Sampling Rhyparida nitida Clark (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and symptoms of their damage on sugarcane

Sampling statistics were determined for larvae, pupae and adults of the chrysomelid Rhyparida nitida associated with sugarcane in Australia and for symptoms of their damage. Iwao's patchiness regression was inappropriate for modelling the mean–variance relationships of the insect counts. Taylor's power law was used to model these data and relationships were developed for counts of small, medium and large larvae, all larvae combined, pupae and adults. The mean–variance relationships of counts of live shoots and shoots killed by larvae of R. nitida were modelled using Iwao's patchiness regression; Taylor's power law was not appropriate to either data set. Relationships to determine sample sizes for fixed levels of precision and fixed-precision-level stop lines for sequential sampling of the different stages and live and dead shoots were also developed. Neither the ln(x + 1) transformation nor the Healy and Taylor transformation consistently standardised the mean–variance relationships of insect counts and the appropriate transformation should be selected on a case-by-case basis. Counts of both live and dead shoots were adequately transformed by the Iwao and Kuno transformation.     

A primitive eubrachythoracid arthrodire from Gogo, Western Australia

A new eubrachythoracid arthrodire, Hanytoombsia elegans gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Upper Devonian Gogo formation of Western Australia. Its structure and relationships are discussed within the framework provided by a new sketch cladogram for arthrodires. H. elegans is morphologically similar to Coccosteus cuspidatus , but its relationships among primitive eubrachythoracids are unknown.     

A second eubrachythoracid arthrodire from Gogo, Western Australia

A new genus of long-snouted, eubrachythoracid arthrodire, Camuropiscis gen. nov., is described from the Upper Devonian Gogo formation of Western Australia. It is represented by two species, the type C. concinnus sp. nov. and C. laidlawi sp. nov. These species are interchangeable with Coccosteus spp. in a sketch cladograin for arthrodires; their phylogenetic relationships are not known in any detail. C. concinnus has a well-preserved pelvic girdle and throws new light on the structure of this element in arthrodires.     

Corrigendum: Renaming of Kimberia Dennis-Bryan & Miles, 1983

Mr Neville Pledge, Curator of Fossils at the South Australian Museum, has informed us that the name Kimberia which we used to describe a new genus of arthrodire from Gogo (Dennis-Bryan & Miles, 1983) is preoccupied by a gastropod. This was described by Cotton & Woods (1935) as a subgenus of Turritella Lamarck, the type species being Turritella (Kimberia) kimberi. We therefore propose to substitute the name Kimberleyichthys gen. nov. for the arthrodire.