Lsid Research Articles

Twigs that are not twigs: phylogenetic placement of crab spiders of the genus Tmarus of Sri Lanka with comments on the higher-level phylogeny of Thomisidae

Sri Lankan species of the genus Tmarus are cryptic spiders that live either on greenish moss-covered twigs or brownish dried-out twigs. They have remained taxonomically unrevised. The only known species was misplaced in Peritraeus Simon, 1895, which has never been subjected to phylogenetic evaluation. The present study is designed to investigate the phylogenetic placement of Sri Lankan Tmarus within Thomisidae as well as to assess the validity of Peritraeus and its relationship to Tmarus and Monaeses, if any. Using a multilocus molecular dataset (16S–ND1, 28S, CO1 and H3) we provide evidence that Tmarus and Monaeses are paraphyletic and that Peritraeus is a junior subjective synonym of Tmarus. Four species of Tmarus, including three new species, are now recorded from Sri Lanka. The legacy groups Alcimochthae and Tmarae are confirmed to be polyphyletic. Further, the following new species are described: Tmarus hiyarensis, sp. nov., T. viridomaculatus, sp. nov. and T. manojkaushalyai sp. nov. The following new combination is proposed: Tmarus hystrix (Simon, 1895), comb. nov. (this results in a homonym with Tmarus hystrix Caporiacco, 1954: we rename the species Tmarus caporioccoi Ileperuma Arachchi & Benjamin, replacement name). Lsid: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:05C2F204-3C31-43A6-8D7E-9AC56BFF1F6B

A review of Microchilo (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in China, including descriptions of two new species

Abstract The genus Microchilo of the subfamily Crambinae is reviewed from China. Two species are described as new to science: Microchilo landryi sp. nov. and M. nussi sp. nov. Images of adults and genitalia of the new species are illustrated, and a key of the species known in China is provided. LSID urn:lsid: zoobank.org :pub:74B34A6E-87C3-487B-AD94-1167F1283E74.

A mixed colony of Tetramorium immigrans SANTSCHI, 1927 and the putative social parasite Tetramorium aspina sp.n. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Mixed ant colonies have long fascinated biologists since they are often examples of social parasitism. From the genus Tetramorium Mayr , 1855 two types of social parasitism are well known: dulosis and inquilinism. We present a nest record from Turkey comprising workers of T. immigrans Santschi , 1927, workers and a single gyne of a new species, and brood in commonly used nest chambers. We interpret the new species as a social parasite and describe it as T. aspina sp.n. Three characteristics indicate a morphological degeneration of the worker caste: workers of T. aspina have strongly reduced propodeal spines, larger intranest morphological variability than workers of the T. caespitum complex sensu Wagner & al. (2017: Myrmecological News 25: 95-129), and a larger proportion of these workers have an aberrant propodeum (“propodeal syndrome”) compared with workers of the T. caespitum complex. The discovery of T. aspina raises interesting questions concerning the characterization of its socially parasitic life history and its evolutionary origin. Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2018 The Author(s) DOI: https://doi.org/10.25849/myrmecol.news_028:025 Zoobank LSID: http://zoobank.org:8080/References/0FFDEA17-75EA-419B-A732-3E17D4C316CA Pages: 25-33 Volume: 28 Year: 2018 Journal: Myrmecol. News

Dryudella paulinae spec. nov. (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) from Morocco

Dryudella paulinae spec. nov. is described from Morocco. A concise key is presented, which differentiates D. paulinae from other Dryudella species.
 Nomenclatural acts
 Dryudella paulinae spec. nov. – urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8D5ACFAB-85E7-422A-9956-74978BD89158