Revision Of Genus Research Articles

Global macroecological patterns in host plant associations of Cryptocephalinae case-bearer leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Abstract The aim of our work is to catalogue host plant records of the leaf beetle subfamily Cryptocephalinae at the global scale and use it as the foundation to analyse host plant relationships, one proposed key driver in the evolution of phytophagan hyperdiversity. We describe macro-scale host association patterns and assess the trophic range of Cryptocephalinae at the generic level. We assembled 532 sources and extracted 14 253 host plant records (1894 species of plants) for 1436 species of Cryptocephalinae. The results revealed that most genera of Cryptocephalinae are either polyphagous or strongly polyphagous, yet the five tribes exhibit intrinsic patterns of host association. Clear macroecological constraints exist for Cryptocephalinae within major lineages of plants. Polyphagy is also maintained for most of the documented juvenile stages and the 19 genera with myrmecophilous species. The most common host plants for Cryptocephalinae are eudicots, especially among the rosids the order Fabales has the most records, and Asterales, Fagales, Malpighiales, Myrtales, Rosales, and Sapindales are common hosts within all Cryptocephalinae tribes. Our meta-analysis approach and assessing the quality of host plant records permit detection of patterns in host association at the global scale and allows detection of all levels of plant–beetle interactions, from unlikely hosts to potential or real feeders. Our criteria for assessing host plant records and our working model can be applied to other chrysomelid subfamilies and phytophagous insects. The analysis of macroecological patterns and host checklist provide a basis for generic revisions and hypothesis construction in future ecological, molecular, and morphological studies.

Species richness estimation of the Afrotropical Darwin wasps (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae).

Species richness is one of the fundamental metrics of biodiversity. Estimating species richness helps spotlight taxonomic groups that are particularly under-studied, such as the highly diverse Darwin wasps. The only available estimate of the number of Darwin wasps in the Afrotropics proposed almost 11,000 species, compared to the 2,322 recorded species. However, it relied exclusively on the ratio of morphospecies to described species in Henry Townes' personal collection. We provide an updated estimate of the Afrotropical Darwin wasp species, using empirical data from multiple sources, including the increase in species numbers following generic revisions, morphospecies sorting in natural history collections, and diversity patterns of better-studied insects (butterflies) for extrapolation. Our analyses suggest that our knowledge of Darwin wasps is highly incomplete, with only 13-22% of species known in the five most extensively studied countries in the Afrotropics. We estimate 9,206-15,577 species of Darwin wasps within the entire Afrotropics, with the highest concentration expected in the Equatorial Afrotropics and Madagascar. Due to data constraints, our approach tends to underestimate diversity at each step, rendering the upper estimate (15,577 species) more realistic. We highlight reasons contributing to the gap between recorded and estimated species richness, including logistical and financial factors, as well as post-colonial influences.

Review of New Zealand Coastal Talitroids with description of three new genera (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Senticaudata).

A generic revision is provided for the New Zealand coastal talitroids, which reports two families, seven genera and thirteen species. Three new genera are described: Aotearorchestia gen. nov.; Subantarctorchestia gen. nov.; and Tatahipeke gen. nov. to accommodate seven known species, A. chathamensis (Hurley, 1956) comb. nov.; A. telluris (Spence Bate, 1862) comb. nov.; S. aucklandiae (Spence Bate, 1862) comb. nov.; S. bollonsi (Chilton, 1909) comb. nov.; Tatahipeke cookii (Filhol, 1885) comb. nov.; T. kirki (Hurley, 1956) comb. nov.; and T. tumida (G.M. Thomson, 1885) comb. nov. The three genera, Bellorchestia Serejo & Lowry, 2008, Protorchestia Bousfield 1982 and Transorchestia Bousfield, 1982 are revised to include additional information on morphology, growth stages and distributions for three New Zealand species: Bellorchestia quoyana (Milne Edwards, 1840); Transorchestia miranda (Chilton, 1916); and Trans. serrulata (Dana, 1852a). Lastly, a small commentary is given on four species of coastal talitroids where additional museum collections could not be located for study, B. spadix (Hurley, 1956), Pictonorchestia dentata (Filhol, 1885), Protorchestia campbelliana (Bousfield, 1964), and T. kirki (Hurley, 1956) gen. et comb. nov. A dichotomous key and pictorial field guide are provided to all New Zealand coastal talitroids.

