The forewing morphology of the fossil species †Protoblattinopsis stubblefieldi Laurentiaux, 1953 (Dictyoptera; Late Carboniferous) is re-investigated. Unlike previously stated, in this species, the stems of R and M are distinct and CuA has branches. The occurrence of the putative plesiomorphies "long ScP" and "differentiated R sectors" (i.e., RA and RP) in †P. stubblefieldi indicates a position basal to all extant Dictyoptera and many members of its paraphyletic stem. Unlike representatives of the families †Archimylacridae and †Blattinopsidae, but similar to Blattodea s. str., †P. stubblefieldi lacks a M-CuA arculus. The comparison of the branching pattern of the median system in †P. stubblefieldi and †Archimylacridae suggests that the arculus of the latter is composed of posterior branches of M. It is noted that the distal location of the point of origin of CuA and CuP, the sigmoid course of the anterior stem of CuA, the strong curvature of CuP, and the occurrence of a short fusion between R/RP and the anterior branch of M are similarities with the representatives of the genus Polyphaga Brullé, 1835, belonging to Dictyoptera s. str. However, these similar character states are unlikely to be homologous in these taxa, mainly because the hypothesis that Polyphaga is the sister group of the remaining Dictyoptera s. str. (or even Blattodea s. str.) is not strongly supported. Owing to its character state combination, the species †P. stubblefieldi is unique within the "Protoblattoidea waste-basket". Comprehensive studies of wing morphology in stem-Dictyoptera are needed to clarify whether it might be closely related to the lineage from which Dictyoptera s. str. evolved.
Taxonomic limits of the family Anthomyzidae are prescribed. Two fossil genera are affirmed, viz. Protanthomyza Hennig, 1965 (Baltic amber) and Grimalantha gen. n. (type species: G. vulnerata sp. n.) described from Dominican amber. Fourteen extant genera are recognized, including Chamaebosca Speiser, 1903 (= Penquistus Kieffer, 1906 syn. n.) and Apterosepsis Richards, 1962. New diagnoses of the latter two genera and redescriptions of their type species are given and their relationships are discussed. Chamaebosca cursor (Kieffer, 1906) becomes a new combination. The monotypic genus Echidnocephalodes Sabrosky, 1980 is removed from Anthomyzidae, newly diagnosed and its type species E. barbatus (Lamb, 1914) redescribed and a lectotype designated. Echidnocephalodes is considered to be related to Periscelididae and/or Aulacigastridae, particularly to those genera with symmetrical male postabdomen. The inferred phylogeny of the Anthomyzidae, based on cladistic analysis, is presented. The Opomyzidae are confirmed as a sister-group of the Anthomyzidae, while Protanthomyza is found to be the most primi tive anthomyzid genus forming a sister-group to all recent genera plus the fossil Grimalantha gen. n. The monophylies of the latter group of genera, and of the Anthomyzidae as a whole, are demonstrated. The genus Protanthomyza is classified in a new subfamily Protanthomyzinae, and all remaining genera are placed in the subfamily Anthomyzinae Frey, 1921. An annotated world checklist of the family Anthomyzidae is appended.
Acanthocephalans are a small group of obligate endoparasites. They and rotifers are recently placed in a group called Syndermata. However, phylogenetic relationships within classes of acanthocephalans, and between them and rotifers, have not been well resolved, possibly due to the lack of molecular data suitable for such analysis. In this study, the mitochondrial (mt) genome was sequenced from Pallisentis celatus (Van Cleave, 1928), an acanthocephalan in the class Eoacanthocephala, an intestinal parasite of rice-field eel, Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793), in China. The complete mt genome sequence of P. celatus is 13855 bp long, containing 36 genes including 12 protein‑coding genes, 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and 2 ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) as reported for other acanthocephalan species. All genes are encoded on the same strand and in the same direction. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that acanthocephalans are closely related with a clade containing bdelloids, which then correlates with the clade containing monogononts. The class Eoacanthocephala, containing P. celatus and Paratenuisentis ambiguus (Van Cleave, 1921) was closely related to the Palaeacanthocephala. It is thus indicated that acanthocephalans may be just clustered among groups of rotifers. However, the resolving of phylogenetic relationship among all classes of acanthocephalans and between them and rotifers may require further sampling and more molecular data.
