Diversity pattern of insects from Macao based on an updated species checklist after 25 years.

Background: Insects represent one of the most diverse groups in the organism world with extremely rich species and morphological diversity, playing important roles in natural and city ecosystems. Regional compilation of insect species lists helps to clarify the richness of insect species in a region, enhances our understanding the structure and function of a local ecosystem and promotes the protection and development of insect resources. Moreover, it also serves as a valuable reference for cities with small area, large population and high urbanisation like Macao. Macao (Macau) Special Administrative Region (SAR) is situated at the Pearl River Delta on the southeast coast of mainland China. With urban development accelerating at great rate in a quite restricted area, Macao still has rich fauna, within which the insect diversity is surprisingly high. New information: In this study, we systematically sorted out major references items of manuals or handbooks, monographs, articles, dissertations, official websites and other publicly available information sources about the insects recorded in Macao and, thus, generated a checklist of 15 orders, 166 families, 868 genera, 1,339 species and 118 subspecies. During this process, the preliminarily summarised list was re-examined to eliminate synonyms and invalid species, based on many more extensive literature reviews. Besides, spelling errors of scientific names, authors and years were corrected. Meanwhile, the catalogue revealed a different composition pattern of species diversity between orders from those of the world and China. Even based on the most conservative estimates, the number of insect species in Macao should not be lower than 3,340 species, which hints at the necessity of deeper investigations with adequate collecting in the future to achieve more comprehensive recognition and understanding of Macao's insect biodiversity.

Cryptic diversity begets challenges and opportunities in biodiversity research.

How many species of life are there on Earth? This is a question that we want to know but cannot yet answer. Some scholars speculate that the number of species may reach 2.2 billion when considering cryptic diversity and that each morphology-based insect species may contain an average of 3.1 cryptic species. With nearly two million described species, such high estimates of cryptic diversity would suggest that cryptic species are widespread. The development of molecular species delimitation has led to the discovery of a large number of cryptic species, and cryptic biodiversity has gradually entered our field of vision and attracted more attention. This paper introduces the concept of cryptic species, how they evolve, and methods by which they may be discovered and confirmed, and provides theoretical and methodological guidance for the study of hidden species. A workflow of how to confirm cryptic species is provided. In addition, the importance and reliability of multi-evidence-based integrated taxonomy are reaffirmed as a way to better standardize decision-making processes. Special focus on cryptic diversity and increased funding for taxonomy is needed to ensure that cryptic species in hyperdiverse groups are discoverable and described. An increased focus on cryptic species in the future will naturally arise as more difficult groups are studied, and thereby, we may finally better understand the rules governing the evolution and maintenance of cryptic biodiversity.

Review of the Idaeaproximaria complex (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Sterrhinae) with descriptions of four new species.

The Idaeaproximaria complex is reviewed and four new species are described from China: Idaearectangularis Cheng & Han, sp. nov. from Guangxi and Fujian provinces, Idaearectispina Cheng & Han, sp. nov. from Hunan province, Idaeasetosa Xue & Han, sp. nov. from Hainan province, and Idaealinearis Xue & Han, sp. nov. from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. Illustrations of adults and genitalia of the new species and known species are presented, and the variations in the form of the aedeagus of Idaeaproximaria are discussed.

The biomineralization of silica induced stress tolerance in plants: a case study for aluminum toxicity.

Biomineralization in plant roots refers to the process of cell-induced self-assembly to form nanostructures on the root surface. Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element in soils, and beneficial to plant growth. Meanwhile, silicon is shown to participate in the process of biomineralization, which is useful for improving mechanical strength and alleviating biotic and abiotic stress, for example silicic acid polymerizes to form amorphous silica (SiO2-nH2O) in the process of growing to resist fungi and environmental stress. This process alters physical and chemical properties of cell wall. However, the mechanistic basis of this process remains unclear. Aluminum toxicity is a major constraint affecting plant performance in acid soil. This paper summarizes recent research advances in the field of plant biomineralization and describes the effects of silicon biomineralization on plant aluminum tolerance and its adaptive significance, using aluminum toxicity as a case study.

Four new species of Ditrigona Moore (Lepidoptera, Drepanidae) in China and an annotated catalogue.

