Cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the genus Karos Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944 (Opiliones,Laniatores, Stygnopsidae)

A cladistic analysis of the genus Karos Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944, was performed using morphological data of the somatic and male genitalia characters. The analysis included 23 terminal taxa, including nine of the 11 described species of the genus plus nine new species according to the previous generic diagnosis and five species as outgroups. According to the topologies obtained by parsimony analyses, the genus is a paraphyletic assemblage, referred here as the Karos genus‐group. Therefore, the genus Karos is rediagnosed here and now includes seven species: Karos barbarikos Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944 (type), Karos parvus Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971, Karos projectus Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971, K aros hexasetosus sp. nov. , K aros monjarazi sp. nov. , K aros singularis sp. nov. , and K aros tersum sp. nov. The genera Monterella Goodnight & Goodnight, 1944, Montabunus Goodnight & Goodnight, 1945, Chapulobunus Goodnight & Goodnight, 1946, and Potosa Goodnight & Goodnight, 1947 are revalidated, rediagnosed, their respective type species are redescribed and the following species are described: Chapulobunus poblano sp. nov. and Potosa reddelli sp. nov. The genera Crettaros gen. nov. , Huasteca gen. nov. , and Mictlana gen. nov. , and the following species are described: Crettaros santibanezi sp. nov. (type), Crettaros valdezi sp. nov. , and Huasteca silhavyi sp. nov. The following new combinations are proposed: Huasteca gratiosa (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971) comb. nov. (type), Huasteca rugosa (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971) comb. nov. and Mictlana inops (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971) comb. nov. (type). Karos brignolii ?ilhavý, 1974, is considered a junior synonym of Huasteca rugosa. Finally, ‘Karos’ depressus Goodnight & Goodnight, 1971 is considered incertae sedis until adult males can be studied. Diagnoses of the Karos and Paramitraceras genus‐groups, and an identification key to the eight genera and 19 species of the former are provided. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London     

Evaluating summary statistics used to test for incomplete lineage sorting: mito‐nuclear discordance in the reef sponge Callyspongia vaginalis

Conflicting patterns of population differentiation between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes (mito‐nuclear discordance) have become increasingly evident as multilocus data sets have become easier to generate. Incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) of nucDNA is often implicated as the cause of such discordance, stemming from the large effective population size of nucDNA relative to mtDNA. However, selection, sex‐biased dispersal and historical demography can also lead to mito‐nuclear discordance. Here, we compare patterns of genetic diversity and subdivision for six nuclear protein‐coding gene regions to those for mtDNA in a common Caribbean coral reef sponge, Callyspongia vaginalis, along the Florida reef tract. We also evaluated a suite of summary statistics to determine which are effective metrics for comparing empirical and simulated data when testing drivers of mito‐nuclear discordance in a statistical framework. While earlier work revealed three divergent and geographically subdivided mtDNACOI haplotypes separated by 2.4% sequence divergence, nuclear alleles were admixed with respect to mitochondrial clade and geography. Bayesian analysis showed that substitution rates for the nuclear loci were up to 7 times faster than for mitochondrial COI. Coalescent simulations and neutrality tests suggested that mito‐nuclear discordance in C. vaginalis is not the result of ILS in the nucDNA or selection on the mtDNA but is more likely caused by changes in population size. Sperm‐mediated gene flow may also influence patterns of population subdivision in the nucDNA.     

Morphological identification of Lucilia sericata,Lucilia cuprina and their hybrids (Diptera,Calliphoridae)

Hybrids of Lucilia sericata and Lucilia cuprina have been shown to exist in previous studies using molecular methods, but no study has shown explicitly that these hybrids can be identified morphologically. Published morphological characters used to identify L. sericata and L. cuprina were reviewed, and then scored and tested using specimens of both species and known hybrids. Ordination by multi-dimensional scaling indicated that the species were separable, and that hybrids resembled L. cuprina, whatever their origin. Discriminant function analysis of the characters successfully separated the specimens into three unambiguous groups – L. sericata, L. cuprina and hybrids. The hybrids were morphologically similar irrespective of whether they were from an ancient introgressed lineage or more modern. This is the first evidence that hybrids of these two species can be identified from their morphology. The usefulness of the morphological characters is also discussed and photographs of several characters are included to facilitate their assessment.     

