Detecting areas of endemism with a taxonomically diverse data set: plants, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and insects from Argentina.

The idea of an area of endemism implies that different groups of plants and animals should have largely coincident distributions. This paper analyses an area of 1152 000 km2 , between parallels 21 and 32°S and meridians 70 and 53°W to examine whether a large and taxonomically diverse data set actually displays areas supported by different groups. The data set includes the distribution of 805 species of plants (45 families), mammals (25 families), reptiles (six families), amphibians (five families), birds (18 families), and insects (30 families), and is analysed with the optimality criterion (based on the notion of endemism) implemented in the program NDM/VNDM. Almost 50% of the areas obtained are supported by three or more major groups; areas supported by fewer major groups generally contain species from different genera, families, or orders. © The Willi Hennig Society 2011.

The Pronotum of Worker of Camponotus borellii Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): How Can It Affect Performance of the Head, Work Division, and Development of the Worker Caste?

In polymorphic ants, whose workers display continuous size distribution, each subcaste occupies a phenotypic space, usually with diffuse morphological boundaries. These morphological differences are closely associated to size by allometry although the environment also plays a key role that affects the fitness of the species. In Camponotus borellii Emery, the species selected as a study model, workers exhibit a continuous increase in size; geometric morphometric (GM) was used over four morphological traits: head capsule, clypeus, pronotum, and mesosoma, in order to assess (1) changes in shape, among the worker caste; (2) the influence of allometry on such changes; and (3) pronotum shape in respect to the head so as to infer which factors may influence the polymorphic development of the worker caste. The results indicated that the pronotum is organized into two highly integrated functional modules (neck and shield), corresponding to one developmental module. GM shows a similar pattern to that obtained for linear morphometry, though the worker ratio was different along continuous size distribution due to shape changes in two traits, with are also useful for delimiting modular units: (1) rounded shape of the posterior region of the head in minor workers; (2) shape of the pronotum, especially its anterior region, henceforth, neck, which widens as a consequence of the higher development of its central region, henceforth, shield, in major workers. The relevance of these results is discussed regarding functional morphology (pronotum in relation to the head), work division, and development of the worker caste.

Timeless standards for species delimitation.

Recently a new species of bombyliid fly, Marleyimyia xylocopae, was described by Marshall & Evenhuis (2015) based on two photographs taken during fieldwork in the Republic of South Africa. This species has no preserved holotype. The paper generated some buzz, especially among dipterists, because in most cases photographs taken in the field provide insufficient information for properly diagnosing and documenting species of Diptera.

An optimality criterion to determine areas of endemism.

A formal method was developed to determine areas of endemism. The study region is divided into cells, and the number of species that can be considered as endemic is counted for a given set of cells (= area). Thus, the areas with the maximum number of species considered endemic are preferred. This is the first method for the identification of areas of endemism that implements an optimality criterion directly based on considering the aspects of species distribution that are relevant to endemism. The method is implemented in two computer programs, NDM and VNDM, available from the authors.