The Chinese species of the genus Ditrigona Moore, 1888 are reviewed and an annotated catalogue is provided. Four new species are described from China: Ditrigonasinespina Jiang & Han, sp. nov., Ditrigonaparva Jiang & Han, sp. nov., Ditrigonaconcava Guo & Han, sp. nov., and Ditrigonafusca Guo & Han, sp. nov. Derocacrystalla Chu & Wang, 1987 and Auzatellapentesticha Chu & Wang, 1987 are newly combined into, respectively, the derocina and quinaria species groups of Ditrigona. Ditrigonadiana Wilkinson is newly recorded in China. This results in 43 species of Ditrigona for the fauna of China. Illustrations of habitus and genitalia of the new species and most known species are presented.

Patterns of endemism of the Chinese Larentiinae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae).

Chinese Larentiinae is exceptionally rich in species since it spans the Palearctic realm and the Oriental realm, comprising 715 species belonging to 130 genera. Among them, nearly half species are endemic. This taxon is considered an ideal object for the study of endemic patterns. In this study, parsimony analysis of endemicity was used to delineate areas of endemisms (AOEs), and track compatibility analysis (TCA) was used to perform the TCA. Eight AOEs were supported. Except for five AOEs around the Qinghai-Tibet plateau (QTP), two AOEs from northern China and Taiwan islands were found. Twenty-two generalized tracks were obtained from the combination of the track analysis and the AOEs. The uplift of the QTP was assumed to greatly influence these endemic patterns, presented an appearance of highly centralized endemism and diversity in the eastern and southern edges of the QTP. And the AOE of Mt. Hengduan was considered as a major center of development through recent geological history, where strong evolutionary radiation might have taken place, resulting in the migration routes described by the generalized tracks from this center to various regions in various directions.

Shennongjia-Wushan Mountains-One cryptic glacial refugium introduced by the phylogeographical study of the Geometridae moth Ourapteryx szechuana Wehrli.

The origin and evolution of biodiversity in the Shennongjia and Wushan Mountains, located in central China, are little known. In this study, we used Ourapteryx szechuana, which is widely distributed in China and northern Nepal, to explore whether these mountains acted as glacial refugia during climate oscillations of the Quaternary. In total, 192 samples of O. szechuana were collected throughout much of the distribution range. Phylogenetic analysis, molecular dating, demographic history reconstructions, and MAXENT were used to investigate the evolutionary history and differentiation mechanisms and predict the potential species distributions during four different periods. The phylogenetic tree and the star-like median-joining network strongly supported two reciprocally monophyletic and allopatric lineages. Lineage I was restricted to the Shennongjia and Wushan Mountains. The divergence time of O. szechuana from its sister species O. thibetaria was approximately 1.94 Ma. The differentiation processes of the two intraspecific lineages occurred at approximately 0.47 Ma. The demographic history reconstruction and the ecological niche model suggested that Lineage II experienced an expansion after the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum), whereas Lineage I did not experience any expansion. Our results suggested the Naynayxungla glaciation promoted the divergence of the two lineages by restricting them to different refugia. The valleys of the Shennongjia-Wushan Mountains may have kept stable and warm (thus ice-free) environments during Quaternary glaciations, allowing this region to act as a glacial refugia. Our studies show that the Shennongjia and Wushan Mountains are likely to be important but little studied glacial refugia for the insect and thus worthy of more attention.

Molecular phylogeny, classification, biogeography and diversification patterns of a diverse group of moths (Geometridae: Boarmiini).

Understanding how and why some groups have become more species-rich than others, and how past biogeography may have shaped their current distribution, are questions that evolutionary biologists have long attempted to answer. We investigated diversification patterns and historical biogeography of a hyperdiverse lineage of Lepidoptera, the geometrid moths, by studying its most species-rich tribe Boarmiini, which comprises ca. 200 genera and ca. known 3000 species. We inferred the evolutionary relationships of Boarmiini based on a dataset of 346 taxa, with up to eight genetic markers under a maximum likelihood approach. The monophyly of Boarmiini is strongly supported. However, the phylogenetic position of many taxa does not agree with current taxonomy, although the monophyly of most major genera within the tribe is supported after minor adjustments. Three genera are synonymized, one new combination is proposed, and four species are placed in incertae sedis within Boarmiini. Our results support the idea of a rapid initial diversification of Boarmiini, which also implies that no major taxonomic subdivisions of the group can currently be proposed. A time-calibrated tree and biogeographical analyses suggest that boarmiines appeared in Laurasia ca. 52 Mya, followed by dispersal events throughout the Australasian, African and Neotropical regions. Most of the transcontinental dispersal events occurred in the Eocene, a period of intense geological activity and rapid climate change. Diversification analyses showed a relatively constant diversification rate for all Boarmiini, except in one clade containing the species-rich genus Cleora. The present work represents a substantial contribution towards understanding the evolutionary origin of Boarmiini moths. Our results, inevitably biased by taxon sampling, highlight the difficulties with working on species-rich groups that have not received much attention outside of Europe. Specifically, poor knowledge of the natural history of geometrids (particularly in tropical clades) limits our ability to identify key innovations underlying the diversification of boarmiines.

