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The world’s smallest Begonia, Begonia elachista Moonlight & Tebbitt sp. nov., is described and illustrated from a limestone outcrop in the Amazonian lowlands of Pasco Region, Peru. It is placed within the newly described, monotypic Begonia sect. Microtuberosa Moonlight & Tebbitt sect. nov. and the phylogenetic affinities of the section are examined. Begonia elachista sp. nov. is considered Critically Endangered under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria.
A group of Amazonian harvestmen is recognized and described as Amazochroma gen. nov. This taxon includes Discocyrtus carvalhoi Mello-Leitão, 1941 (type species), the only species of Discocyrtus previously thought to occur in Amazonia, and Amazochroma pedroi gen. et sp. nov., described here from the Brazilian states of Acre and Rondônia. New records are added for Amazochroma carvalhoi gen. et comb. nov, expanding its distribution from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso northwards also to Pará and Amazonas in Brazil and additionally French Guiana and Suriname. Diagnostic features of Amazochroma gen. nov. include: trichromatic pattern of legs, dry marks on the dorsal scutum and base of legs and diastema in the row of macrosetae C of the penis ventral plate. A morphological maximum parsimony analysis (1022 scorings; 16 taxa; 64 characters) is performed to test whether Amazochroma gen. nov. is a member of Discocyrtus and if the traditional allocation of Discocyrtus in Pachylinae is defendable. A clade is retrieved containing three groups: Amazochroma carvalhoi gen. et comb. nov, here described as a new subfamily of Gonyleptidae - Roeweriinae subfam. nov. Discocyrtanus Roewer, 1929 and Roeweria Mello-Leitão, 1923 are accordingly here transferred from Pachylinae to Roeweriinae subfam. nov.
The arboreal click beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in a lowland tropical rainforest in southern Venezuela was observed and collected by means of a tower crane for a full year. The evaluation of the elaterid assemblage is part of a general survey of Coleoptera associated with several canopy trees. The Elateridae represented the tenth most species-rich beetle family in the canopy of the crane plot and was therefore selected for a detailed analysis of host-use patterns. In total, 20 species of Elateridae with 402 adult individuals were sampled, including seven singletons. Species were either flower visiting (Aeolus Eschscholtz and Cosmesus Candèze) or fed mainly on extrafloral nectaries (Chalcolepidius Eschscholtz, Crepidius Candèze, Lacon Castelnau, Lissomus Dalman, and Semiotus Eschscholtz). The most abundant species was Aeolus sp. 1 (N = 306) feeding on flowers of nine different host-tree species. This species was found often in high abundances during the entire flowering period of a single tree species with highest abundances coinciding with the maximum of open flowers. Aeolus sp. 1 was recorded almost every month of the year moving usually from one flowering tree species to another comprising possibly the entire local population. This species showed preferences between different tree species and occurred there only at night. Tree species that supported the most species-rich elaterid assemblages were Ruizterania trichanthera (Spruce ex Warm.) Marc.-Berti (Vochysiaceae) (N = 8) and Goupia glabra Aubl. (Goupiaceae) (N = 6). Only one elaterid species with at least two collected individuals was found restricted to one tree species.
A new family (Macronicophilidae) is established for Macronicophilus Silvestri, 1909, currently placed in Geophilidae. Seven new species of Neotropical Geophilomorpha are described: Ilyphilus saudus n.sp. and I. sensibilis n.sp. (Baliophilidae), Hyphydrophilus projeclUs n.sp. and Ribautia onycophaena n.sp. (Geophilidae), Macronicophilus abbrevialus n.sp., M. unguiseta n.sp. and M. venezolanus n.sp. (Macronicophilidae). The hitherto unknown male of Schendylops marchantariae (PEREIRA, MINELLI & BARBIERI, 1995) is described and two species (Pectiniunguis geayi (BROLEMANN & RIBAUT, 1911) and Ityphilus calinus CHAMBERLIN, 1957 are redescribed from the type and new material. A key to the species of Macronicophilus is provided.
Nanium Townes, 1967 is a small New World parasitoid wasp genus in the subfamily Ctenopelmatinae Förster, 1869 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Previously, it comprised five species: one from North America and four from Costa Rica. The current study reviews the Neotropical species of the genus, and includes descriptions of two new species, N. medianum Reshchikov & Sääksjärvi sp. nov. from Ecuador and N. atitlanensis Reshchikov & Sääksjärvi sp. nov. from Guatemala. A key to the species is provided.
A large sample of Siphonophoridae from Brazil was studied; two morphological groups could be distinguished. Here species considered to be from the genus Columbianum Verhoeff, 1941 are examined in detail. The genus is known from Central and South America (Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, Guiana, Colombia, Peru and Brazil) and is characterised by a clear demarcation between head and rostrum in combination with long antennae, clearly surpassing the tip of the rostrum. A list of previously described species considered to belong to the genus is given; three new species are described: C. major sp. nov. has a large body size and a small head, C. nahvalr sp. nov. has a particularly pronounced domed head and a more castellated appearance to the body, C. adisi sp. nov. has a small body size and a very characteristic hind margin to the pleurites. Variation in the state of preservation of specimens hinders a diagnosis, but the examination of the accessory claw and details of the metazonital limbus and pleurite edges are helpful. Unusually for Diplopoda, the male gonopods are not very useful for identification. Ecological comments are given for each new species, one of which, C. adisi sp. nov., is from the seasonally flooded forest and appears to avoid inundation by climbing trees.
This is the second part of a study of a large collection of Siphonophoridae Cook, 1895 from Brazil. Here, those without an abrupt division between the head and rostrum are considered. Two species have been distinguished and are described as Siphonophora setaepromissa sp. nov. and S. tuberculata sp. nov. Siphonophora hebetunguis (Attems, 1951) from the same region has many similarities with the two new species and is redescribed from type material. Comparisons have also been made with S. fuhrmanni Carl, 1914, and comments are made on the genera Cordillerium Verhoeff, 1941, Pterozonium Attems, 1951, Rhinosiphora Verhoeff, 1924, and Siphonophora Brandt, 1837. Finally, some suggestions for characters to look at in future collections of siphonophorids are made based on experience of this collection.