Sternodea arcana, new species (Coleoptera: Cryptophagidae: Caenoscelini): part of the Nearctic fauna?

The leaf litter-inhabiting genus Sternodea Reitter (Cryptophagidae: Cryptophaginae: Caenoscelini) presently contains seven Palearctic species and up to 27 undescribed species from North and Central America. Here we describe Sternodea arcana, new species, ostensibly from Florida but possibly mislabeled, and likely originating from Mexico or Central America. Consequently, the existence of Sternodea among the North American cryptophagid fauna is unknown.

Cedraderus, a new genus for "Xylophilus" constrictus Fall (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea: Aderidae).

Cedraderus, new genus is erected for a single species described from California, USA, Cedraderus constrictus (Fall, 1910), new combination, and distinguished from all other aderid genera based on the pronotum having subapical and sub-basal sulci, presence of a supraepipleural groove on the elytron, lack of sexual dimorphism and setal brush on the metafemora, and abdominal ventrites 1 and 2 connate with a complete suture.

Annotated checklist of the beetles (Coleoptera) of the California Channel Islands.

The beetle fauna of the California Channel Islands is here enumerated for the first time in over 120 years. We provide an annotated checklist documenting species-by-island diversity from an exhaustive literature review and analysis of a compiled dataset of 26,609 digitized specimen records to which were added over 3,000 individual specimen determinations. We report 825 unique species from 514 genera and 71 families (including 17 new family records) comprising 1,829 species-by-island records. Species totals for each island are as follows: Anacapa (74); San Clemente (197); San Miguel (138); San Nicolas (146); Santa Barbara (64); Santa Catalina (370); Santa Cruz (503); and Santa Rosa (337). This represents the largest list of species published to date for any taxonomic group of animals on the Channel Islands; despite this, we consider the checklist to be preliminary. We present evidence that both inventory and taxonomic efforts on Channel Islands beetles are far from complete. Rarefaction estimates indicate there are at least several hundred more species of beetles yet to be recorded from the islands. Despite the incomplete nature of existing records, we found that species diversity is highly correlated with island area. We report 56 species which are putatively geographically restricted (endemic) to the Channel Islands, with two additional species of questionable endemic status. We also report 52 species from the islands which do not natively occur in the southern California region.

Integrated phylogenomics and fossil data illuminate the evolution of beetles.

Beetles constitute the most biodiverse animal order with over 380 000 described species and possibly several million more yet unnamed. Recent phylogenomic studies have arrived at considerably incongruent topologies and widely varying estimates of divergence dates for major beetle clades. Here, we use a dataset of 68 single-copy nuclear protein-coding (NPC) genes sampling 129 out of the 193 recognized extant families as well as the first comprehensive set of fully justified fossil calibrations to recover a refined timescale of beetle evolution. Using phylogenetic methods that counter the effects of compositional and rate heterogeneity, we recover a topology congruent with morphological studies, which we use, combined with other recent phylogenomic studies, to propose several formal changes in the classification of Coleoptera: Scirtiformia and Scirtoidea sensu nov., Clambiformia ser. nov. and Clamboidea sensu nov., Rhinorhipiformia ser. nov., Byrrhoidea sensu nov., Dryopoidea stat. res., Nosodendriformia ser. nov. and Staphyliniformia sensu nov., and Erotyloidea stat. nov., Nitiduloidea stat. nov. and Cucujoidea sensu nov., alongside changes below the superfamily level. Our divergence time analyses recovered a late Carboniferous origin of Coleoptera, a late Palaeozoic origin of all modern beetle suborders and a Triassic-Jurassic origin of most extant families, while fundamental divergences within beetle phylogeny did not coincide with the hypothesis of a Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution.

Mesozoic sooty mould beetles as living relicts in New Zealand.

New Zealand is an island continent that completed its split from the Gondwanan continent at 52 Ma, harbouring an iconic biota of tuatara, kiwi and weta. The sooty mould community is a distinctive trophic element of New Zealand forest ecosystems that is driven by plant-feeding sternorrhynchan Hemiptera. These produce honeydew, which supports fungal growth, which in turn supports numerous endemic invertebrates, including endemic New Zealand beetle families. Ancient New Zealand insect fossils are rare but a single fossil of a sooty mould cyclaxyrid was recently described from Cretaceous Burmese amber, a family that was previously known from two extant New Zealand species. Well-preserved fossils like this one are recasting Earth history, and, based on a wealth of additional specimens, we re-evaluate the taxonomy of Cretaceous cyclaxyrids and one Eocene species here transferred to Cyclaxyridae. Cyclaxyridae are highly tied to the sooty mould community and have now been discovered to occur in disparate biogeographic realms in deep time. Our discovery indicates that the family, and perhaps the sooty mould community in general, was widespread in Pangaea from at least the Cretaceous and survived as a relict in New Zealand. Persistence of a sooty mould ecosystem in New Zealand and fungal specialization may not necessarily be an evolutionary 'dead-end' for cyclaxyrids and other insects.

