Revision of the Genus Rhagastis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from China, Based on Morphological and Phylogenetic Analyses.

Here, the taxonomy of the genus Rhagastis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae, Macroglossinae, Macroglossini) from China is revised based on differences in wing morphology, male and female genitalia, and the phylogenetic relationship of the DNA barcodes. Subspecies of Rhagastis albomarginatus (Rothschild, 1894) and R. castor (Walker, 1856) are treated as "good" species, namely Rhagastis dichroae Mell, 1922 stat. nov.; R. everetti Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 stat. nov.; R. aurifera (Butler, 1875) stat. rev.; R. chinensis Mell, 1922 stat. nov.; R. formosana Clark, 1925 stat. nov.; and R. jordani Oberthür, 1904 stat. rev. The distribution maps, biological notes, and ecological records of the genus Rhagastis Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 from China are given, and a species inventory of genus Rhagastis in the world is also included.

Plastic footprint deteriorates dryland carbon footprint across soil-plant-atmosphere continuum.

Plastic fragments are widely found in the soil profile of terrestrial ecosystems, forming plastic footprint and posing increasing threat to soil functionality and carbon (C) footprint. It is unclear how plastic footprint affects C cycling, and in particularly permanent C sequestration. Integrated field observations (including 13C labelling) were made using polyethylene and polylactic acid plastic fragments (low-, medium- and high-concentrations as intensifying footprint) landfilling in soil, to track C flow along soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC). The result indicated that increased plastic fragments substantially reduced photosynthetic C assimilation (p < 0.05), regardless of fragment degradability. Besides reducing C sink strength, relative intensity of C emission increased significantly, displaying elevated C source. Moreover, root C fixation declined significantly from 21.95 to 19.2 mg m-2, and simultaneously root length density, root weight density, specific root length and root diameter and surface area were clearly reduced. Similar trends were observed in the two types of plastic fragments (p > 0.05). Particularly, soil aggregate stability was significantly lowered as affected by plastic fragments, which accelerated the decomposition rate of newly sequestered C (p < 0.05). More importantly, net C rhizodeposition declined averagely from 39.77 to 29.41 mg m-2, which directly led to significant decline of permanent C sequestration in soil. Therefore, increasing plastic footprint considerably worsened C footprint regardless of polythene and biodegradable fragments. The findings unveiled the serious effects of plastic residues on permanent C sequestration across SPAC, implying that current C assessment methods clearly overlook plastic footprint and their global impact effects.

Complete mitochondrial genome of a Eurytopic midge, Polypedilum nubifer (Diptera: Chironomidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Polypedilum nubifer was sequenced and annotated, and its general features and base composition were analyzed. The mitogenome was 15,896 bp long, comprising 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transport RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 1 control region. The phylogenetic relationships based on the concatenated nucleotide sequences of 17 metagenomes from families Chironomidae, Ceratopogonidae, and Simuliidae were reconstructed. According to the phylogenetic topologies, P. nubifer was closely related to (P. unifascium + P. vanderplanki) in the maximum likelihood tree.

Corynoneura Winnertz species from Hunan Province, Oriental China, delineated with morphological and 16S rDNA data (Diptera, Chironomidae).

The genus Corynoneura Winnertz, 1846 from Hunan Province in Oriental China is reviewed. Four new species, C.enormis Fu sp. nov., C.gibbera Fu sp. nov., C.incuria Fu sp. nov., and C.longshanensis Fu sp. nov. are described and illustrated based on adult males. Sequence data from the 16S rDNA gene were used to infer relationships between these species and complement morphological delineation. Sequences from the mitochondrial large ribosomal subunit (16S rDNA) from these species are uploaded to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Relationships were inferred using the Neighbor-Joining method based on 16S rDNA.

Corynoneura Winnertz (Diptera, Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae) from Zhejiang Province, China.

The genus Corynoneura Winnertz, 1846 from Zhejiang Province in Oriental China is reviewed. Corynoneura aggeris Fu, sp. n., Corynoneura lateralis Fu, sp. n., Corynoneura petitspectabilis Fu, sp. n., Corynoneura prolata Fu, sp. n., and Corynoneura recta Fu, sp. n. are described and illustrated based on adult males. Corynoneura lobata Edwards, 1924 and Corynoneura tokarapequea Sasa et Suzuki, 1995 are redescribed and illustrated based on newly collected material. A key to known adult males of Corynoneura from Zhejiang Province is given.