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Two new species of Cryptocephalus Geoffroy (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) are described and illustrated from fossil resin: Cryptocephalus groehni sp. nov. (Baltic amber) and Cryptocephalus kheelorum sp. nov. (Dominican amber). These are the first described species of Cryptocephalinae from fossil resin. These new fossil species may serve with taxonomic certainty as calibration points in divergence dating estimates.
The status of members of the genus Triozocera occurring in the United States has been inconsistent throughout most of the last century. The first Triozocera species named was T. mexicana from Vera Cruz, Mexico and afterwards most specimens found in the United States were placed in that species. Triozocera texana was the first new species named from the United States but its status has been uncertain, often being considered a synonym of T. mexicana. With the availability of more specimens, it is clear that T. texana should be considered a valid species. In the United States, there is specimen-based evidence that Triozocera is represented by T. texana and T. vernalis but T. mexicana might not occur in the United States. These data leave the only Triozocera host association in the New World in doubt.
Vanduzea segmentata, a membracid of the smiliine tribe Amastrini, was known only from the western United States and Mexico until it was reported from Louisiana in the 1930s. A collection in the Florida Panhandle in 1954 represented the first record east of the Mississippi River; the first record from peninsular Florida was 2001. The membracid has remained known in southeastern states only from Florida and Louisiana, with scant data available on its bionomics. We give the first records of V. segmentata from Alabama and Georgia, noting features that distinguish it from other species of Vanduzea in the Southeast, and review its previously published U.S. distribution and plant associations. We found nymphs and adults mainly on mimosa, or silk tree (Albizia julibrissin Durazz.; Fabaceae), but other fabaceous species and composites (Asteraceae) also were hosts. Periodic sampling of mimosa in southeastern Georgia indicated that the membracid is trivoltine, with overwintered eggs beginning to hatch in mid-March and first-generation adults appearing by late April. Early instars of the first generation fed initially on buds and later on unfolded leaflets and young stems. Nymphs of following generations also fed on vegetative parts and on surfaces of green fruits (pods) and peduncles (stalks) of brown pods. Adults, and in some years nymphs, were present until late November. Vanduzea segmentata primarily was tended by the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr). On mimosa, it was typically found in small aggregations of 2–6 individuals, although considerably larger aggregations can be found on herbaceous hosts. The membracid's eastern range expansion might have been facilitated by the abundance of mimosa and other adventive plants with extrafloral nectaries, and the presence of L. humile, a South American ant that establishes mutualisms with honeydew-producing hemipterans and might be more efficient at protecting them from predators and competitors than are native ants.
The new blissid genus Wheelerodemus is described to accommodate the new species W. muhlenbergiae, based on specimens collected on the grasses Muhlenbergia lindheimeri and M. reverchonii from the Arbuckle Mountains in southcentral Oklahoma and the Edward's Plateau in westcentral Texas. Because the size of specimens from Oklahoma appeared consistently smaller than those from Texas, samples from each area were sequenced using the COI barcode region to help determine that only one variable species was involved. Diagnoses, descriptions, a color habitus illustration of the adult male, dorsal and lateral photographs of the adult male and female, photomicrographs of selected structures, illustrations of male and female genitalia, and a key to the U.S. blissid genera are provided to help distinguish this new genus and species from other Blissidae.
The new species Theocolax americanus McEwen, n. sp. (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae, Cerocephalinae), is described from the United States of America. A description is provided with a diagnosis and comparison to similar species. A key to differentiate the Theocolax species recorded in the USA is included and notes given on new morphological features. Theocolax americanus is thought to attack the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis Blackman), which transmits thousand cankers disease. Sequencing of CO1 for the new species, other Theocolax species found in the U.S.A., Neocalosoter pityphthori Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae, Cerocephalinae), and P. juglandis is reported.
Sphacophilus monjarasi Smith and Morales-Reyes, n. sp., is described from Chiapas, Mexico. Larvae feed on chipilin, Crotalaria longirostrata Hook. & Am. (Fabaceae), an agricultural crop in Mexico and Central America.
Two new species of Torodora (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera, Gelechioidea, Lecithoceridae) are described from Taiwan, i.e., T. meifengensis Park, sp. nov., and T. parasciadosa Park, sp. nov., and two additional species are reported from Taiwan for the first time, i.e., T. frustrans (Diakonoff, 1952) and T. flavescensGozmány, 1978. The female of T. frustrans, described from males collected in Myanmar, is described and illustrated for the first time. Adults, labial palpi, venation, genitalia, and abdominal tergites of the species are illustrated.
