tirica (Gmelin), Brazil; P. versicolori sp.n. from B. versicolorus (Müller), Brazil, Peru. From Touit: P. hemiphyllus (Mégnin & Trouessart) comb.n. [ =Pterolichus (P.) hemiphyllus ] from Touit batavica (Boddaert), Surinam, Trinidad; P. dilectissimae sp.n. thrn T. dilectissima (Sclater & Salvin), Colmbia, Costa Rica; P. huetii sp.n. from T. huetii (Temminck), Brazil, Guyana, Peru; P. parpuratae sp.n. from T. purpurata (Gmelin), Brazil, Guyana, Surinam; P. surdae sp.n. from T. surda (Kuhl), Brazil. All hosts are Central and South American parrots. Mesolichus Trouessart, 1899 is recognized as a monotypical genus.     

Monogeneans from Pangasiidae (Siluriformes) in Southeast Asia: IV. Five new species of Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Ancylodiscoididae) from Pangasius krempfi,P. kunyit,P. mekongensis and P. sabahensis

The examination of gill parasites from Pangasius krempfi Roberts & Vidthayanon, 1991; P. kunyit Pouyaud et al., 1999; P. mekongensis Gustiano et al., in press and P. sabahensis Gustiano et al., in press (Siluriformes, Pangasiidae) in Southeast Asia revealed the presence of six species of Monogenea, all belonging to the genus Thaparocleidus Jain, 1952 (Monogenea, Ancylodiscoididae) as defined by Lim (1996) and Lim et al. (2001). One has been previously described (T. vietnamensis Pariselle et al., 2002), five are considered as new species: T. humerus n. sp. and T. culter n. sp. on P. kunyit; T. mehurus n. sp. and T. culteroides n. sp. on P. sabahensis; and T. phuongi n. sp. on the four studied host species. The latter one, due to slight morphometric differences linked to geographical origin of hosts, is described as made up of three sub-species: T. phuongi phuongi n. sub-sp., T. phuongi malaysiensis n. sub-sp. and T. phuongi indonesiensis n. sub-sp.     

Policlithrum ponticum sp. n. (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae: Polyclithrinae) from Mugil cephalus from the Black Sea and problems of suprageneric systematics of the gydrodactylids

Polyclithrum ponticum sp. n. is described and P. mugilini Rogers, 1967 is redescribed. Both monogenean species are parasites of Mugil cephalus in the Black Sea. The new species differs from P. mugilini, P. alberti and P. boegeri by the lesser size of anchors, while it is distinguished from P. corallense by the larger size of these structures. P. ponticum sp. n. differs from all formerly described species by the greater length of dorsal connective bar. In both species from the Black Sea, "ear-like" structures situated near the external roots of anchors are described for the first time. It is suggested, that these structures take part in longitudinal, two-lobe folding of the haptor. The process of opening the haptor is probably performed by the additional bars of the haptor (bars 2 and 3 after: Rogers, 1967), joined to each other and with the anchors. The fifth pair of additional bars (Ernst e. a., 2000) derives from the "beard" of ventral connective bar and is united with its basal part. The sixth pair of additional bars (Ernst e. a., 2000) is considered as a typical "ribs" of the haptor, and therefore the "ribs" are represented by three pairs. Differences between marginal hooks of P. ponticum sp. n. and P. mugilini are insignificant, that probably depends on the presence of "ribs" of the haptor. Based on the subdivision of marginal hooks into two groups, the presence of additional supporting structure in the haptor, and the presence of the seminal receptacle, it is suggested that the subfamily Polyclithrinae Rogers, 1967 should include the genera Polyclithrum Rogers, 1967, Swingleus Rogers, 1969, Macrogyrodactylus Mamlberg, 1959, and probably Fundulotrema Hargis, 1955. Based on such characters as the lack of the anchors, the presence of suckers in the haptor, and ovipositing of eggs, it seems to be expedient to use the following taxa in systematics of gyrodactylids: Isancistrinae Fuhrmann, 1928 (genera Isancistrum, Anacanthocotyle); Gyrdicotylinae Vercammen-Grandjean, 1960 (Gyrdicotyle) and Ooegyrodactylinae Harris, 1983 (genera Phanerothecium, Ooegyrodactylus, Nothogyrodactylus, Hyperopletes).     