Lasiodiplodia: Generic revision by providing molecular markers, geographical distribution and haplotype diversity

Lasiodiplodia: Generic revision by providing molecular markers, geographical distribution and haplotype diversity

Robinson Crusoe After 300 Years, ed. Andreas K. E. Mueller and Glynis Ridley

<i>Robinson Crusoe After 300 Years</i>, ed. Andreas K. E. Mueller and Glynis Ridley

Molecular phylogenetics of the avian feather louse Philopterus-complex (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae)

The avian feather louse Philopterus-complex (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera: Philopteridae) currently contains 12 genera that have been grouped together because of shared morphological characteristics. Although previously lumped into a single genus (Philopterus), more recent morphological treatments have separated the group into several different genera. Here we evaluate the status of these genera using DNA sequence data from 118 ingroup specimens belonging to ten genera in the Philopterus-complex: Australophilopterus Mey, 2004, Cinclosomicola Mey 2004, Clayiella Eichler, 1940, Corcorides Mey, 2004, Mayriphilopterus Mey, 2004, Paraphilopterus Mey 2004, Philopteroides Mey 2004, Philopterus Nitzsch, 1818, Tyranniphilopterus Mey, 2004, and Vinceopterus Gustafsson, Lei, Chu, Zou, and Bush, 2019. Our sampling includes 97 new louse-host association records. Our analyses suggest that the genus Debeauxoecus Conci, 1941, parasitic on pittas (Aves: Pittidae), is outside of the Philopterus-complex, and that there is strong support for the monophyly of a group containing the remaining genera from the complex. Some diverse genera, such as Philopterus (sensu stricto) and Mayriphilopterus are supported as monophyletic, whereas the genera Australophilopterus, Philopteroides, and Tyranniphilopterus are not. The present study is the largest phylogenetic reconstruction of avian lice belonging to the Philopterus-complex to date and suggests that further generic revision is needed in the group to integrate molecular and morphological information.

Correction to: Generic revision of the species formerly belonging to the genus Carangoides and its related genera (Carangiformes: Carangidae)

Correction to: Generic revision of the species formerly belonging to the genus Carangoides and its related genera (Carangiformes: Carangidae)

Generic revision of the species formerly belonging to the genus Carangoides and its related genera (Carangiformes: Carangidae)

Generic revision of the species formerly belonging to the genus Carangoides and its related genera (Carangiformes: Carangidae)

El tiempo entre costuras : Gendered Vulnerability, Genre and Political Context

María Dueñas’ first novel, El tiempo entre costuras (2009), comprises two distinct parts: a first set during the Republic, within which the author reinscribes various features of the novela rosa; and a second which has the post-Civil War period as a backdrop, and wherein Dueñas reproduces key narrative tenets of the spy novel. My contention here is that Dueñas deploys these generic revisions to portray the different historical contexts in order to illustrate the variable gendered vulnerability experienced by her female characters in the shift from Republican democracy to dictatorship.

HBO’s Watchmen and Generic Revision in a Genre of Adaptation

As the screen superhero genre enters the revisionist phase of its evolution, its status as a genre overwhelmingly dependent on the adaptation of preexisting material provides a challenge to established models of generic revision. The faithful adaptation of a revisionist comic does not in itself constitute a revisionist film or series. HBO’s miniseries adaptation of Watchmen serves as an example of how, through a series of adaptational strategies, an adapted genre text can retain a reverence to its source material while also serving a revisionist function in its new medium.

Repeated parallel losses of inflexed stamens in Moraceae: Phylogenomics and generic revision of the tribe Moreae and the reinstatement of the tribe Olmedieae (Moraceae)

AbstractWe present a densely sampled phylogenomic study of the mulberry tribe (Moreae, Moraceae), an economically important clade with a global distribution, revealing multiple losses of inflexed stamens, a character traditionally used to circumscribe Moreae. Inflexed stamens facilitate ballistic pollen release and are associated with wind pollination, and the results presented here suggest that losses of this character state may have evolved repeatedly in Moraceae. Neither Moreae nor several of its major genera (Morus, Streblus, Trophis) were found to be monophyletic. A revised system for a monophyletic Moreae is presented, including the reinstatement of the genera Ampalis, Maillardia, Taxotrophis, and Paratrophis, and the recognition of the new genus Afromorus. Pseudostreblus is reinstated and transferred to the Parartocarpeae, and Sloetiopsis is reinstated and transferred to the Dorstenieae. The tribe Olmedieae is reinstated, replacing the Castilleae, owing to the reinstatement of the type Olmedia and its exclusion from Moreae. Streblus s.str. is excluded from Moreae and transferred to the Olmedieae, which is characterized primarily by involucrate inflorescences without regard to stamen position. Nine new combinations are made.

