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A taxonomic revision of the Australian species of Amobia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Sarcophagidae: Miltogramminae) is completed using an integrated approach combining four molecular loci (three mitochondrial, COI, ND4 and CYTB; one nuclear, EF1α) and morphological data. A new species, Amobia (s. str.) serpenta sp. nov., endemic to Australia, is described, and Amobia auriceps (Baranov, 1935) and Amobia burnsi (Malloch, 1930) are re-described. Molecular data are used to reconstruct inter-specific and generic relationships and support morphological species hypotheses. Phylogenetic analysis places all three Australian Amobia species together with Amobia signata (Meigen, 1824) (a Palaearctic species) in a single clade sister to Senotainia Macquart, 1846 (in part), which is in agreement with previous phylogenetic studies of the Miltogramminae. In addition to the description of species and molecular phylogenetics, general host associations for the Australian species of Amobia are discussed and evidence for the synonymisation of A. pelopei (Rondani, 1859) and A. auriceps is refuted.
Arcola malloi (Pastrana, 1961) is a junior subjective synonym of Macrorrhinia endonephele (Hampson, 1918) syn. nov. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae). The species is a biological control agent introduced in United States and Australia to control alligatorweed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. (Amaranthaceae). The synonymy is recognized by comparison of type specimens, genitalic dissections, and DNA COI barcoding. Vogtia Pastrana, 1961 syn. nov. and Arcola Shaffer, 1995 syn. nov. are synonymized with Macrorrhinia Ragonot, 1887. Macror-rhinia megajuxta (Neunzig and Goodson, 1992) comb. nov. is transferred from Ocala Hulst, 1892. Lectotypes are designated for Divitiaca ochrella Barnes and McDunnough, 1913, and Divitiaca simulella Barnes and Mc-Dunnough, 1913.
Two new species, Hyphessobrycon frickei Guimarães, Brito, Bragança, Katz & Ottoni sp. nov. and H. geryi Guimarães, Brito, Bragança, Katz & Ottoni sp. nov., are herein described, based on seven different and independent species delimitation methods, and on molecular and morphological characters, making the hypothesis of these new species supported from an integrative taxonomy perspective. They belong to the “Rosy tetra” clade, which is mainly characterized by the presence of a dark brown or black blotch on the dorsal fin and the absence of a midlateral stripe on the body. These two new species are distinguished from the other members of this clade mainly by the arrangement, shape and color pattern of humeral and dorsal-fin spots, as well as by other characters related to scale counts and body pigmentation. The placement of the new species within the “Rosy tetra” clade was based on the combination of morphological character states mentioned above and corroborated by a molecular phylogenetic analysis using the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit 1. In addition, a new clade (here termed Hyphessobrycon copelandi clade) within the “Rosy tetra” clade is proposed based on molecular data, comprising H. copelandi, H. frickei sp. nov., H. geryi sp. nov. and a still undescribed species. Our results corroborate the occurrence of hidden species within the “Rosy tetra” clade, as suggested by previous studies.
Despite several decades of active research, there are still substantial gaps in the knowledge of parasitoid wasps in Australia, with many families and genera yet to be revised using modern approaches and only a fraction of the estimated fauna currently described. The genus Glyptapanteles Ashmead, 1904 is a member of the subfamily Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and all species in the subfamily are lepidopteran parasitoids. The genus previously contained only three species known from Australia: G. deliasa Austin & Dangerfield, 1992, G. drioplanetus Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2021 and G. mnesampela Austin, 2000. To undertake a revision of this morphologically-conserved group in Australia, we used a combination of molecular (cytochrome oxidase subunit one (COI) and wingless genes) and minimal morphological data to delimit and describe an additional 31 species: G. austini Fagan-Jeffries & Bird sp. nov. and the following 30 species all authored by Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin: G. albigena sp. nov., G. andamookaensis sp. nov., G. arcanus sp. nov., G. aspersus sp. nov., G. austrinus sp. nov., G. baylessi sp. nov., G. bradfordae sp. nov., G. cooperi sp. nov., G. doreyi sp. nov., G. dowtoni sp. nov., G. eburneus sp. nov., G. erucadesolator sp. nov., G. ferrugineus sp. nov., G. foraminous sp. nov., G. goodwinnoakes sp. nov., G. guzikae sp. nov., G. harveyi sp. nov., G. kingae sp. nov., G. kittelae sp. nov., G. kurandaensis sp. nov., G. lambkinae sp. nov., G. lessardi sp. nov., G. mouldsi sp. nov., G. niveus sp. nov., G. rixi sp. nov., G. rodriguezae sp. nov., G. ruhri sp. nov., G. sanniopolus sp. nov., G. vergrandiacus sp. nov. and G. wrightae sp. nov. We provide a key to species groups and to the species able to be identified on morphological characters alone. Additionally, we provide a brief discussion of the difficulties in describing small, morphologically conserved wasps and the challenges associated with revising the taxonomy of hyperdiverse taxa in the context of the planned mission of Taxonomy Australia to accelerate the documentation of Australia’s biodiversity.
