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Although extensively studied by different authors over the past 150 years, the taxonomy of Canthon Hoffmannsegg, 1817 and allied genera (which are here informally referred to as 'Canthon sensu lato') still remains problematic. With the aim of resolving some of the questions surrounding these taxa, the present work reviews the taxonomy of one of them, the genus Sylvicanthon Halffter & Martínez, 1977. As defined here, Sylvicanthon is distributed mainly throughout the vast areas of tropical rainforests in the Neotropical region and includes 15 species divided into two groups: the enkerlini group, with a single species, S. enkerlini (Martínez et al., 1964) comb. nov., and the candezei group, with five subgroups: the candezei subgroup, with S. candezei (Harold, 1869), S. genieri sp. nov. and S. foveiventris (Schmidt, 1920); the aequinoctialis subgroup, with S. aequinoctialis (Harold, 1868) comb. nov. and S. proseni (Martínez, 1949) stat. et comb. nov.; the bridarollii subgroup, with S. bridarollii (Martínez, 1949), S. seag sp. nov., S. edmondsi sp. nov. and S. attenboroughi sp. nov.; the furvus subgroup, with S. furvus (Schmidt, 1920), S. monnei sp. nov., S. mayri sp. nov. and S. obscurus (Schmidt, 1920); and the securus subgroup, with a single species, S. securus (Schmidt, 1920) comb. nov. Three species originally included in Sylvicanthon are here (re)transferred to Canthon: Canthon xanthopus Blanchard, 1846 and C. machadoi (Martínez & Pereira, 1967) comb. nov., as well as C. cobosi (Pereira & Martínez, 1960) stat. et comb. nov., which had been previously in synonymy under C. xanthopus. Descriptions, redescriptions, illustrations and comparative tables on the external morphology (including the genital capsule) of the genus and its species are presented, as well as a detailed discussion on their biogeography, comparative morphology, hypotheses on their phylogenetic relationships, data on natural history and a detailed historical revision of the classification of 'Canthon sensu lato'. Finally, we also discuss the socalled 'species problem' (i.e., the definition of the scientific term 'species') and its consequences to dung beetle taxonomy and favour the solution offered by the Biological Species Concept.
Besides the two species at present known belonging to the genus Trichonotuloides Balthasar (T. glyptus (Bates) and T. latecrenatus (Bates)), two new Mexican species, T. alfonsinae and T. hansferyi, are herein described (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae). The complete set of fi gures is supplied for all taxa herein dealt with.
The new genus Neotrichaphodioides and the new species N. woytkowskii from Peru are described. Aphodius caracanus Balthasar, A. ecuadoriensis Petrovitz, A. forsterianus Balthasar, and A. volxemi Harold are redescribed and figured, and transferred into Neotrichaphodioides, all becoming new combinations. New synonymies of Aphodius martinsi Petrovitz with N. caracanus (Balthasar) and Aphodius squamifer Petrovitz with N. volxemi (Harold) are presented. The lectotype of A. volxemi is here designated.
Genera of Cryptognathini (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are discussed and a key to all recognized genera is provided. Cryptognatha is revised, and species of this genus are keyed. New species, authored by González and Hanley, are Cryptognatha pam, C. kellie, C. hannah, C. whitney, C. karla, C. celia, C. shelia, C. gayle, C. della and C. vicki. The following new synonymies are proposed: Cryptognatha simillima Sicard = Cryptognatha gemellata Mulsant, Cryptognatha fryii Crotch = Cryptognatha pudibunda Mulsant, Cryptognatha bryanti Brèthes = Cryptognatha pudibunda Mulsant. Lectotypes are here designated for Cryptognatha amicta Gorham, C. weisei Brèthes, C. pudibunda Mulsant and C. fryii Crotch.
Freshwater is one of the most fundamental resources for life and is the habitat for a wide diversity of species. One of the most diverse aquatic insect taxa is Trichoptera Kirby, 1813, caddisflies. These semi-aquatic insects have aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults and are found all around the globe in freshwater habitats. Water is also one of the most important natural resources for the human population, but alarmingly, freshwaters are among the most threatened natural habitats. Thus, the monitoring and preservation of the quality of freshwater habitats should have a high priority. In order to track changes in the biota a baseline reference is necessary, but freshwater biodiversity is under-studied in many parts of the Earth such as the biodiversity hotspots of the Himalaya and the Hengduan Mountains. This thesis treats the trichopteran genus Himalopsyche Banks, 1940 (Rhyacophilidae) which has its diversity center in the Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains. Himalopsyche larvae are large and conspicuous and only occur in clean, unpolluted streams. This makes Himalopsyche potentially suited as indicator organisms for freshwater quality monitoring, but taxonomic knowledge is yet insufficient. Based on samples from a field survey in the Hengduan Mountains targeting both larvae and adults I uncovered three new Himalopsyche species which are described in this thesis (Chapter II), and with the aid of molecular data I associated larvae of Himalopsyche to adult species (Chapter I). The molecular association enabled the first comparative morphological study of Himalopsyche species in the larval stage, and the morphological study in Chapter II revealed that there are four distinct larval types of Himalopsyche. However, no diagnostic characters to identify Himalopsyche larvae to species level were found. To understand Himalopsyche larval morphology from an evolutionary perspective, I reconstructed the first molecular phylogeny of the genus (Chapter III). This demonstrated that each larval type corresponds to a deep phylogenetic split, indicating that larval types evolved early in Himalopsyche evolution and remained constant since. Based on the phylogenetic results as well as larval and adult morphology, I re-defined five species groups of Himalopsyche: H. kuldschensis Group, H. lepcha Group, H. navasi Group, H. phryganea Group, and H. tibetana Group. The species groups differ with respect to their diversity centers. The monotypic H. lepcha Group resides in the Himalayas, and the monotypic H. phryganea Group inhabits Western Nearctic. The H. kuldschensis and H. tibetana Groups are geographically overlapping with distributions in the Himalayas, but the distribution of H. kuldschensis Group stretches more to the west to include the Tian Shan, and the H. tibetana Group is more concentrated around the eastern Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains. The H. navasi Group has a more eastern distribution than most Himalopsyche including isolated areas such as Japan and Indonesia. The earliest split in Himalopsyche divides the H. navasi Group from remaining Himalopsyche, suggesting a more eastern area of origin of Himalopsyche than its current diversity center, with subsequent radiations in the Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains. In addition to the three chapters, in this thesis I discuss further aspects of Himalopsyche biology including genital evolution, species complexes, and Himalopsyche ecology.