Identification of the terebrantian thrips (Insecta,Thysanoptera) associated with cultivated plants?in?Java,Indonesia

An illustrated identification key is provided to 49 species of Thysanoptera, Terebrantia that have been found in association with cultivated plants in Java. This is the first published identification system to this group of insects from Indonesia, and includes 15 species not previously recorded from Indonesia, and a further three species not previously recorded from Java. A table is provided indicating the plants from which thrips were taken.     

多道检索表的研究进展

在没有利用计算机技术之前, 多道检索表停留在“穿孔卡”检索表形式, 目前, 在计算机辅助下的多道检索表已很快发展出多种检索系统, 如DELTA、Lucid和NaviKey等。本文主要比较了在国内外影响较大的6种多道检索系统在体系结构、用户界面、数据库和检索策略等方面的异同, 并从性状选取自由、容错度、模糊表达、数值型性状、最佳检索性状、保留性状未知的分类群以及检索特征等7个方面对检索策略进行了深入分析。鉴于多道检索表存在多种异名, 不便于研究交流, 我们建议使用“Multi-access keys”作为正式名称。最后本文就多道检索表的发展趋势提出了展望。     

多道检索表的研究进展

在没有利用计算机技术之前,多道检索表停留在“穿孔卡”检索表形式,目前,在计算机辅助下的多道检索表已很快发展出多种检索系统,如DELTA、Lucid和NaviKey等。本文主要比较了在国内外影响较大的6种多道检索系统在体系结构、用户界面、数据库和检索策略等方面的异同,并从性状选取自由、容错度、模糊表达、数值型性状、最佳检索性状、保留性状未知的分类群以及检索特征等7个方面对检索策略进行了深入分析。鉴于多道检索表存在多种异名,不便于研究交流,我们建议使用“Multi access keys”作为正式名称。最后本文就多道检索表的发展趋势提出了展望。     

Vegetative Identification of Tropical Woody Plants: State of the Art and Annotated Bibliography1

This annotated bibliography is provided in order to assess the achievements and gaps in the literature on vegetative identification of woody plants in the tropics. The bibliography includes 258 references divided into general references (48), pantropical and multi‐continental keys (4), Africa (46), Asia (53), Australia and New Guinea (21), and the Neotropics (86). Vegetative keys are not easy shortcuts to the identification of woody tropical plants to species. Identification of sterile material requires as much, if not more, training as that required for using keys that emphasize floral and fruit characters. Nevertheless, the literature surveyed in this bibliography may be helpful to biologists seeking references for the geographic region in which they work, models for the construction of vegetative keys and field guides, and/or the types of characters that should be observed in the field.     

烟粉虱寄生蜂辅助鉴定系统的研究

介绍了一种基于Web的烟粉虱[Bemisia tabaci(Gennadius)]寄生蜂辅助鉴定系统。该系统属于多路径存取检索方式,不仅提供各特征及其性状的文字描述,同时还提供各个特征对剩余物种的鉴别效力排名,以及各性状的相关图片,供用户参考。     

Revision of the Neotropical Scleropactidae (Crustacea: Oniscidea)

The species of Scleropactidae from America are revised and redescribed. A phylogeny hypothesis based on an analysis of morphological characters is presented. The genera are redefined and the generic placement of several species is corrected. The Neotropical Scleropactidae include Colomboscia , Scleropactes , Circoniscus , Neosanfilippia , Sphaeroniscus , Richardsoniscus , Spherarmadillo , Colomboniscus , Amazoniscus and Protosphaeroniscus . The genus Chileoniscus is excluded from the Scleropactidae. Sphaerobathytropa is excluded from the Scleropactidae and its previous record from Argentina is revealed to be erroneous. Synuropus is revalidated and excluded from the Scleropactidae. The following new genera are introduced: Scleropactoides gen. nov. , Globopactes gen. nov. , Caecopactes gen. nov. , and Troglopactes gen. nov. Thirteen species are described as new: Caecopactes minimus sp. nov. , Colomboscia parva sp. nov. , Globopactes falconensis sp. nov. , Globopactes hispidus sp. nov. , Globopactes meridae sp. nov. , Scleropactes cotopaxii sp. nov. , Scleropactes ecuadoriensis sp. nov. , Scleropactes pululahua sp. nov. , Scleropactoides curvatus sp. nov. , Circoniscus hirsutus sp. nov. , Sphaeroniscus quintus sp. nov. , Spherarmadillo nebulosus sp. nov. , and Chileoniscus armadillidioides sp. nov. Identification keys to all species are provided.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 151 (Suppl. 1), 1–339.     

