Insecta Mundi, Volume 13 (1999)
Four species of Cory thalia C.L.Koch 1851 were reported by Richman & Cutler (1978) to occur in North America north of Mexico. Subsequently, one of these four species, C. delicatula Gertsch & Mulaik 1936, was synonymized with Euophrys dim in uta (Banks 1896) (Edwards 1980). Of the three remaining species, only two species can validly be placed in the genus. These are C. conspecta (Peckham & Peckham 1896) and C. opima (Peckham & Peckham 1885), the northernmost species in the genus, both with reported distributions ranging from Central America to Arizona.
Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink, here called the papaya mealybug, was first detected in the United States in Hollywood, Florida in 1998. By the end of 1998 it was found in four localities in the state and has since spread to nine localities in five counties. This mealybug appears to have moved through the Caribbean area since its 1994 detection in the Dominican Republic. The pest is reported to cause serious damage to tropical fruit, especially papaya, and has been detected most frequently, in Florida, on hibiscus. It is now known from Antigua, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Barthelemy, St. Kitts, St. Martin, and the US Virgin Islands. Hosts include: Acacia sp.(Luguminosae), Acalypha sp.(Euphorbiaceae), Ambrosia cumanensis (Compositae), Annona squamosa (Annonaceae), Carica papaya (Caricaceae), Guazuma ulmifolia (Sterculiaccea), Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Euphorbiaceae), Hibiscus sp. (Euphorbiaceae), Ipomoea sp. (Convolvulaceae), Manihot chloristica (Euphorbiaceae), Manihot esculenta (Euphorbiaceae), Mimosa pigra (Lugiminosae), Parthenium hysterophorus (Compositae), Persea americana (Lauraceae), Plumeria sp. (Apocynaceae), Sida sp. (Malvaceae), Solanum melongena (Solanaceae). The species is believed to be native to Mexico andlor Central America.
Alonso-Zarazaga, M. A. and C. H. C. Lyal 1999. A World Catalogue of Families and Genera of Curculionoidea (Insecta: Coleoptera) (Excepting Scolytidae and Platypodidae) 316 pp. ,Publ. Date 27 Dec. 1999.ISBN: 84-605-99994-9, from ENTOMOPRAXIS S.c., Apartado 36164, 08080 Barcelona (Spain), Tel. & Fax: 34 - 933 230 877, e-mail: entomopraxis@entomopraxis.com, ttp://www.entomopraxis.com/news.htm.Cost: 78 Euros + 4% VAT + postage.
Information is given on the geographic distribution, habitat preferences, larval foods, and immature stages for 57 species of 9 genera of Sciomyzidae known to occur in Alaska. An illustrated key to adults is included. Alaska as a habitat for sciomyzid flies is discussed, and information on feeding habits of the larvae is summarized.
Two new species of Trichapion Wagner, T. baranowskii and T. santaritae, are described from Madera Canyon, near Tucson, Arizona. Six new species of Coelocephalapion Wagner are described: C. dilox (Mexico), C. goldilox (Costa Rica, Panama), C.johnsoni (Panama) with host Vatairea erythrocarpa Ducke (Fabaceae), C. nirostrum (Mexico), C. tellum (Texas, Mexico), and C. turnbowi (Mexico). Apionion opetion is described from Mexico. A closely similar species, Apionion bettyae (Kissinger), new combination, with probable host plant Lonchocarpus sp. (Fabaceae), is transferred from Trichapion.
Seventeen new species of Arpactophilus from New Caledonia are described and figured. These are the first from New Caledonia and bring the number to 37 species of the genus from Australia and nearby islands, all east of Wallace's Line. The new species are abdominalis, arboreus, brochus, caledonicus, concauus, cuspidis, dolichocara,gressitti, irwini, kraussi, nemoralis, nigripes. propodealis, schlingeri, scutellaris, syluaticus, and webbi. All ofthese have an occipital carina, sometimes most evident ventrally. As a rule there are 2 forewing submarginal cells, but in caledonicus, dolichocara, nigripes, and propodealis there is only one such cell.
Therion Curtis (Ichneumonidae: Anomalinae) has a nearly cosmopolitan geographic distribution but has not previously been recorded from South America. In most Therion the tarsal claws are simple or have only a few inconspicuous teeth near the base. The new species described herein are distinctive, therefore, because they have the tarsal claws conspicuously pectinate over at least 0.8 the distance from base to apex. Therion ranti n.sp. from Cordoba and Mendoza Provinces of Argentina may be recognized by its almost uniformly red mesosoma and basally elevated clypeus. In Therion wileyi n.sp., from the Andean puna near La Paz in Bolivia, the mesosoma is red with extensive black coloration, including much of the propodeum, and the clypeus is weakly and symmetrically convex in profile. Therion wileyi n.sp. was reared from an unidentified noctuid moth larva infesting Chenopodium quinoa (Angiospermae: Chenopodiaceae), an importantfood crop in Andean South America.
The Culicoides fauna of Belize is poorly known, and until 197 4 only 3 species were recorded. Nineteen species of Culicoides from Belize were identified from six collection sites: C. barbosai Wirth & Blanton, C. crepuscularis Malloch, C. debilipalpis Lutz, C. diabolic us Hoffman, C. foxi Ortiz, C. furens (Poey), C. gabaldoni Ortiz, C. heliconiae Fox & Hoffman, C. hoffmani Fox, C. imitator Ortiz, C. insignis Lutz, C. jamaicensis Edwards, C. leopoldoi Ortiz, C. limai Barretto, C. paraensis (Goeldi), C. pifanoi Ortiz, C. pusilloides Wirth & Blanton, C. pusillus Lutz, and a new species, C. mckeeveri Brickle & Hagan is described and illustrated.
The Nesticidae are a worldwide family of small, sedentary spiders frequently found in leaf litter, debris, houses, and caves. The genus Gaucelmus is found only in the Americas, primarily in the N eotropics. Nesticus, a Holarctic genus, is well represented in the Appalachian Mountains by obligate cavedwelling species (Gertsch 1984).