Insecta Mundi
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0016
Descriptions of pupal cases of Dialeurodes schefflerae, new species, as well as distribution records are presented. This species is known to occur in Florida, Hawaii and Puerto Rico appearing to feed only on species of Schefflera Forst and Forst. This restriction to plant hosts in the Asian genus Schefflera, along with its affinities with Dialeurodes agalmae Takahashi, Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead) and Dialeurodes kirkaldyi (Kotinsky), suggests it is an invasive species, probably endemic to the Asian region.
0015
The genus name Drepanocanthoides Schmidt has recently been applied to Australian and North American taxa, based on generic concepts following separate designations of different type species. Drepanocanthoides, type species Aphodius walshii Horn, is a Nearctic genus that is not congeneric with the Australian members. The new name Ozodius, n. gen., is here proposed for the Australian taxa, with Aphodius neglectus Schmidt designated as the type species. All Australian members of Drepanocanthoides are transferred to Ozodius.
0014
This preliminary checklist of Aphodiini south of the United States is prepared to provide published data for a future web-based checklist of all New World Aphodiinae. All species names are used in combination with their currently accepted generic name, creating many new combinations. A few genus-species combinations are discussed. New synonymies based on recent studies of type specimens are made: Aphodius azteca Harold = Aphodius multimaculosus Hinton; Aphodius ornatus Schmidt = Aphodius magnopunctatus Hinton; Aphodius caracaensis Petrovitz = Aphodius brasilicola Balthasar; Aphodius guatemalensis Bates = Aphodius striatipennis Petrovitz; Aphodius kuntzeni Schmidt = Aphodius amplinotum Gordon and Howden = Aphodius michiliensis Deloya; Aphodius bimaculosus Schmidt = Aphodius xalapensis Galante et al.; Aphodius caracanus Balthasar = Aphodius martinsi Petrovitz; Aphodius volxemi Harold = Aphodius squamifer Petrovitz.
0013
The naturalist Edward Newman did not provide an etymology for the mecopteran Merope tuber when he described it in 1838. In 1872 Asa Fitch asserted that the genus was named after Merope one of the Pleiades sisters of Greek mythology; however, he provided no reason for his assumption. We researched several etymological alternatives. We concur with Fitch and conclude that Newman did indeed name the genus Merope after the dullest of the Pleiades sisters.
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0009
Three distinct tibial types are recognized within the Rhyparini (Scarabaeidae, Aphodiinae). Based on this, generic limits for the species of Termitodius Wasmann are reevaluated, with the Old World members being transferred to Termitodiellus Nakane. The resulting new combinations are: Termitodiellus besucheti (Paulian), Termitodiellus hammondi (Krikken and Huijbregts), Termitodiellus interruptus (Krikken and Huijbregts), Termitodiellus luzonensis (Howden), Termitodiellus monticola (Krikken and Huijbregts). New World members of Termitodius are split into two genera: Termitodius Wasmann and Aschnarhyparus Makhan. Aschnarhyparus soesilae Makhan is here relegated to a junior synonym of Termitodius peregrinus Hinton, new synonymy, with the resulting new combination being Aschnarhyparus peregrinus (Hinton). A full description of Aschnarhyparus is presented, and Termitodiellus and Termitodius are diagnosed.
0008
0007
A new species of Physoconops Szilady, P. (Pachyconops) weemsi, is described from Florida and Georgia. It is similar to two other species in the southeastern United States, P. floridanus Camras and P. brachyrhynchus Macquart, the main differential character being the shape of the female theca. The female thecae for all three are illustrated and a key to the three related Pachyconops species occurring in the southeastern United States is presented.
