A new genus and species of Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Enicocephalomorpha: Aenictopecheidae: Aenictopecheinae, Ulugurocoris grebennikovi gen. et sp. n., based on micropterous females from Tanzania, Uluguru Mts, Budunki, is described and differentiated. The males are probably macropterous. Some general aspects of morphology of U. grebennikovi are discussed in a broader context, such as presence of cephalic trichobothria (suggested to be a groundplan character of Heteroptera), presence of “gular sulci” (suggested to have an ecdysial function), lack of cephalic neck (symplesiomorphy with other Hemiptera), presence of posterior lobe of pronotum associated with the epimeroid (a new term for so called “proepimeral lobe”), and presence of notopleural sulcus on the propleuron. Diagnostic characters of the Aenictopecheinae are summarized and distribution of their seven genera is reviewed. Ulugurocoris grebennikovi is the first representative of the basal family Aenictopecheidae in the Afrotropical Region. The type locality is situated in the Eastern Arc Mountains (Tanzania), a recently identified hotspot of Afrotropical diversity characterized by a high degree of endemism caused by high rates of speciation combined with low rates of extinction. A brief characterization of the area is provided., Pavel Štys, Petr Baňař., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
This paper is the first attempt to resolve relationships among the Ceratocanthinae: Ceratocanthini pill scarab beetles using DNA sequences. It is focused on the Philharmostes group of seven Afrotropical genera: Baloghianestes (3 spp.), Callophilharmostes (1 sp.), Carinophilharmostes (1 sp.), Chaetophilharmostes (1 sp.), Cryptophilharmostes (3 spp.), Petrovitzostes (1 sp.) and Philharmostes (31 spp.). A phylogenetic analysis of 46 terminals and alignment of 2,913 bp from one mitochondrial and two nuclear fragments corroborates monophyly of this group, but rejects that of Philharmostes, the largest genus. The latter is paraphyletic with respect to at least four other smaller genera and consists of at least three distantly related clades. One of them, formed by Philharmostes ballerioi sp. n. from the Tanzanian Nguru (the type locality) and Kaguru Mountains, is sister to the rest of the entire Philharmostes group. The nominal genus Philharmostes is, therefore, a waste-basket taxon for accommodating members of this group that lack the distinct characters of the smaller genera. Pending further research, the phylogenetically inadequate generic taxonomy of the Philharmostes group is not modified. Molecular clock analysis estimates separation of the mitochondrial lineages of two known populations of the new species at about 2.2 Ma, which corresponds with recurring shrinkage and expansion of African rainforest caused by climatic fluctuations during the Pleistocene. Adults of all nominal ingroup genera are illustrated along with male and female body parts of the new species. Diagnostic and/or synapomorphic morphological characters of the Philharmostes group of genera are revised. Habitus images and other supplementary information on all sequenced specimens are available online at dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-VGDS001 and dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-VGDS004.
We report results of a faunal survey of Aradidae flat bugs sampled by sifting litter in 14 wet and discrete Tanzanian primary forests (= Tanzanian Forest Archipelago, TFA) of different geological origins and ages. Images, locality data and, when available, DNA barcoding sequences of 300 Aradidae adults and nymphs forming the core of the herein analyzed data are publicly available online at dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-ARADTZ. Three Aradidae subfamilies and seven genera were recorded: Aneurinae (Paraneurus), Carventinae (Dundocoris) and Mezirinae (Afropictinus, Embuana, Linnavuoriessa, Neochelonoderus, Usumbaraia); the two latter subfamilies were also represented by specimens not assignable to nominal genera. Barring the six nominal species of Neochelonoderus and Afropictinus described earlier by us from these samples and representing 11 of the herein defined Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU), only one of the remaining 52 OTUs could be assigned to a named species; the remaining 51 OTUs (81%) represent unnamed species. Average diversity of Aradidae is 4.64 species per locality; diversity on the three geologically young volcanoes (Mts Hanang, Meru, Kilimanjaro) is significantly lower (1.33) than on the nine Eastern Arc Mountains (5.67) and in two lowland forests (5). Observed phylogeographic structure of Aradidae in TFA can be attributed to vicariance, while the depauperate fauna of Aradidae on geologically young Tanzanian volcanoes was likely formed anew by colonisation from nearby and geologically older forests., Vasily V. Grebennikov, Ernst Heiss., and Obsahuje bibliografii