Pipunculidae (Diptera) from Papua New Guinea: the genera Cephalosphaera, Cephalops and Beckerias

Seven new pipunculid species are described from Papua New Guinea: Cephalosphaera gymne sp.n., C. immodica sp.n. C. wauensis sp.n., Cephalops bifidus sp.n., C. multidenticulatus sp.n., C. papuaensis sp.n., and C. parmatus sp.n. Cephalops argutus (Hardy) is considered as a true Beckerias sp. and thus placed in a new combination: Beckerias argutus. The phylogenetic relationship of the new species is shortly discussed.     

Description of new species of the genus Ctenochira Förster, 1855 (hymenoptera,ichneumonidae: Tryphoninae) from the Eurasian Subarctic subzone and Siberia,with remarks on the Ichneumonid fauna of the Chukchi Peninsula

13 new species of Ctenochira (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Tryphoninae) from the Eurasian Subarctic subzone and Siberia are described: C. albosignata sp. n., C. anabar sp. n., C. epipleuralis sp. n., C. gracilicornis sp. n., C. hyperborea sp. n., C. kerzhneri sp. n., C. laticauda sp. n., C. minuta sp. n., C. nigronitens sp. n., C. pallistigma sp. n., C. tixi sp. n., C. trochanterata sp. n., and C. uzon sp. n. A key to the Subarctic and northern Siberian species is given. Quantitative occurrence of different ichneumonid subfamilies in the Subarctic subzone is considered based on analysis of 827 specimens of ichneumonids collected in yellow plates in the Chukchi Autonomous Area in July 2012. Idiobiont (polyphagous) subfamilies (36.5%): Cryptinae, 294 spms. (35.5%); Pimplinae, 8 (1%). Koinobiont parasitoids, 10 subfamilies (63.5%): parasitoids of Symphyta, 313 spms. (37.9%): Tryphoninae, 225 (27.2%); Adelognathinae, 14 (1.7%); Ctenopelmatinae, 59 (7.2%); Campopleginae (Olesicampe; Lathrostizus), 15 (1.8%); parasitoids of Diptera, 169 spms. (20.5%): Diplazontinae, 8 (1%); Orthocentrinae s. l., 161 (19.5%); parasitoids of Lepidoptera, 29 spms. (3.5%): Campopleginae (part), 18 (2.2%) (Campoletis; Hyposoter; Tranosema; Diadegma; etc.); Ichneumoninae, 2 (0.2%); Banchinae, 3 (0.4%) (Glypta; Lissonota); Metopiinae, 6 (0.7%) (Exochus); parasitoids of Coleoptera (0.3%): Tersilochinae, 3 spms. (Barycnemis); hyperparasitoids (1.3%): Mesochorinae, 11 spms.     

Fern sporophagy in Coleoptera from the Juan Fernandez Islands,Chile, with descriptions of two new genera in Cryptophagidae and Mycetophagidae

Abstract. Fern sporophagy is reported in species of Cryptophagidae, Mycetophagidae and Anthribidae occurring on the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile. The following taxa are described and/or discussed: Cryptophagidae: Cryptothelypterus gen.n., with five species: C.obrieni sp.n., C.pteropilosus sp.n., C.selkirki (Bruce) comb.n., C.skottsbergi (Bruce) comb.n., and C.splendens (Bruce) comb.n.; Mycetophagidae: Filicivora gen.n., with one species, F.chilensis (Philippi & Philippi) comb.n.; and Anthribidae: Opisolia lenis Jordan. A key to the species of Cryptothelypterus is provided. Convergent adaptations for fern sporophagy in these groups are discussed, hypotheses are given for the evolution of this habit, and comments are made on wing atrophy.     

New Carboniferous brachiopod genera from Huai Bun Nak,North-east Thailand

Five new genera and species are described from brown silty mudstone near Huai Bun Nak, north-east Thailand. New taxa areProrugaria thailandica n. gen., n. sp. (Family Rugosochonetidae);Tuberculatella tubertella n.gen., n.sp. (Family Overtoniidae);Minispina alata n.gen., n.sp. (Family Marginiferidae);Aspinosella sinauris n.gen., n.sp. (Family Retariidae) andMucrospiriferinella undulosa n.gen., n.sp. (Family Xestotrematidae). The age is considered to be younger Carboniferous.     

Two New Species of the Genus Plectrocnemia Stephens (Trichoptera: Polycentropodidae) from the Russian Far East

Two new species of the genus Plectrocnemia Stephens, Plectrocnemia levanidovae, sp. n., from Sakhalin Island and the southern Kuril Islands, and Plectrocnemia martynovae, sp. n., from southern Primorye, are described and illustrated. The new species belong to the P. tortosa Group and are the sister species of P. tortosa Banks, from China, and P. appensata Mey, from Vietnam.