Estimating hybridization as a consequence of climatic fluctuations: A case study of two geometridae species.

In some cases, the phylogenetic analysis based on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the nuclear DNA (ncDNA) are discordant. There are three major causes of the discordance within insects, including hybridization, incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) and infection by Wolbachia. In this study, we used a combination of multilocus and coalescent analyses to explore these processes occurred during the evolutionary history of Limbatochlamys rosthorni Rothschild, 1894 and Limbatochlamys pararosthorni Han and Xue, 2005. The ncDNA phylogenetic tree supported two reciprocally monophyletic species, whereas the mtDNA results failed to reveal such a structure and revealed an extensive level of admixture between two species. Because of very low Wolbachia infection rates (<20%), we firstly excluded this reason for the discordance. The fixed nucleotide differences and large genetic distances (1.5-2.5%) at the ncDNA genes suggested that the lineage sorting process between these two species is nearly complete and two species have experienced a prolonged period of independent evolution. Thus, we secondly excluded ILS. Sharing haplotypes, mtDNA gene flow occurring and the transitional samples with morphological features supported hybridization. The distribution contraction during glaciations and postglacial distribution expansion might have facilitated hybridization. Taken together, our study indicates that the current genetic structure of L. rosthorni and L. pararosthorni is the results of contraction and fragmentation into separated refugia during glaciations, followed by postglacial expansion and admixture.

A new species of the genus Eucyclodes (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Geometrinae) from China.

The genus Eucyclodes was originally established by Warren (1894) on the basis of Phorodesma buprestaria Guenée, 1858. Eucyclodes is a large genus, which contains more than 90 species (Scoble 1999; Scoble Hausmann 2007), mainly distributed in the Indo-Australian tropics, and more than 50% of all species are found in New Guinea. More than 90% of all Eucyclodes species were described before the 1950s. The most recent additions were made by Inoue (1978, 1986), Holloway Sommerer (1984), Holloway (1996), and Tautel (2016), who each erected one new species per publication. The tribal position of Eucyclodes is still uncertain, for example, Pitkin (1996), Holloway (1996) and Ban et al. (2018) placed it in the tribe Nemoriini (or Nemoriiti), and the most recent research by Murillo-Ramos et al. (2019) found that Eucyclodes is sister to other Nemoriini and the authors did not assign it to any tribe.

Neochloroglyphica, a new genus of Geometrinae from China (Lepidoptera, Geometridae), with description of a new species.

Neochloroglyphica gen. nov. and its type species N. perbella sp. nov. are described from Yunnan, China. Morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on one mitochondrial and three nuclear genes, support the hypothesis that Neochloroglyphica is a member of the tribe Neohipparchini, and that it is a sister genus to Chloroglyphica. Morphological characters, including those of the genitalia, are figured and compared with related genera, especially Chloroglyphica, Neohipparchus and Chlororithra. Diagnoses for the genus and the species are provided and illustrations of external features and genitalia are presented.

A review of Synegiodes Swinhoe, 1892 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), with description of two new species.

The genus Synegiodes Swinhoe, 1892 is reviewed and redescribed, S. sanguinaria (Moore, 1868) is formally fixed as type-species according to the provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Seven species, including S. brunnearia (Leech, 1897), are presently recognized as members of this genus and two new species from China and N. Vietnam, S. expansus sp. nov. and S. elasmlatus sp. nov., are described herein. The original specific status of S. histrionaria ornata (Bastelberger, 1909) is restored. The systematic position of S. brunnearia is discussed. Diagnoses for all the species are provided and illustrations of external features and genitalia are presented.

Revision of the genus Metaterpna Yazaki, 1992 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Geometrinae), with description of a new species from China.