The limits of Quediini at last (Staphylinidae: Staphylininae): a rove beetle mega‐radiation resolved by comprehensive sampling and anchored phylogenomics

AbstractRove beetles of the tribe Quediini are abundant predators in humid microhabitats of forested, open, synanthropic or subterranean ecosystems, with just over 800 species distributed across the temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Previous molecular phylogenies included only a limited representation of this diversity but have already indicated that Quedius, containing the majority of Quediini species, is polyphyletic. Six genera, historically associated with Quediini but now Staphylininae incertae sedis, are known only from few pinned specimens and have never been sequenced. Recent synergy between target enrichment phylogenomics, low‐input sequencing of dry, pinned insect specimens and advances in alpha taxonomic knowledge have made comprehensive sampling of Quediini tractable. Here we developed a novel probe set specialized for anchored hybrid enrichment of 1229 single‐copy orthologous loci in Staphylinidae. In one of the largest target enrichment phylogenies of insects to‐date, we sequenced 201 ingroup taxa to clearly delimit monophyletic Quediini within Staphylininae and resolve relationships within this tribe, with 46% of sampled taxa derived from pinned specimens (0–45 years old). Maximum likelihood and coalescent phylogenetic analyses produced well‐resolved, congruent topologies that will serve as a framework for further exploration of this radiation and its necessary generic revision. The inclusion of nearly all remaining Staphylininae incertae sedis genera, all known only from pinned specimens, resulted in the creation of Quelaestrygonini Brunke, trib. n. and revised concepts for Cyrtoquediini and Indoquediini. Quediini was resolved as monophyletic with the transfer of Q. elevatus and Q. nigropolitus to other tribes but Quedius and its subgenera Microsaurus, Distichalius and Raphirus were shown to be para‐ or polyphyletic. Based on the results of our analyses, Velleiopsis Fairmaire, 1882 syn. n. and Megaquedius Casey, 1915 syn. n. are synonymized with Microsaurus Dejean, 1833 resulting in: Q. (Microsaurus) marginiventris (Fairmaire) comb. n., Q. (M.) varendorffi (Reitter) comb.n. Several species of Quedius were transferred from Microsaurus to Distichalius (Q. aethiops Smetana, Q. biann Smetana, Q. cingulatus Smetana and Q. taruni Smetana), Distichalius to Raphirus (Q. fagelianus Scheerpeltz) and Microsaurus to Raphirus (Q. mixtus Eppelsheim and Q. persicus Korge).

Robinson Crusoe after 300 Years ed. by Andreas K.E. Mueller and Glynis Ridley

Reviewed by: Robinson Crusoe after 300 Years ed. by Andreas K.E. Mueller and Glynis Ridley Laura J. Rosenthal Andreas K.E. Mueller and Glynis Ridley, eds. Robinson Crusoe after 300 Years. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 2021. 234pp. Although first published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe takes place in the Restoration and thus merits attention in this journal. This novel also, as Elizabeth Kraft points out in the current issue, has long spoken to many historical moments of isolation. As Andreas K.E. Mueller and Glynis Ridley’s excellent collection of essays celebrating the novel’s 300th anniversary shows, Defoe’s narrative has never stopped engaging readers and has worked its [End Page 91] way into Anglo-American culture in a surprising variety of ways. Essays in the collection by eleven scholars, both established and emerging, demonstrate how this intriguing novel continues to generate fresh interpretive possibilities. This collection of essays is a “must-have” for teaching and thinking about Defoe’s most famous novel. Robinson Crusoe after 300 Years opens with a section on “Generic Revisions,” in which Robinson becomes a Martian, a woman, and various animals. The Martian, a 2011 novel by Andy Weir and later (2015) a film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, seems so obviously to be an update of Robinson Crusoe that it comes as a surprise to learn in Glynis Ridley’s essay that Defoe did not, in particular, inspire Weir. Ridley nevertheless makes a good case for links between the narratives, particularly with the point that both share the pleasure of “competence porn” (13). Further, both texts focus on the strange experience of extreme isolation and fulfilling the basic human need for food (15). Both Watney and Robinson have to reinvent themselves as agrarians. Robinson is transformed “from a hunter-gatherer into a farmer, penning livestock in a stockade and laying aside corn in expectation of future harvests” (15), rocketing through two stages of Scottish Enlightenment conjectural history. Watney must also learn to farm but approaches his tasks with irony and humor missing in Defoe’s novel. Despite the lack of any influence understood by the author, the popularity of The Martian reveals the persisting fascination of Robinson Crusoe’s embedded narrative. Geoffrey Sill offers a fascinating history of Robinson Crusoe’s "transgendering," mainly in the 19th century. Like Peter Pan, Robinson was often played on stage in this era by an actress in burlesque versions of the novel. Sill provides photographs of, among others, the actress Lydia Thompson, whose portrayal of Robinson in hairy goatskin-like mini-dresses caused alarm in some quarters. One troubling photo shows a blackface Friday kneeling before Robinson as the actress holds a switch in one hand and points to heaven with the other. Thus even in the nineteenth century, Friday’s character was confused with a Black African and interpreted as a figure for plantation slavery. In “Animal Crusoes,” Amy Hicks and Scott Pyrz discuss the Robinson Crusoe story’s various forms in children’s literature. The authors argue that these depictions challenge the assumption that children will identify with animals. The animal Crusoes express fear of being consumed, which divides them from their child readers (although the authors seem to forget that Defoe's Robinson was afraid of being cannibalized). Unlike Defoe’s characters, thought, animal Robinson is often unaware of his danger. Part II turns to “Mind and Matter.” Here Laura Brown turns to things in Robinson Crusoe to develop “a methodology by activating these meanings in relation both to the material world or worlds of the ‘thing,’ on the one hand, and the imaginative realism of representation, texts, and literary traditions, on the other” (82). To accomplish this, she juxtaposes Defoe’s novel with Isaac Newton’s “Queries” to his Optics (1704). Together, these texts represent the early eighteenth century as “a key moment in the modern redefinition of things.” Brown shows how studying “things” has always been crucial to understanding this novel, noting how many critics, economists, and philosophers have been drawn to Robinson’s pottery. Through his theory of gravity, by which objects were understood to be drawn to each other, Newton similarly redefined the thing: with Newton...

