Cyclocephala ignota Ratcliffe and Seidel is described as a new species from Bolivia. A description, diagnosis for distinguishing the species, illustrations, and a distribution map are provided. The new species is morphologically bizarre compared to most other Cyclocephala Dejean, 1821 species because of its dorsoventrally depressed body shape and dense pilosity.

Three beetle families, Sphindidae Jacquelin du Val, Corylophidae LeConte and Latridiidae Erichson, are documented as part of the “Beetles of Peru” project. The checklists are based on fieldwork in Peru, museum specimens, and published literature. Three sphindid genera are indicated as new country records.

The eight species of dynastine scarab beetles that occur in Chile are reviewed. Keys, descriptions, geographic distributions, monthly adult activity, notes on natural history, illustrations, and distribution maps are provided for all species. The erroneous records of 16 dynastine species reported from Chile are reviewed and clarified. The monotypic genus Chiliphileurus Endrödi, 1977 is reduced to junior synonymy with Eophileurus Arrow, 1908, and its only species, Chiliphileurus tuberculatus Endrödi, 1977, follows as a new junior synonym of the Asian Eophileurus cingalensis Arrow, 1908.

Cyclocephala vulcanorum is described as a new species from the Refugio Los Volcanes in Santa Cruz de la Sierra Department in Bolivia. A description, a diagnosis separating the new species from similar species, illustrations, and a distribution map are provided.

Review of: Household Economy at Wall Ridge: A Fourteenth-Century Central Plains Farmstead in the Missouri Valley, edited by Stephen C. Lensink, Joseph A. Tiffany, and Shirley J. Schermer.

ABSTRACT Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the megadiversity of angiosperms and insects. Flowers and their pollinators represent the most common terrestrial mutualistic interaction today and this is thought to have driven the evolution of angiosperms and their visitors. Within the framework of that interaction, this paper develops and tests two new hypotheses: 1) megadiversity of canopy beetles in tropical rainforests is largely based on flower resources, and 2) the majority of adult canopy beetles are adapted to visit flowers. To test hypothesis 1, the beetle fauna associated with 23 canopy tree species (13 families, 45 individuals) in a 1.4 ha canopy plot of pristine lowland tropical rainforest in southern Venezuela was studied over one year. In total, 6698 adult beetles were collected and identified to 859 species in 44 families. Of these 859 species, 647 species (75.3%) were found with at least one individual on flowering trees, and 527 species (61.4%) were associated exclusively with flowering trees. The proportion of beetle species visiting exclusively small white flowers of the morphological generalist syndrome amounts to 36.6% of the entire canopy beetle community. Based on these findings, the second hypothesis was formulated that canopy beetles are specially adapted flower visitors. To test hypothesis 2, a sub-set study was conducted of the beetles visiting flowers of one tree species in the canopy plot, Hymenopus heteromorphus (Benth.) Sothers and Prance (Chrysobalanaceae). This is a mass-flowering tree with white flowers of a generalised morphology. A total of 440 adult beetles were collected in 20 days and identified to 138 species in 54 genera in 23 families. This assemblage was restricted to the flowering season of this tree. Data collected for H. heteromorphus and other mass-flowering tree species in the same plot indicates that a particular combination of flowering characteristics – massively flowering, white colour, and generalised morphology – attracts the highest diversity of beetles. These findings together suggest that the enormous diversity of canopy beetles in Amazonian tropical rainforests is due mainly to flowers and that mass-flowering trees with small white flowers of the generalist syndrome play a particularly crucial role in assembly and nourishment of this megadiverse beetle community.

The six genera of Agaocephalini in Colombia are distinguished in a dichotomous key and illustrated. Lycomedes enigmaticus Neita-Moreno and Ratcliffe, new species, is described and differentiated by character comparisons with other previously known Colombian species. Lycomedes lydiaeArnaud, 2012 is proposed as a new junior synonym of Lycomedes reichei Breme, 1844.

Background: A commercial aircraft operated by DANA Air crashed just outside the Lagos International Airport, Nigeria, killing a total of at least 150 people. The crash was accompanied by a fire outbreak. There were no survivors. There is a consideration that some victims might have survived for some time and consequently suffered agonal pain. Materials and Methods: Postmortem examination for the purpose of disaster victim identification, and determination of the cause of death was carried out for the first time in the country. Part of the mass disaster investigation entailed toxicological studies conducted on bodies that were fairly well preserved, and where body fluids were available. A total of 148 victims were positively identified and toxicological samples could only be obtained from 82 of them, comprising the blood, urine, vitreous, and marrow. One hundred and twenty-one samples were collected and of this, only 74 were sufficient for analysis. Results: Toxicology revealed postmortem endogenous alcohol production in 30 victims. Although 27 victims showed morphological features suggestive of carbon monoxide poisoning, only 4 revealed significantly elevated levels of carboxyhemoglobin saturation. Discussion: Some of the victims were apparently alive for some time in the fire that followed the crash, and probably suffered pain during this agonal period. This paper discusses the relevant aspects of personal injury claims and further damages under the Montreal Convention as it relates to possible pain and suffering. Conclusion: The authors opine that the next-of-kin of the victims might be entitled to some compensation based on agonal pain and other loses.