The genus Metaterpna is revised. The two species known, M. differens (Warren, 1909) and M. thyatiraria (Oberthür, 1913), are redescribed, with emphasis on the considerable variability of M. thyatiraria, and the status of the related type specimen was discussed. In addition, one new species, M. batangensis sp. nov., is described from Batang and Daocheng, Sichuan province, and Lijiang, Yunnan province, southwestern China. M. thyatiraria and M. batangensis show clear distance by DNA barcode sequences. Illustrations of moths and genitalia are presented.

A review of Cyclidiinae from China (Lepidoptera, Drepanidae).

The subfamily Cyclidiinae from China is reviewed: two genera and seven species are reported from China. One new subspecies, Cyclidia fractifasciata indistincta subsp. n., is described. Two new synonyms are established: Cyclidia substigmaria (Hübner, 1831) (= Cyclidia substigmaria brunna Chu & Wang, 1987, syn. n. = Cyclidia tetraspota Chu & Wang, 1987, syn. n.). One misidentification in Chu & Wang (1987) is corrected. Identification keys and diagnoses for all discussed Chinese species are provided. External features and genitalia are depicted. In addition, results of DNA barcoding for five taxa of Cyclidia are briefly discussed.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Endoclita signifer (Lepidoptera, Hepialidae).

The ghost moth Endoclita signifer is a new wood-boring pest of eucalyptus in south of China. It infests dozens of native plant species, and causes severe damage to the plantations of exotic eucalyptus. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of E. signifer, which has the typical 37 mitochondrial genes of insects. Contrary to most of the Lepidoptera, the E. signifer mitogenome has the putative ancestral insect gene order. Atypical start codon (TTG) and incomplete stop codon (one T-nucleotide) were found for COX2. The E. signifer control region is 389 bp without tandem repeats, and two (TA)n stretches were observed.

Microbial conversion of ginsenoside Rd from Rb1 by the fungus mutant Aspergillus niger strain TH-10a.

Ginsenoside Rd, one of the ginsenosides with significant pharmaceutical activities, is getting more and more attractions on its biotransformation. In this study, a novel fungus mutant, the Aspergillus niger strain TH-10a, which can efficiently convert ginsenoside Rd from Rb1, was obtained through screening survival library of LiCl and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The transformation product ginsenoside Rd, generated by removing the outer glucose residue from the position C20 of ginsenoside Rb1, was identified through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Factors for the microbial culture and biotransformation were investigated in terms of the carbon sources, the nitrogen sources, pH values, and temperatures. This showed that maximum mycelia growth could be obtained at 28°C and pH 6.0 with cellobiose and tryptone as the carbon source and the nitrogen source, respectively. The highest transformation rate (∼86%) has been achieved at 32°C and pH 5.0 with the feeding time of substrate 48 hr. Also, Aspergillus niger strain TH-10a could tolerate even 40 mg/mL ginseng root extract as substrate with 60% bioconversion rate after 72 hr of treatment at the optimal condition. Our results highlight a novel ginsenoside Rd transformation fungus and illuminate its potentially practical application in the pharmaceutical industries.

An updated checklist of Thyatirinae (Lepidoptera, Drepanidae) from China, with descriptions of one new species.

A total of three tribes, 38 genera and 148 species of Thyatirinae from China are listed together with one dubious record. Of these, one new species, Stenopsestis bruna sp. nov., is described. Macrothyatira danieli Werny, 1966, stat. rev., is restored to specific rank. Cymatophora subampliata Houlbert, 1921, is downgraded to subspecific rank as Tethea (Tethea) albicostata subampliata (Houlbert, 1921), stat. nov. Two genera, four species and three subspecies are recorded for the first time from China (Chiropsestis Laszlo, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2001, Hiroshia Laszlo, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2001, Chiropsestis rubrocinerea Laszlo, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2001, Hiroshia albinigra Laszlo, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2001, Parapsestis hausmanni Laszlo, Ronkay, Ronkay & Witt, 2007, Spica luteola Swinhoe, 1889, Parapsestis cinerea pacifica Laszlo, Ronkay, Ronkay & Witt, 2007, Tethea (Saronaga) consimilis aurisigna Bryk, 1943, Nothoploca nigripunctata fansipana Laszlo, Ronkay & Ronkay, 2001). Ten misidentifications in Zhao (2004) are corrected. Illustrations of external features and genitalia of the new taxa and new records are presented.