We recognize and review 40 species of Chlamydastis Meyrick, 1916 (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae) from Costa Rica, including four previously described (i.e., C. vividella (Busck, 1914), revived status; C. phytoptera (Busck, 1914); C. orion Busck, 1920; and C. ungulifera (Meyrick, 1929)) and 36 new species: C. abelulatei Phillips and Brown, new species; C. carolinagodoyae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. angelsolisi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. lindapitkinae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. iangauldi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. anniapicadoae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. antonioazofeifai Phillips and Brown, new species; C. mignondavisae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. marianofigueresi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. colleenhitchcockae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. bernardoespinozai Phillips and Brown, new species; C. bobandersoni Phillips and Brown, new species; C. carlosviquezi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. christerhanssoni Phillips and Brown, new species; C. christhompsoni Phillips and Brown, new species; C. paulhansoni Phillips and Brown, new species; C. elenaulateae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. gladysrojasae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. powelli Phillips and Brown, new species; C. gracewoodae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. juanmatai Phillips and Brown, new species; C. isidrochaconi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. jimlewisi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. jimmilleri Phillips and Brown, new species; C. montywoodi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. johnnoyesi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. luisdiegogomezi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. paulthiaucourti Phillips and Brown, new species; C. dondavisi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. irenecanasae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. manuelzumbadoi Phillips and Brown, new species; C. noramartinae Phillips and Brown, new species; C. vitorbeckeri Phillips and Brown, new species; C. ronaldzunigai Phillips and Brown, new species; C. munifigueresae Phillips and Brown, new species; and C. willsflowersi Phillips and Brown, new species.COI nucleotide sequences (“DNA barcodes”) were obtained for 33 of the species, which helped associate males with females for sexually dimorphic species and revealed a few cryptic, presumably evolutionary siblings. We illustrate adults of all species, along with their male and female genitalia, where available.Nineteen species were reared from caterpillars, and their foodplants are listed. In Costa Rica, 15 species of Chlamydastis are recorded exclusively from Sapotaceae; one species each exclusively from Clethraceae, Vochysiaceae, Combretaceae, and Melastomataceae. Larvae are illustrated for 10 of the 36 new species, and superficial larval descriptions are provided based on photographs and notes. Of the 40 species of Chlamydastis reported from Costa Rica, 32 have been light-collected or reared from Área de Conservación Guanacaste.
Background: The angiosperm family Bromeliaceae comprises over 3.500 species characterized by exceptionally high morphological and ecological diversity, but a very low genetic variation. In many genera, plants are vegetatively very similar which makes determination of non flowering bromeliads difficult. This is particularly problematic with living collections where plants are often cultivated over decades without flowering. DNA barcoding is therefore a very promising approach to provide reliable and convenient assistance in species determination. However, the observed low genetic variation of canonical barcoding markers in bromeliads causes problems.
Result. In this study the low-copy nuclear gene Agt1 is identified as a novel DNA barcoding marker suitable for molecular identification of closely related bromeliad species. Combining a comparatively slowly evolving exon sequence with an adjacent, genetically highly variable intron, correctly matching MegaBLAST based species identification rate was found to be approximately double the highest rate yet reported for bromeliads using other barcode markers.
Conclusion. In the present work, we characterize Agt1 as a novel plant DNA barcoding marker to be used for barcoding of bromeliads, a plant group with low genetic variation. Moreover, we provide a comprehensive marker sequence dataset for further use in the bromeliad research community.
Platystasius transversus (Thomson) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) is a rarely collected egg parasitoid of Leptura aurulenta Fabricius (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Four female specimens were found in Germany, a new country record for the genus and species. Illustrations, DNA barcodes, and an updated distribution are provided. We review its taxonomic history, biology, and ecological associations.