On the identity of Sternosternus grouvellei Guillebeau, 1894 (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae, Phalacridae).

The genus Sternosternus Guillebeau, 1894 was described as an aberrant taxon of the family Phalacridae from Sumatra, based on the unique morphology of its meso- and metaventrite resembling those of Cetonia aurata Linnaeus, 1758 (Guillebeau 1894). It contained the single species, S. grouvellei Guillebeau, 1894, known from a single specimen. The identity of Sternosternus was long unclear, and nothing was published on the genus until Gimmel (2013) studied the type specimen and recognized it actually belonged to the family Hydrophilidae, likely being a member of the genus Dactylosternum Wollaston, 1854.

Soup to Tree: The Phylogeny of Beetles Inferred by Mitochondrial Metagenomics of a Bornean Rainforest Sample.

In spite of the growth of molecular ecology, systematics and next-generation sequencing, the discovery and analysis of diversity is not currently integrated with building the tree-of-life. Tropical arthropod ecologists are well placed to accelerate this process if all specimens obtained through mass-trapping, many of which will be new species, could be incorporated routinely into phylogeny reconstruction. Here we test a shotgun sequencing approach, whereby mitochondrial genomes are assembled from complex ecological mixtures through mitochondrial metagenomics, and demonstrate how the approach overcomes many of the taxonomic impediments to the study of biodiversity. DNA from approximately 500 beetle specimens, originating from a single rainforest canopy fogging sample from Borneo, was pooled and shotgun sequenced, followed by de novo assembly of complete and partial mitogenomes for 175 species. The phylogenetic tree obtained from this local sample was highly similar to that from existing mitogenomes selected for global coverage of major lineages of Coleoptera. When all sequences were combined only minor topological changes were induced against this reference set, indicating an increasingly stable estimate of coleopteran phylogeny, while the ecological sample expanded the tip-level representation of several lineages. Robust trees generated from ecological samples now enable an evolutionary framework for ecology. Meanwhile, the inclusion of uncharacterized samples in the tree-of-life rapidly expands taxon and biogeographic representation of lineages without morphological identification. Mitogenomes from shotgun sequencing of unsorted environmental samples and their associated metadata, placed robustly into the phylogenetic tree, constitute novel DNA "superbarcodes" for testing hypotheses regarding global patterns of diversity.

A review of the genus Lamellipalpodes Maulik (Coleoptera: Lampyridae).

The Ototretinae genus Lamellipalpodes Maulik, 1921 is reviewed. Four species are proposed as new to science, L. bajhangensis Bocakova sp. nov., L. holzschuhi Bocakova sp. nov. and L. godawarensis Bocakova sp. nov., all from Nepal, and L. yunnanensis Bocakova sp. nov. from China (Yunnan) and northern Laos. Six species are redescribed. Illustrations of diagnostic characters are included, with a checklist and a key to Lamellipalpodes species. The genus is newly recorded from China and Laos.

A new extant species of Electribius Crowson from Honduras (Coleoptera: Elateroidea: Artematopodidae).

A new extant species of Electribius Crowson, E. llamae sp.n., is described from Cusuco National Park, Cortés Province, Honduras. This new species lacks one of the supposed autapomorphies of the genus; therefore the definition of the genus requires modification. A revised key to the known extant species is presented, and their known distributions are mapped.

Genus-level revision of the family Phalacridae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea).