Adults of two coniopterygid species, Aleuropteryx juniperi Ohm, 1968 (Aleuropteryginae) and Semidalis aleyrodiformis (Stephens, 1836) (Coniopteryginae), were studied using scanning electron microscopy. Interspecific differences in the ultrastructure of the integument of all the major parts of the body were identified and described, and the functional and phylogenetic implications of the differences discussed. Additionally, the enlarged terminal segment of the labial palps of the Coniopterygidae and the Sisyridae, which up to now has been used as an argument for a sister-group relationship between these two families, was subjected to a thorough comparison. The very different morphology makes independent enlargement of the terminal palpal segment in both families plausible. This finding is congruent with the earlier hypothesis of a sister-group relationship between Coniopterygidae and the dilarid clade, which was proposed on the basis of molecular data, larval morphology and male genital sclerites. Finally, a new classification of the coniopterygid subfamilies is presented based on characters of the larval head (prominence of the ocular region, relative length of sucking stylets). The following relationship is hypothesized: (Brucheiserinae + Coniopteryginae) + Aleuropteryginae, and the implications of this hypothesis for the phylogenetic interpretation of the ultrastructural differences that we found are discussed: (1) The wax glands, as well as plicatures, are interpreted as belonging to the ground pattern of the family Coniopterygidae, and (2) the wax glands are considered to have been reduced in Brucheiserinae and the plicatures in Coniopteryginae. A distinct (though reduced) spiraculum 8 was detected in Semidalis aleyrodiformis; as a consequence the hypothesis that the loss of spiraculum 8 is an autapomorphy of Coniopteryginae is refuted.
The phylum Microsporidia is a large group of parasitic unicellular eukaryotes that infect a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate taxa. These organisms are significant human and veterinary pathogens with impacts on medicine, agriculture and aquaculture. Scientists working on these pathogens represent diverse disciplines that have had limited opportunities for detailed interactions. A NATO Advanced Research Workshop 'Emergent Pathogens in the 21st Century: First United Workshop on Microsporidia from Invertebrate and Vertebrate Hosts' was held July 12-15, 2004 at the Institute of Parasitology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic to bring together experts in insect, fish, veterinary and human microsporidiosis for the exchange of information on these pathogens. At this meeting, discussions were held on issues related to taxonomy and phylogeny. It was recognized that microsporidia are related to fungi, but the strong opinion of the participants was that the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature should continue to be applied for taxonomic descriptions of the Microsporidia and that they be treated as an independent group emerging from a paraphyletic fungi. There continues to be exponential growth in the pace and volume of research on these ubiquitous intracellular protists. The small genomes of these organisms and the reduction in the size of many of their genes are of interest to many disciplines. Many microsporidia are dimorphic and the mechanisms underlying these morphologic changes remain to be elucidated. Epidemiologic studies to clarify the source of human microsporidiosis and ecologic studies to understand the multifaceted relationship of the Microsporidia and their hosts are important avenues of investigation. Studies on the Microsporidia should prove useful to many fields of biologic investigation.
The endemic Costa Rican genus Zurquilla Gauld, 1997, is transferred from the ichneumonid subfamily Tryphoninae (tribe Oedemopsini) to the Cryptinae (tribe Phygadeuontini) and synonymised with Nipponaetes Uchida, 1933. This decision is justified using morphological and molecular (28S D2-3 ribosomal DNA sequence) evidence. We briefly discuss the phylogenetic utility of characters that led to the type species of Zurquilla being described as a tryphonine and provide a host record that indicates that Nipponaetes is a parasitoid of spider egg sacs.
Internal and external features of the head of Ascioplaga mimeta (Coleoptera: Archostemata) were studied with micro X-ray computertomography (µCT) and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI). These methods allowed the reconstruction of the entire internal anatomy from the only available fixed specimen. The mouthparts and their associated musculature are highly derived in many aspects. Their general configuration corresponds to that of Priacma serrata (the only other archostematan studied in comparable detail). However, the mandible-maxilla system of A. mimeta is built as a complex sorting apparatus and shows a distinct specialisation for a specific, but still unknown, food source. The phylogenetic analysis resulted in the identification of a new monophylum comprising the genera [Distocupes + (Adinolepis +Ascioplaga)]. The members of this taxon are restricted to the Australian zoogeographic region. The most prominent synapomorphies of these three genera are their derived mouthparts.