Taxonomic Revision of two Neotropical Cleomaceae genera, Dactylaena and Haptocarpum

Abstract—We present a taxonomic revision of Dactylaena and Haptocarpum as part of a series of generic revisions and delimitation of Neotropical Cleomaceae. Two new species are described, Dactylaena boliviensis and D. zmarztyae, one new combination is made, D. monandra, four lectotypes are designated in Dactylaena, and a key to all species is presented. This is the first comprehensive revision of the now seven recognized species of Dactylaena and provides needed clarification of species boundaries, distributions, and diversity. Haptocarpum is maintained as a monotypic genus.

Generic revision of the Microhoriini with new species and synonymies from the Palaearctic Region (Coleoptera: Anthicidae)

Generic revision of the Microhoriini with new species and synonymies from the Palaearctic Region (Coleoptera: Anthicidae)

Generic revision of the Chiromyzinae soldier flies of Australia (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), including the first record of Boreoides Hardy, 1920, from New Zealand

AbstractWe review the generic limits and classification of the little studied Australian fauna of the soldier fly subfamily Chiromyzinae. Among chiromyzines are many species that are confirmed agricultural pests of sugar cane, maize and grasses, including Inopus rubriceps (Macquart, 1847) that has been introduced in New Zealand and the United States. A taxonomic treatment is provided for the genera that occur in Australia, including illustrations and the first robust identification key. Several nomenclatural changes are made. The monotypic genera Archimyza Enderlein, 1921, and Stenimas Enderlein, 1921, are synonymised under Chiromyza Wiedemann, 1820, and the status of four species is revised: Inopus grandicornis (Hardy, 1920a) comb. nov. and Inopus longicornis (Hardy, 1924) comb. nov. are transferred from their previous position in Chiromyza; and Chiromyza australis (Macquart, 1850) stat. rev. and Chiromyza matruelis (Enderlein, 1921) stat. rev. are transferred from their previous position in Hylorops Enderlein, 1921, rendering Hylorops a monotypic genus, endemic to Chile. A total of 13 genera are now recognised in the Chiromyzinae, with four genera and 18 described species known from Australia. We also present the first record for New Zealand of the Australian species Boreoides tasmaniensis Bezzi, 1922, which was most likely accidentally introduced.

