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An overview of the genus Psephenops Grouvelle (Coleoptera: Psephenidae: Psepheninae) is provided with geographic distributions of the species. The taxonomic history of Psephenops smithi Grouvelle, the type species from Grenada and St. Vincent, and junior synonym Xexanchorinus latus Grouvelle from Grenada, is discussed, and lectotypes and paralectotypes are designated for both. Photographs of the type series and a non-type specimen with illustrated male genitalia, along with new distributional information for the species, are provided. The male, female, and associated larva of Psephenops trini Barr and Shepard, new species, are described and illustrated, as is the habitat of this species in Trinidad and Tobago. The Peruvian species Psephenus robacki Spangler is transferred from Psephenus Haldeman to Psephenops as Psephenops robacki (Spangler) new combination. Photographs of the female holotype are included, and possible new distributional records from Peru are reported.
ZooBank registration. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5C9ECB63-6A77-4FF6-8391-BF0F77BE5674
We review the genus Cyclargus Nabokov (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) based on detailed comparative analyses of wing patterns, genitalia, and mitochondrial COI DNA barcode sequences, and suggest that Cyclargus is composed of four species: C. thomasi (Clench), C. woodruffi (W. Comstock and Huntington), C. ammon (Lucas), and C. dominica (Möschler). The following new subjective synonyms are proposed: C. erembis Nabokov syn. n. and C. kathleena K. Johnson and Matusik syn. n. are C. thomasi noeli (W. Comstock and Huntington); C. sorpresus K. Johnson and Matusik syn. n. and C. shuturn K. Johnson and Bálint syn. n. are C. ammon; and Cyclargus oualiri Brevignon syn. n. is C. woodruffi. Additionally, we report the discovery of C. thomasi noeli in Cuba (where this taxon was previously confused with C. ammon), report C. ammon from Hispaniola for the first time, and document the widespread sympatry of C. thomasi and C. ammon in the northern Caribbean (including south Florida, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Hispaniola, Lucayan Archipelago). Finally, we provide a provisional synonymic list of Cyclargus taxa, which may serve as a taxonomic framework to assist efforts to conserve the Miami blue (C. thomasi bethunebakeri (W. Comstock and Huntington)), a taxon listed as "Endangered" under the Endangered Species Act in the United States.
Bees of the family Halictidae Thomson, 1869 from Dominica, Lesser Antilles (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)
(2016)
The bees of the family Halictidae Thomson, 1869 from Dominica are reviewed. Seven new species are described and illustrated: Lasioglossum (Dialictus) kalinago sp. nov., L. (D.) dominicense sp. nov., L. (D.) kilpatrickae sp. nov., L. (Habralictellus) roseauense sp. nov., Sphecodes diablotinus sp. nov., S. albifacies sp. nov. and Habralictus antillarus sp. nov. A description and images of the previously unknown female of Microsphecodes dominicanus (Stage, 1972) are provided. In total, eleven species are recognized: eight nest-building species and three kleptoparasites. All halictid species from Dominica are currently known only from the island. A key to halictid bees from Dominica is provided.
Data are presented for 29 chrysomelid species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) occurring in the Cayman Islands, West Indies, 26 of these not having been reported from these islands previously. Altica occidentalis Suffrian is removed from the genus Lysathia Bechyné and reinstated in Altica Geoffroy. Chaetocnema perplexa Blake is synonymized with Chaetocnema confinis Crotch, new synonymy. Omophoita cyanipennis octomaculata (Crotch) is synonymized with Omophoita cyanipennis (Fabricius), new synonymy. The following nine species are named and described: Apraea luciae, Apraea priscilae, Cryptocephalus catharinae, Cryptocephalus kirki, Cryptocephalus paulotigrinus, Longitarsus alisonae, Megistops adiae, Nyctiplanctus bifasciatus, Syphrea thurstonae, all are new species. Taxonomic notes and a key to species, as well as information on plant associations and extralimital distribution, are also provided.
Melipona beecheii Bennett es una abeja común, nativa de México y otras áreas centroamericanas. Sobre su presencia en Cuba y Jamaica se ha especulado mucho. Se revisa el origen, los estudios realizados y el desarrollo de la meliponicultura en Cuba. Se presentan las principales características diferenciales entre M. beecheii y Apis mellifera Linnaeus, las dos únicas especies altamente sociales y manejadas por el hombre en Cuba. La tendencia histórica ha sido la captura independiente de colonias de M. beecheii, en estado salvaje, por campesinos sin entrenamiento. Estas colonias son mantenidas en el interior de los propios troncos o ramas de los árboles que alojaba la colonia, o son transferidas a cajas rústicas, llevadas cerca de la casa para su consumo particular. El mantenimiento de las colonias fue variable, observándose el uso de troncos huecos, cajas rústicas de maderas y cajas racionales. El uso de cajas racionales también fue variable, explotándose los modelos: Fernando de Oliveira, Nogueira Neto (PNN), Utrech-Tobago (UTOB) y Tecnología Intermedia con Bisagras de González-Acereto (TIBGA). Los pueblos aborígenes que poblaron las Antillas (grupos étnicos pertenecientes a los Arahuacos) antes de la llegada de Colón, no practicaban la cría de abejas, por lo que no las introdujeron en las tierras que iban ocupando. La introducción de M. beecheii en las Antillas debió ocurrir en algún momento entre los años 1500 y 1800, etapa de gran intercambio comercial de España con las culturas de Centroamérica. No hemos encontrado ningún documento histórico que mencione su introducción en Cuba. A pesar de las limitaciones económicas en Cuba, existe un interés en desarrollar la meliponicultura. En los últimos años se han incrementado las publicaciones sobre el tema y la voluntad por lograr una mejor organización, capacitación del personal, producción de miel y uso de las abejas como polinizadores de cultivos agrícolas. A partir de 2017 la Sociedad Cubana de Apicultores cambió su nombre a Sociedad Cubana de Apicultores y Meliponicultores para ir insertando progresivamente a los meliponicultores y como parte de la estrategia de desarrollo incluir aspectos de la meliponicultura.