The type species of Pseudopsila Johnson, P. fallax (Loew), and two related species are found to belong in Psila s. str., and Pseudopsila is thus synonymized with Psila Meigen. The remaining species formerly included in Pseudopsila form a monophyletic group here described as Xenopsila Buck subgen. n. [i.e., Psila (Xenopsila) collaris Loew comb. n., P. (X.) bivittata Loew comb. n., P. (X.) lateralis Loew comb. n., P. (X.) arbustorum Shatalkin comb. n., P. (X.) nemoralis Shatalkin comb. n., P. (X.) tetrachaeta (Shatalkin) comb. n., P. (X.) maculipennis (Frey) comb. n., P. (X.) nigricollis (Frey) comb. n., P. (X.) nigrohumera (Wang & Yang) comb. n.]. A key to the Nearctic species of Xenopsila and the Psila fallax-group is provided. The placement of Xenopsila in Psila s. l. is confirmed by newly recognised synapomorphies of the egg stage. The somewhat questionable monophyly of Psila s. l. is confirmed based on these new synapomorphies, thereby slightly expanding its taxonomic limits to also include Asiopsila Shatalkin. The morphology of the male genitalia of Xenopsila is discussed in detail, clarifying confused homologies and character polarities in the hypandrial complex. Evolutionary trends in the development of the hypandrium in the subfamily Psilinae are discussed.
Phylogeny of seven groups of metazoan parasitic groups is reviewed, based on both morphological and molecular data. The Myxozoa (=Malacosporea + Myxosporea) are most probably related to the egg-parasitic cnidarian Polypodium (Hydrozoa?: Polypodiozoa); the other phylogenetic hypotheses are discussed and the possible non-monophyly of the Cnidaria (with the Polypodiozoa-Myxozoa clade closest to the Triploblastica) is suggested. The Mesozoa is a monophyletic group, possibly closely related to the (monophyletic) Acoelomorpha; whether the Acoelomorpha and Mesozoa represent the basalmost triploblast clade(s) or a derived platyhelminth subclade may depend on rooting the tree of the Triploblastica. Position of the monophyletic Neodermata (=Trematoda + Cercomeromorpha) within the rhabditophoran flatworms is discussed, with two major alternative hypotheses about the neodermatan sister-group relationships (viz., the "neoophoran" and "revertospermatan"). The Myzostomida are not annelids but belong among the Platyzoa, possibly to the clade of animals with anterior sperm flagella (=Prosomastigozoa). The Acanthocephala represent derived syndermates ("rotifers"), possibly related to Seison (the name Pararotatoria comb. n. is proposed for Seisonida + Acanthocephala). The crustacean origin of the Pentastomida based on spermatological and molecular evidence (Pentastomida + Branchiura = Ichthyostraca) is confronted with palaeontological views favouring the pre-arthropod derivation of the pentastomids. Phylogenetic position of the nematodes within the Ecdysozoa and evolution of nematode parasitism are discussed, and the lack of relevant information about the enigmatic ectoproctan parasite Buddenbrockia is emphasised.
The male genitalia of the fritillary butterfly Issoria lathonia (L.) were examined and reconstructed based on sagittal and horizontal sections. Nine intrinsic muscles were identified consistent with previous results. The retractor of the anal tube probably operates the "rectal plate", a large, sclerotised, arched plate present ventral to the rectum and dorsal to the phallus in all Issoria s. str. species. The function of the rectal plate is still largely unknown, but it has presumably an important function during copulation. The retractor of the phallus inserts on the phallus, and also on a small, ventral sclerite in the anellus. The retractor of the vesica is smaller in I. lathonia than its counterpart in other Argynnini and originates more centrally inside the phallus. The tergal sclerite, common in most Argynnini, has no attaching muscle and its evolutionary origin remains unclear. The presence of an intrinsic muscle (i3) originating on the tegumen and inserting on the valve in Argynnini cannot be confirmed here. Though generally absent in butterflies, this muscle has been reported once in the North American Argynnis subgenus Speyeria.