0006
Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) mexicanum (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) belongs to the albitarse group, which includes the larger species of the genus. Its native distribution extends throughout Central America from Mexico to Panama. Here it is reported for the first time from Hispaniola, West Indies. Because it is difficult to envisage such a conspicuous species having eluded capture any naturalist or aculeate specialist previously, I consider that it has recently arrived on the island. It may have arrived due to the trade with Central America, since the nests, made of mud, can easily transport the immatures that subsequently emerge and disperse after their arrival on the island. T. mexicanum is established at least in the Dominican Republic, with a wide distribution and large populations. This demonstrates the ecological success of a recently established population on the island, perhaps due to escape from natural enemies and an absence of other limiting factors. The females were observed at puddles of water on the roads where they pick up mud with which they construct their tubular nests. Brood cells were provisioned exclusively with several species of spiders of Araneidae. An endemic spider, Eustala bisetosa Bryant was also used as prey. Other data about natural history is also provided.
0005
New locality records for Culiseta inornata (Williston) are reported from Big Pine Key, Grassy Key, and No Name Key in Monroe County, Florida. Five specimens were collected in dry ice-baited light traps. An old, previously unrecognized record for Anopheles grabhamii Theobald from Miami, Dade County, Florida, is reported based on specimens found in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods.
0004
Published claims in 1887-1903 that the mole cricket Neocurtilla hexadactyla (Perty) occurs in Puerto Rico all seem to be derived from a misidentification made by Agustín Stahl, a medical practitioner and collector of natural history objects, published in 1882. That species does not seem now to occur in Puerto Rico and almost certainly never did. However, the opportunity still exists for it to colonize by wind-assisted flight from islands to the southeast just as we believe did the mole cricket Scapteriscus didactylus (Latreille) as an immigrant. Stahl evidently mistook the latter for the former. According to some subsequent authors, he also stated that it (the mole cricket now believed to be S. didactylus) arrived in the port of Mayagüez in a cargo of guano about 1850 from Peru and thus colonized Puerto Rico. We found no verification for that story, and we doubt it. The first detection of the presence of S. didactylus in Puerto Rico may have been by a French expedition in 1797, but this species may have been present much earlier. Two other species of Scapteriscus were later detected in Puerto Rico. One, S. abbreviatus Scudder, was detected in 1917 and likely arrived as a contaminant of ship ballast some time earlier, perhaps at the port of Mayagüez. The other, S. imitatus Nickle and Castner, was detected about 1940 and seems to have been introduced inadvertently, as a result of mistaken identity. In broad terms, S. didactylus, S. abbreviatus, and S. imitatus are adventive species (meaning they arrived from somewhere else and are not native) in Puerto Rico. The vernacular name changa in Puerto Rico is owned by S. didactylus, which is called West Indian mole cricket in the English-speaking Caribbean. Historical accounts suggest that populations of S. didactylus and of two pest Phyllophaga spp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) surged after 1876/1877 and declined after 1920. This coincidence suggests that the cause may have been the same. The cause of the rise might conceivably have been introduction of the mongoose Herpestes javanicus (E. Geoffroy St. Hilaire) in 1877 (because it may have destroyed vertebrate predators) and the cause of the decline might conceivably have been introduction of the toad Bufo marinus L. in 1920, because it is a predator of Phyllophaga and Scapteriscus.
0003
The distribution and biology of the beetles Leptinillus validus (Horn) and L. aplodontiae Ferris are summarized for North America. The beetles are ectoparasitic on rodents; L. validus on the beaver, Castor canadensis Linnaeus (Castoridae) throughout the northern part of its range, and L. aplodontiae on the mountain beaver, Aplodontia rufa (Rafinesque) (Aplodontidae) in the Pacific Northwest.
0002
Mutual grooming in two genera of silvanid beetles is described, and appears to be the first report of this behavior in the order Coleoptera. In Uleiota debilis (LeConte), allogrooming recipients were either stationary or moved away during the acts, without solicitation or facilitation. In Nausibius major Zimmermann, allogrooming was much more extensive and the individual being groomed appeared to facilitate the process by immobility or by changes in posture, there were no recognizable sexual overtones, no solicitations, and no avoidance movements. Gregarious behaviors of some other silvanid beetles are reviewed.
0001
This article outlines changes in procedures and production policies for the journal Insecta Mundi. Background data and discussions leading to these necessary changes are explained. Updated instructions for authors are presented. A full current version of author instructions will be posted on the latest Center for Systematic Entomology URL.