Historically the taxonomy of the genus Timarcha has been, and continues to be, quite confusing and largely erroneous. The confusion is mainly due to the absence of reliable traits that aid in precise identification; the lack of study of types at species-level has also contributed to the difficulty in the taxonomy. To improve this situation, we propose techniques for the dissection and study of three useful diagnostic characters such as the vestiture of the sole of female tarsi, and the morphology of the endophallus and its sclerites in males. These features combined are distinctive for each of the species and can help to resolve the taxonomy of the genus.
Two new species of Metapocyrtus Heller, 1912, subgenus Orthocyrtus Heller, 1912 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae, Pachyrhynchini) are described and illustrated from Mindanao Island, Philippines. The species are Metapocyrtus (Orthocyrtus) davaoensissp. nov. and Metapocyrtus (Orthocyrtus) hirakuisp. nov. from Davao City and Bukidnon, respectively. Brief bionomical notes and phenotypic characters compared to their sympatric Entiminae counterparts are also reported. The discovery of M. (O.) davaoensissp. nov. in Davao City confirms how understudied Coleoptera are in Mindanao and underlines the potential for the discovery of new species even in highly urbanized areas.
We present a systematic list of the species of Catasticta found in Venezuela and synthesize the results of extensive recent fieldwork and museum study with conclusions and findings previously reported in the scientific literature. Twenty-one taxa are present in Venezuela while two species previously reported from the country (i.e. C. radiata and C. truncata) are removed. Catasticta philone philone, C. apaturina subturina, C. cinerea suprema, and C. rochereaui rochereaui stat. rev. are reported from Venezuela for the first time; the taxonomic status of C. troezene and C. gelba is revised; C. flisa viloriai new subspecies, C. sisamnus ayanganna new subspecies, C. prioneris parrishi new subspecies, C. philoscia reyi new subspecies, C. troezene miza new subspecies, C. seitzi clarita new subspecies, and C. chrysolopha beatrizae new subspecies are described. Maps show the distribution of each taxon in Venezuela
A total of 385 Euphaedra eberti Aurivillius, 1898, adults collected between 2012 and 2018 in the vicinity of Bangui, Central African Republic, were examined for intraspecific morphological variability, genetic diversity and genitalia structure. The species shows significant wing pattern variability. Two main morphotypes were identified in the set: the nominate form eberti, and the one comprising specimens with a red patch, form rubromaculata. However, both forms had similar genitalic structures and shared some specific wing marks, in addition to displaying the same COI (i.e., barcode region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene) haplotype, strongly suggesting that the two morphologically distinct forms belong to the same species, E. eberti. The causes of this variability remain unclear.
We provide diagnostic characters for the amastris group of Catasticta, an annotated synonymic list of all taxa in the group (eight species, plus ten subspecies), a key to the identification of its species and subspecies, and describe as new Catasticta vilcabamba Lamas & Bollino (from Peru, Cuzco),
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