Insights into 260 years of taxonomic research gained from the Catalogue of Afrotropical Bees

We analysed country-scale distribution records of solitary bees (i.e. excluding Apis mellifera) in countries in the Afrotropical Region, excluding the southern Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. Although different country estimates of bee species numbers can be explained by differences in climate, vegetation or topography, we concluded that the observed differences are mainly due to differences in sampling effort or taxonomic research intensity in different countries. We characterised three eras of bee taxonomy. The highest rate of species description per annum occurred during the first half of the 20th Century, before generic revisions were prevalent, and when the focus was on consolidating knowledge and developing identification keys. We also researched the locations of type specimens, which included all primary types and syntypes. Most types are housed in western Europe. We describe the Catalogue of Afrotropical Bees (CAB), a biodiversity information system and related GBIF checklist that is the system’s standardised, published output. In the revised CAB, all Afrotropical bee genera have been given common names, many of which are new.

Accelerating the knowledge of Peruvian Chalcididae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) with integrative taxonomy.

We present the first regional inventory of the fauna of Chalcididae in the Peruvian Amazon, with a nearly 6-fold increase in the number of species recorded for the country. A total of 418 specimens of Chalcididae were collected between 2000 and 2017 at the Panguana Reserve, Peruvian Amazon, 400 of which were obtained using Malaise traps and the remaining 18 specimens by canopy fogging. The morphological analyses indicated that these specimens represent 183 species of Chalcididae in 10 different genera, with 173 new to Peru and 134 potentially new species. We submitted 268 specimens, representing 167 species, to DNA barcoding. Of these, 141 specimens yielded sequences, 136 of them with a minimum of 300 bp. Sixty specimens were assigned a BIN by the Barcode of Life Database System (BOLD), resulting in 50 BINs. A cluster analysis of 138 individuals that yielded DNA sequences longer than 100 bp revealed 118 MOTUs (molecular operative taxonomic units), all of them highly congruent with the morphological data. Prior to the present study, 37 species in 9 genera of Chalcididae were known from Peru. With our results, this number was increased to 210 species in 13 genera. The present study is the result of a joint effort between the SNSB - Zoologische Staatssammlung München, Germany (ZSM) and the Insect Biodiversity Laboratory of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, Brazil (LaBI-UFES), intending to apply an accelerated taxonomic treatment of the Chalcididae of the Panguana reserve using traditional morphological approaches in combination with DNA barcoding. The complete molecular dataset and associated voucher information is publicly available through BOLD. The new species that were discovered as part of the study are being formally described elsewhere as part of taxonomic treatments of Neotropical and world generic revisions at LaBI-UFES.

Taxonomic review of Inella and Strobiligera (Gastropoda: Triphoridae) from Brazil.

Taxonomic review of Inella and Strobiligera (Gastropoda: Triphoridae) from Brazil.

The Crevice Weaver Spider Genus Kukulcania (Araneae: Filistatidae)

Filistatidae is one of the most phylogenetically enigmatic spider groups, and the genus Kukulcania Lehtinen includes the commonest representatives of the family. Its type species, K. hibernalis (Hentz, 1842), remains a favorite candidate for studies on spider phylogeny and comparative morphology. However, little is known about the taxonomy, species limits, and distribution of its closest relatives, because no generic revision has ever been undertaken. We present the first comprehensive assessment of the taxonomy of Kukulcania. The species K. hibernalis, K. arizonica (Chamberlin and Ivie, 1935), K. utahana (Chamberlin and Ivie, 1935), K. hurca (Chamberlin and Ivie, 1942), K. brignolii (Alayon, 1981) comb. nov. (transferred here from Filistata Latreille), K. tractans (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896), and K. geophila (Chamberlin and Ivie, 1935) are redescribed based on our examination of type material. We show that the name Filistata brevipesKeyserling, 1883, which had previously been placed in Kukulcania, actually belongs to a prithine spider, and propose the new combination Pikelinia brevipes (Keyserling, 1883). Filistata geophila wawonaChamberlin and Ivie, 1942, is newly synonymized with Kukulcania geophila. Eight new species of Kukulcania are described: K. cochimi, sp. nov. (from Baja California), K. gertschi, sp. nov. (northern Mexico), K. mexicana, sp. nov. (central Mexico), K. santosi, sp. nov. (southern Mexico to northern South America; previously misidentified as K. brevipes), K. tequila, sp. nov. (western Mexico), K. chingona, sp. nov. (western Mexico), K. benita, sp. nov. (endemic to the San Benito Islands in Baja California) and K. bajacali, sp. nov. (Baja California). With this, the number of recognized species in the genus is increased to 15. All species have their distributions mapped and both sexes illustrated. The first identification key to the genus is presented. A study on the morphology of the genus is undertaken using light and scanning electron microscopy, and the phylogenetic position of Kukulcania within the Filistatinae is briefly discussed. A novel putative synapomorphy for the subfamily is proposed.