Parallel evolution of mound-building and grass-feeding in Australian nasute termites.

Termite mounds built by representatives of the family Termitidae are among the most spectacular constructions in the animal kingdom, reaching 6-8 m in height and housing millions of individuals. Although functional aspects of these structures are well studied, their evolutionary origins remain poorly understood. Australian representatives of the termitid subfamily Nasutitermitinae display a wide variety of nesting habits, making them an ideal group for investigating the evolution of mound building. Because they feed on a variety of substrates, they also provide an opportunity to illuminate the evolution of termite diets. Here, we investigate the evolution of termitid mound building and diet, through a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of Australian Nasutitermitinae. Molecular dating analysis indicates that the subfamily has colonized Australia on three occasions over the past approximately 20 Myr. Ancestral-state reconstruction showed that mound building arose on multiple occasions and from diverse ancestral nesting habits, including arboreal and wood or soil nesting. Grass feeding appears to have evolved from wood feeding via ancestors that fed on both wood and leaf litter. Our results underscore the adaptability of termites to ancient environmental change, and provide novel examples of parallel evolution of extended phenotypes.

A new genus and two new species of Australian Fulviini (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Cylapinae).

The genus Psallofulvius (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Cylapinae) and two of its species from Australia, Psallofulvius danbulla and Psallofuvlius dryander, are described as new two science. The diagnoses, descriptions, distribution maps, digital habitus images, SEM images and drawings of male and female genitalia are provided. Although the genus is placed to Fulviini, it also shares some characters with Psallops Usinger which is either placed in the separate subfamily Psallopinae or the tribe Psallopini within the Cylapinae. The key morphological characters and genera presumably related to Psallofulvius are discussed.

Five new genera of the subfamily Cylapinae (Insecta, Heteroptera, Miridae) from Australia.

Cylapinae is one of the poorly studied groups within the megadiverse family Miridae (Insecta: Heteroptera). In this paper, five monotypic genera from Australia are described as new to science. Two of those taxa, Dariella rubrocuneata gen. nov. and sp. nov., and Labriella fusca gen. nov. and sp. nov. are assigned to the tribe Cylapini. Three taxa, Callitropisca florentine gen. nov. and sp. nov., Laetifulvius morganensis gen. nov. and sp. nov. and Micanitropis seisia gen. nov. and sp. nov. are placed into the tribe Fulviini. Habitus images, SEMs of external characters, illustrations of male and female genitalia, and distribution maps are provided for each species where possible. The systematic position and possible relationships of the newly described taxa are discussed.

Climatic niche comparison between closely related trans-Palearctic species of the genus Orthocephalus (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae).

Previously climatic niche modelling had been studied for only a few trans-Palearctic species. It is unclear whether and to what extent those niches are different, and which climatic variables influence such a wide distribution. Here, environmental niche modelling is performed based on the Worldclim variables using Maxent for eight species of the genus Orthocephalus (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae). This group belongs to one of the largest insect families and it is distributed across Palearctic. Orthocephalus bivittatus, O. brevis, O. saltator and O. vittipennis are distributed across Europe and Asia; O. coriaceus, O. fulvipes, O. funestus, O. proserpinae have more limited distribution. Niche comparison using ENMTools was also undertaken to compare the niches of these species, and to test whether the niches of closely related species with trans-Palearctic distributions are more similar to each other, than to other congeners. It has been found that climatic niche models of all trans-Palearctic species under study are similar but are not identical to each other. This has been supported by niche geographic projections, climatic variables contributing to the models and variable ranges. Climatic niche models of all the trans-Palearctic Orthocephalus species are also very similar to two species having more restricted distribution (O. coriaceus, O. funestus). Results of this study suggest that trans-Palearctic distributions can have different geographic ranges and be shaped by different climatic factors.

Tatupa grafei, a new genus and species of Cylapinae (Heteroptera, Miridae) from Brunei Darussalam.

A new genus and species, Tatupa grafei Tyts, Namyatova & Konstantinov, gen. et sp. nov. (Heteroptera, Miridae, Cylapinae, Fulviini), is described from Brunei Darussalam. A diagnosis, photographs of the dorsal habitus, scanning micrographs of selected morphological structures, and illustrations of male and female genitalia are provided for this new species. Its taxonomic placement within the subfamily Cylapinae is briefly discussed. A comparison with the morphologically most similar genus, Proamblia Bergroth, 1910, is made, and scanning micrographs of Proamblia are also provided.