A microhistological survey on the trees of a relict subtropical laurel forest from the Macaronesian Islands as a base for assessing vertebrate plant diet

A microhistological collection and its respective key on the leaves and fleshy fruits produced by the mostly endemic trees that integrate the relict laurel forest in the Macaronesian Islands are presented. Epidermal tissues from the adaxial and abaxial surfaces of leaves and fruits of 23 species were extracted by scraping and prepared on individual microscope slides. An optical microscope with a camera lucida fixed at magnifications of ×400 was used to analyse and to draw the morphological traits of epidermal tissues to the same scale. Furthermore, quantitative data for those congeneric species were also obtained by using an image analysis program system. The results indicate that this microhistological method permits the differentiation of practically all species of trees present in the Macaronesian laurel forest. Furthermore, most species belonging to the same taxa (genus or family) show a general common pattern in the morphology of the different epidermal traits. Lastly, despite the effort that constitutes the preparation of plant microhistological collections of a determined ecosystem, it is of basic importance because it makes possible the performance of feeding ecological studies of several herbivorous and frugivorous vertebrate species. These results provide crucial information that elucidates the functioning of the food web and energetic flux dynamics of the Macaronesian laurel forest ecosystem.  © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2005, 148 , 409–426.     

Review of subtribe Pterellina Rohdendorf, 1967 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) of Middle East with descriptions of twelve new species

Summary

Based on a revision of large recent collections housed at the Natural History Museum (London), Tel Aviv University and in the private collection of Yu. Verves and L. Khrokalo (Kyiv, Ukraine), new distributional data and an updated list with comments of 28 species of Middle Eastern Sarcophagidae of the subtribe Pterellina are presented. Seventeen of them are recorded for Israel, 11 for Egypt, four for Iran, two each for the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and one each for Jordan and the UAE. No data are known for the territories of Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria and Yemen. Twelve species new to science are described, including nine from Israel (Chaetapodacra montana n. sp., Eremasiomyia bicolor n. sp., E. deserta n. sp., E. fuscata n. sp., Protomiltogramma bidentata n. sp., P. serrata n. sp., Pterella hermonica n. sp., P. indigens n. sp., P. zefatica n. sp.), two from Egypt (Chaetapodacra griseola n. sp., Eremasiomyia alba n. sp.) and one from Saudi Arabia (Protomiltogramma arabica n. sp.). The male of Eremasiomyia nigra Rohdendorf, 1935 is described for the first time. One new combination of specific name is proposed ? Protomiltogramma immunita (Villeneuve, 1923), n. comb. Original keys for the identification of genera and species are proposed. An annotated list of all world genera and species and compiled data on larval habits of Pterellina are included.     

Morphology of three species of Crotonioidea Thorel, 1876 (Acari: Oribatida), and relations between some genera

The morphology of juveniles of Archegozetes longisetosus Aoki, 1965 (Trhypochthoniidae), and two members of Malaconothridae, Trimalaconothrus angulatus Willmann, 1931, and Malaconothrus monodactylus (Michael, 1888) is described and illustrated, and the tritonymph of A. longisetosus and all juvenile stages of T. angulatus are described and illustrated for the first time. The juveniles of these species differ mainly by the presence of setae f₂ and h₃ in the larva, seta exs and pattern of cuticle in the nymphs, and some setal formulae. Based on the morphology of juvenile stages and adults, the relationship between Malaconothridae and Trhypochthoniidae is discussed, and keys to the larvae and nymphs of some European species of these families are presented.