Five sootywing species are found in North America: Pholisora catullus (Fabricius), P. mejicana (Reakirt), Hesperopsis libya (Scudder), H. alpheus (W. H. Edwards), and H. gracielae (MacNeill). However, the specific status of the latter two is unclear with some authorities giving them only subspecies status. We examined relationships between the three Hesperopsis spp. and Pholisora catullus using DNA sequences of two mitochondrial (COI and COII) and two conserved nuclear (28S and EF1α) genes. Maximum likelihood analyses based on the concatenated sequences confirmed that H. alpheus and H. gracielae are very closely related. Although there were seven fixed differences, average divergence in the twomitochondrial loci was wellwithin that normally expected within a species. However, corroborative fixed differences in the two nuclear genes provide very strong support for H. alpheus and H. gracielae being distinct species.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to examine the external morphology of the head, legs, and postabdomen of adults of the Nearctic snailkilling fly Sepedon fuscipennis Loew (Diptera: Sciomyzidae). For both sexes, details are provided of the sensilla on the antenna, which has three sacculi on the first flagellomere. The number and arrangement of mechanosensilla on the aristae show sexual dimorphism. The black parafrontal spots are covered with microtrichia. Interfacetal mechanoreceptors were not numerous on the compound eyes, indication that sciomyzids are not major pollinators. Labellar hooks are evident in both sexes. A discussion is provided of various proposed functions. The shape of the head, especially the concave area housing the retractedmouthparts, suggests a novel explanation for the absence of a ptilinum in the genus Sepedon Latreille.
Chlorochroa (Rhytidolomia) belfragii (Stål, 1872) and C. (R.) faceta (Say, 1825) are infrequently collected pentatomine stink bugs. They have been assumed to be grass feeders, but specific hosts in the Poaceae were unknown. During fieldwork (North Dakota to Oklahoma) from 2011 to 2014, nymphs and adults of C. belfragii were taken on a chloridoid grass, prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link), in saline wetlands. Chlorochroa faceta developed on another chloridoid, saltgrass (Distichlis spicata [L.] Greene), and was syntopic with C. belfragii in four saline wetlands in eastern Nebraska. Oklahoma is a new state record for C. faceta. Fieldwork and historical collection records indicate that both pentatomids are found mainly in inland saline communities. Because C. belfragii can be found in and under cordgrass leaf litter, the bug seldom can be collected by sweeping, which probably accounts for the small numbers of specimens in museum collections. Chlorochroa faceta can be collected by sweeping saltgrass when stems of this sod former mostly are erect rather than reclining (matforming). Color images of the fifth instar and adult of both pentatomids are provided.
Little is known about the life history of derbid planthoppers, some of which have been implicated as potential vectors of phytoplasmas. Among species of Cedusa, only the nymph and nymphal habitat of C. inflata (Ball) is currently known. Here we report fifth-instar nymphs of Cedusa hedusa McAtee, subsequently reared to adult, collected from mats of the moss Polytrichum commune Hedw. (Bryophyta: Polytrichaceae) in Alabama. We describe and illustrate the fifth instar and provide information on the nymphal habitat. Additional study is needed to determine if nymphs of C. hedusa feed on fungi within mats of P. commune or the moss itself, as well as oviposition sites and feeding preferences of the adults.
Prosimulium anatoliensenew species from western Turkey is described based on the larva, pupa, male, female, and polytene chromosomes. Unique among all known Prosimulium species is the combination of 16 splayed filaments of the pupal gill and the configuration of the teeth of the larval hypostoma. Prosimuliumanatoliense is chromosomally unique among Prosimulium species worldwide, but is most closely related to P. hirtipes (Fries) and P. tomosvaryi (Enderlein).
The eucoiline genus Steleucoela Kieffer is redescribed and illustrated, as well as the two species S. brasiliensis Diaz and S. piriformis Kieffer. Updated distribution data are provided, and include the new country records from Colombia and Costa Rica for S. piriformis. DNA sequence data are here combined with a morphological phylogenetic matrix to examine the phylogenetic placement of Stelecuoela. While morphologically rather apomorphic, Stelecuoela was recovered nested within Ganaspini. This study is a product of the NESH Project of Espírito Santo, and we discuss the future of Hymenoptera taxonomy within the state.
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