A pre-phylogenetic revision of the family Phalacridae at the genus level is presented. Twenty-eight new generic synonymies are established as follows: Acylomus Sharp 1888 (=Liophalacrus Sharp 1888, syn. nov.; Ganyrus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.; Podocesus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.; Tinodemus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.; Ledorus Guillebeau 1895, syn. nov.; Astenulus Guillebeau 1896, syn. nov.; Afronyrus Svec 2006, syn. nov.), Apallodes Reitter 1873 (=Litolibrus Sharp 1889, syn. nov.; Sphaeropsis Guillebeau 1893, syn. nov.; Gyromorphus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.), Augasmus Motschulsky 1858 (=Megischius Guillebeau 1896, syn. nov.; Nematolibrus Sahlberg 1913, syn. nov.), Entomocnemus Guillebeau 1894 (=Stilbomimus Champion 1924, syn. nov.), Grouvelleus Guillebeau 1892 (=Ochrolitoides Champion 1924, syn. nov.; Litotarsus Champion 1925, syn. nov.), Litochrus Erichson 1845 (=Merobrachys Guillebeau 1895, syn. nov.), Litostilbus Guillebeau 1894 (=Pseudolitochrus Liubarsky 1993, syn. nov.), Ochrolitus Sharp 1889 (=Gorginus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.), Olibroporus Casey 1890 (=Parasemus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.), Olibrosoma Tournier 1889 (=Lichrotus Lyubarsky 1993, syn. nov.), Phaenocephalus Wollaston 1873 (=Phalacratomus Scott 1922, syn. nov.; Heterostilbus Champion 1924, syn. nov.), Phalacrinus Blackburn 1891 (=Sphaerostilbus Champion 1924, syn. nov.), Pseudolibrus Flach 1889 (=Biophytus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.; Polyaloxus Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.), Pycinus Guillebeau 1893 (=Ochrodemus Guillebeau 1893, syn. nov.; Radinus Guillebeau 1893, syn. nov.; Euphalacrus Champion 1925, syn. nov.). Ten new genera and seven new species are described: Antennogasmus, gen. nov. (type species: A. cordatus, sp. nov.), Austroporus, gen. nov. (type species: A. victoriensis (Blackburn)), Malagasmus Gimmel, gen. nov. (type species: M. thalesi, sp. nov.), Malagophytus, gen. nov. (type species: M. steineri, sp. nov.), Neolitochrus, gen. nov. (type species: N. pulchellus (LeConte)), Paracylomus, gen. nov. (type species: P. asiaticus (Champion)), Platyphalacrus, gen. nov. (type species: P. lawrencei, sp. nov.), Ranomafanacrinus, gen. nov. (type species: R. nigrinus, sp. nov.), Steinerlitrus, gen. nov. (type species: S. warreni, sp. nov.), Sveculus, gen. nov. (type species: S. lewisi, sp. nov.). Generic reassignments resulted in 194 new combinations. Nine new names have been established for junior primary and secondary homonyms: Acylomus bicoloratus nom. nov. for Tinodemus bicolor Svec 2002; Acylomus lyubarskyi nom. nov. for Olibrus capriviensis Lyubarsky 1998; Acylomus sveci nom. nov. for Tinodemus reticulatus Svec 2002; Acylomus orientalis nom. nov. for Stilbus similis Svec 1992; Acylomus zdeneki nom. nov. for Afronyrus snizeki Svec 2006; Apallodes championi nom. nov. for Litolibrus ocellatus Champion 1925; Olibrus peringueyi nom. nov. for Olibrus consanguineus Péringuey 1892; Augasmus exquisitus nom. nov. for Litochrus pulchellus Blackburn 1895; Litochrus pronotalis nom. nov. for Augasmus bimaculatus Lyubarsky 1996. A type species is designated for Phalacrinus Blackburn 1891 (P. australis Blackburn 1891). Six new species-group synonymies are established: Acylomus ergoti Casey 1890 (=Tinodemus grouvellei Guillebeau 1894, syn. nov.), Acylomus curvolineatus (Champion 1924) (=Tinodemus meridianus (Svec 1992), syn. nov.; Olibrus stuporatus Lyubarsky 1994, syn. nov.), Xanthocomus attenuatus (Casey, 1890) (=Xanthocomus concinnus (Casey, 1916), syn. nov.; Stilbus thoracicus Casey, 1916, syn. nov.; Stilbus quadrisetosus Casey, 1916, syn. nov.). One name, Olibrus sternalis Casey 1916, is resurrected from synonymy. Lectotypes are designated for 23 nominal species. One genus and two species are excluded from Phalacridae: Sternosternus Guillebeau 1894 (with its type and only species, S. grouvelleiGuillebeau 1894) and Parasemus parvopallidus Lea 1932, both of which belong in Hydrophilidae. All 34 resulting genera in the family Phalacridae are keyed, described, and illustrated. A phylogenetic hypothesis based on analysis of a matrix of 98 morphological characters was created using parsimony. Results of these analyses were not robust enough at deep levels to create a new subfamilial or tribal classification, but nine genus-groups have been hypothesized.

Role of ipsdienol, ipsenol, and cis-verbenol in chemical ecology of Ips avulsus, Ips calligraphus, and Ips grandicollis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae).

Stressed or damaged pine (Pinus sp.) trees in the southeastern United States are often colonized simultaneously by three southern Ips species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae): small southern pine engraver, Ips avulsus (Eichhoff); sixspined ips, Ips calligraphus (Germar); and eastern fivespined ips, Ips grandicollis (Eichhoff). All three species mediate colonization of host material with volatile pheromones. All of the southern Ips produce cis-verbenol, and either ipsdienol or ipsenol, and electrophysiological studies have demonstrated that all three southern Ips are able to detect all three compounds. This study examined the role of ipsdienol, ipsenol, and cis-verbenol in the chemical ecology of the southern Ips in Georgia and Louisiana. The most attractive blends of pheromones, with the fewest number of components, were ipsdienol plus ipsenol for I. avulsus, cis-verbenol plus ipsdienol for I. calligraphus, and either cis-verbenol plus ipsenol or ipsdienol plus ipsenol for I. grandicollis. Cross-attraction of I. grandicollis to the pheromone blend most attractive to I. avulsus was observed. Although the presence of heterospecific pheromone reduced the catches of all three species (i.e., the tertiary blend captured fewer beetles than the most attractive binary blends) in both states (significantly in two cases), high numbers of all three species were still captured in traps baited with all three compounds. These results suggest that the pheromones cis-verbenol, ipsdienol, and ipsenol can be combined for monitoring all three species of the southern Ips simultaneously.