Exotic-looking Neotropical Tischeriidae (Lepidoptera) and their host plants.

Seven new species of Tischeriidae are described from the Neotropics: Astrotischeria jociui Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. (feeding on Wissadula excelsior (Cav.) C. Presl., Malvaceae), A. atlantica Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. (feeding on Baccharis spicata (Lam.) Baill., Asteraceae), A. cornuata Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. (host plant unknown), Paratischeria guarani Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. (feeding on Elephantopus mollis Kunth, Asteraceae), P. mesoamericana Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. (feeding on Montanoa hibiscifolia Benth., Asteraceae), P. suprafasciata Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. (feeding on Allophyllus edulis (A. St.-Hil., A. Juss. & Cambess.) Hieron. ex Niederl., Sapindaceae), and P. braziliensis Diskus & Stonis, sp. nov. (host plant unknown). Additionally, an updated distribution map of Paratischeria neotropicana (Diskus & Stonis, 2015), which currently has the broadest distribution range among the Neotropical Tischeriidae is provided along with new host-plant data, a list of all recorded host plants in the Neotropics, and a brief discussion on trophic relationships of Tischeriidae. It is hypothesized that host-plant distribution ranges can provide clues to potential distribution ranges of these specialized, monophagous or oligophagous, leaf miners. All new taxa are illustrated with photographs of the adults, their genitalia, and, if available, leaf mines.

The End of Botany.

Biologists unable to recognize common plants, and a decline in botany students, faculty, courses, university departments, and herbaria, highlight the current erosion of botany. How did we reach this crisis, knowing that plants form the basis for life? What are the causes? What can we do to reverse it?

Diagnostics of new species of Neotropical Tischeriidae (Lepidoptera), with the first record of Coptotriche Walshingham from South America.

We describe seven new Neotropical species of Tischeriidae: Astrotischeria dondavisi Stonis Diskus, sp. nov., A. bacchariphaga Diskus Stonis, sp. nov., A. guatemalica Diskus Stonis, sp. nov., A. sanjosei Stonis Diskus, sp. nov., A. truncata Diskus Stonis, sp. nov., Coptotriche parvisacculata Diskus Stonis, sp. nov. and C. carmencita Stonis Diskus, sp. nov. We report the discovery of Coptotriche Walsingham in South America and provide the following new host-plant records for the Neotropical Tischeriidae: Terminalia australis Cambess. (Combretaceae), Baccharis latifolia (Ruiz Pav.) Pers., and B. emarginata (Ruiz Pav.) Pers. (Asteraceae). We update the biology of Astrotischeria ochrimaculosa Diskus, Stonis Vargas with the discovery that Wissadula (Malvaceae) is a new, verified host plant. The new species are illustrated with photographs of the adults, male and, if available, female genitalia, and the leaf mines. We expect broader distributions of tisheriid species in South America inferred from known host-plant distributions.

Technique for the identification of osmophores in flowers of herbarium material (TIOFH).

The histochemical studies that search for osmophores differ in the protocol they follow for fixation and discoloration of the samples, and also in the type and number of stains utilized. Despite these differences, all the studies have one point in common: the use of fresh material either collected directly in the field or cultivated in botanical gardens and greenhouses. This is an obvious limitation for the studies of osmophores. Flower parts of herbarium specimens of different dates of collection and different plant families were exposed to variable times and percentages of discoloration agents and under different stains for finding if it is possible to positively test osmophores in this type of material. We obtained positive results discoloring the samples with ethyl alcohol 96° and sodium hypochlorite, and staining with Lugol, Oil Red O, and Neutral Red (TIOFH). A protocol (TIOFH3) for osmophore testing that combines these three stains into a single procedure is proposed.

Home at last: the enigmatic genera Eriachaenium and Adenocaulon (Compositae, Mutisioideae, Mutisieae, Adenocaulinae).

The genera Eriachaenium and Adenocaulon (Compositae) have distinct but complex histories and both have been placed in a number of tribes across the family. For the first time the two genera are included in a molecular study and the results show that they are best placed in the tribe Mutisieae s.s. and are the only genera in the re-instated subtribe Adenocaulinae. When described, this subtribe contained only Adenocaulon and was found in the Inuleae. The study also confirms one of the conclusions of a recent morphological study that Eriachaenium and Adenocaulon are sister taxa. Past difficulties in tribal assignment are attributed to the distinct and unusual morphology of each genus. Both genera and the subtribe are described and a key to separate the genera is provided.

The origin of the bifurcating style in Asteraceae (Compositae).

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The plant family Asteraceae (Compositae) exhibits remarkable morphological variation in the styles of its members. Lack of studies on the styles of the sister families to Asteraceae, Goodeniaceae and Calyceraceae, obscures our understanding of the origin and evolution of this reproductive feature in these groups. The aim of this work was to perform a comparative study of style morphology and to discuss the relevance of important features in the evolution of Asteraceae and its sister families. METHODS: The histochemistry, venation and general morphology of the styles of members of Goodeniaceae, Calyceraceae and early branching lineages of Asteraceae were analysed and put in a phylogenetic framework to discuss the relevance of style features in the evolution of these families. KEY RESULTS: The location of lipophilic substances allowed differentiation of receptive from non-receptive style papillae, and the style venation in Goodeniaceae and Calyceraceae proved to be distinctive. There were several stages of style evolution from Goodeniaceae to Asteraceae involving connation and elongation of veins, development of bilobation from an initially cup-shaped style, and a redistribution of the receptive and non-receptive papillae. CONCLUSIONS: These developments resulted in bifurcation in the styles of Asteraceae, with each branch face having a different function, and it is suggested here as a mechanism that promoted outcrossing, which in turn led to the great diversification in the family.

An extinct Eocene taxon of the daisy family (Asteraceae): evolutionary, ecological and biogeographical implications.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Morphological, molecular and biogeographical information bearing on early evolution of the sunflower alliance of families suggests that the clade containing the extant daisy family (Asteraceae) differentiated in South America during the Eocene, although palaeontological studies on this continent failed to reveal conclusive support for this hypothesis. Here we describe in detail Raiguenrayun cura gen. & sp. nov., an exceptionally well preserved capitulescence of Asteraceae recovered from Eocene deposits of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. METHODS: The fossil was collected from the 47·5 million-year-old Huitrera Formation at the Estancia Don Hipólito locality, Río Negro Province, Argentina. KEY RESULTS: The arrangement of the capitula in a cymose capitulescence, the many-flowered capitula with multiseriate-imbricate involucral bracts and the pappus-like structures indicate a close morphological relationship with Asteraceae. Raiguenrayun cura and the associated pollen Mutisiapollis telleriae do not match exactly any living member of the family, and clearly represent extinct taxa. They share a mosaic of morphological features today recognized in taxa phylogenetically close to the root of Asteraceae, such as Stifftieae, Wunderlichioideae and Gochnatieae (Mutisioideae sensu lato) and Dicomeae and Oldenburgieae (Carduoideae), today endemic to or mainly distributed in South America and Africa, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first fossil genus of Asteraceae based on an outstandingly preserved capitulescence that might represent the ancestor of Mutisioideae-Carduoideae. It might have evolved in southern South America some time during the early Palaeogene and subsequently entered Africa, before the biogeographical isolation of these continents became much more pronounced. The new fossil represents the first reliable point for calibration, favouring an earlier date to the split between Barnadesioideae and the rest of Asteraceae than previously thought, which can be traced back at least 47·5 million years. This is the oldest well dated member of Asteraceae and perhaps the earliest indirect evidence for bird pollination in the family.

Evolution of secondary heads in Nassauviinae (Asteraceae, Mutisieae).

The evolution of the inflorescence head in Asteraceae is important in the diversification of this largest angiosperm family. The aggregation of heads into higher-order capitulescences (secondary heads or syncephalia) is considered evolutionarily advanced. The genera Moscharia, Nassauvia, Polyachyrus, and Triptilion of the subtribe Nassauviinae (Mutisieae) have syncephalia with differing degrees of capitula condensation. ITS and plastid trnL-trnF regions were analyzed separately and together using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood to examine the evolution of syncephalia in the Nassauviinae. The four genera displaying syncephalia do not form a clade minus taxa without syncephalia, indicating that secondary heads in Nassauviinae have either convergently evolved twice in the subtribe (or, very unlikely) once with multiple reversions. Strong support was obtained for a sister relationship between Leucheria (without syncephalium) and Polyachyrus, and both sister to Moscharia. Nassauvia and Triptilion form a distinct clade but are sister to other genera, Perezia and Panphalea, without syncephalium. Previous hypotheses postulated the evolution from simple to more complex secondary heads. We show that the ancestor of Moscharia, Polyachyrus, and Leucheria, in a more arid habitat, had a complex type of secondary head, and loss of complexity occurred in response to a shift from arid to mesic conditions.