300 Million years of coral treaders (Insecta: Heteroptera: Hermatobatidae) back to the ocean in the phylogenetic context of Arthropoda.

Among hundreds of insect families, Hermatobatidae (commonly known as coral treaders) is one of the most unique. They are small, wingless predaceous bugs in the suborder Heteroptera. Adults are almost black in colour, measuring about 5 mm in body length and 3 mm in width. Thirteen species are known from tropical coral reefs or rocky shores, but their origin and evolutionary adaptation to their unusual marine habitat were unexplored. We report here the genome and metagenome of Hermatobates lingyangjiaoensis, hitherto known only from its type locality in the South China Sea. We further reconstructed the evolutionary history and origin of these marine bugs in the broader context of Arthropoda. The dated phylogeny indicates that Hexapoda diverged from their marine sister groups approximately 498 Ma and that Hermatobatidae originated 192 Ma, indicating that they returned to an oceanic life some 300 Myr after their ancestors became terrestrial. Their origin is consistent with the recovery of tropical reef ecosystems after the end-Triassic mass extinction, which might have provided new and open niches for them to occupy and thrive. Our analyses also revealed that both the genome changes and the symbiotic bacteria might have contributed to adaptations necessary for life in the sea.

Distal leg structures of Zoraptera - did the loss of adhesive devices curb the chance of diversification?

The distal leg structures of Zoraptera are documented and discussed with respect to their functional morphology and evolutionary aspects. We investigated eight species using scanning electron microscopy. We analyzed material compositions of the tarsus in three representative species using confocal laser scanning microscopy. When possible, we included both sexes, wing morphs, and nymphs and compared the structures among them. The distal leg structure is unusually uniform across zorapterans regardless of the sex, morphs, and developmental stages. The observed features combine simplification with innovation. The former is likely partially correlated with cryptic microhabitats and miniaturization. Innovation includes a protibial cleaning organ. This is very likely an autapomorphy of Zoraptera. The tarsi are composed of two tarsomeres covered with setae. The pretarsus distally bears an unguitractor plate and well-sclerotized claws. The tarsomeres appear less-sclerotized than the covering setae. The articulation between the basitarsus and tarsomere 2 is hinge-like, implying that tarsomere 2 moves only mediolaterally. The simplified and specialized tarsal morphology is likely suitable for the typical zorapteran microhabitat, under bark. However, the irreversible complete loss of adhesive devices prevented zorapterans to make use of a broader spectrum of environments and was presumably one reason for the species paucity of the group.

Review of Homalocnemidae of Chile with a key to species and descriptions of male and female terminalia (Diptera: Empidoidea).

The Homalocnemidae of Chile is reviewed, including the descriptions of the male and female terminalia of the two known species: H. nigripennis Philippi and H. praesumpta Collin. All references pertaining to Chilean Homalocnemis Philippi and the two known species are provided. Geographical distributions of the species were compiled and mapped from bibliographic data and collections. An illustrated key to the two species is also presented.

The first species of Embioptera (Insecta) from the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (Pernambuco: Brazil).

Pararhagadochir is a South American genus of Archembiidae that can be identified by its anterior margin of submentum strongly concave, caudal process of the 10th left hemitergite forked, with internal tip seemingly a hook and the external tip a flat lobe, both tips always shorter than the width of 10th left hemitergite. Six species are recorded in Brazil, being distributed in all regions. In this work, Pararhagadochir noronhensis sp. nov. is described from the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil.

A new genus and species of odiniids (Diptera: Odiniidae) from the canopy of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.

Umbodinia bella gen. nov. et sp. nov. is described and illustrated from specimens collected in the canopy of an ombrophilous Amazonian forest, Manaus, Brazil. The genus is characterized by a unique combination of diagnostic features: body predominantly yellow; frons with two shiny dark brown to black lobules in lower corners, between the lunule and eye margins; lunule high-arched with two subtriangular spots covered with black pubescence; parafacial with tufts of long and strong setae, almost as long and stout as the fronto-orbital setae; and anepisternum with setulae dorsally and posteriorly, in addition to posterior setae.

Pauximyia, a new genus of Odiniidae (Diptera: Acalyptratae) with description of two new species from Brazil.

A new genus of odiniids (Odiniidae: Traginopinae) is described from Brazil, Pauximyia gen. nov., with two species, P. oliveirai sp. nov. (type species) and P. vidali sp. nov. A modified key to the Neotropical genera of the family and for the two Pauximyia gen. nov. species is provided.

Atriadops macula (Wiedemann) inhabiting the canopy: the first record of Nemestrinidae (Diptera) in the Amazon Basin.

This is the first record of the family Nemestrinidae in the Amazon Basin, based on three females identified as Atriadops macula (Wiedemann, 1824). The specimens were collected in the canopy using flight interception traps. This species was previously known to inhabit understory open areas. The canopy, the new habitat record, is an open area stratum with higher insolation, higher temperature and less humidity. As the adults of A. macula have the mouthparts greatly reduced, they probably do not feed and their occurrence in the canopy probably is more likely related to the distribution of their hosts as well as the environmental factors.

Revision of the genus Amazunculus Rafael (Diptera: Pipunculidae), with description of six new species.

The species of the genus Amazunculus Rafael (Diptera: Pipunculidae) are large bodied flies, easily identified by their flattened hind tarsus and curved dm-m wing vein. The species of this Neotropical genus are revised, including six new species: Amazunculus acreanus sp. nov. (type-locality: Brazil, Acre, Rio Branco), A. bethoi sp. nov. (type-locality: Brazil, Amazonas, Carauari), A. francyae sp. nov. (type-locality: Ecuador, Napo), A. manauara sp. nov. (type-locality: Brazil, Amazonas, Manaus), A. panamensis sp. nov. (type-locality: Panama, Canal Zone) and A. psilalarius sp. nov. (type-locality: Venezuela, Amazonas). All these new species are described with an emphasis on structures of the male terminalia, which are fully illustrated. An identification key to the twelve species of Amazunculus is provided. The first record of Amazunculus in Central America (Panama) is documented.

Dry leaf or twig mantis? A new genus and species of Acanthopidae with sexually dimorphic cryptic strategies (Insecta: Mantodea).

Praying mantises (Mantodea) are distinct for their rich diversity of cryptic adaptations. Among the many strategies, dry-leaf mimicry have evolved multiple times in unrelated lineages from different zoogeographic regions, among them the Neotropical Acanthopidae. Here we describe Metacanthops fuscum n. gen. et n. sp. based on male and female specimens from the Brazilian Amazon. The recognition of this new acanthopid lineage revealed that Acanthops amazonica Beier, 1930 (currently assigned to Metilia Stål) is a member of Metacanthops and thus we transfer this species, now referable to as Metacanthops amazonica (Beier, 1930) n. comb., redescribe the holotype, and provide new data on its distribution in Brazil and French Guiana. Metacanthops is closely related to Metilia, from which its number of forefemoral posteroventral spines, head and compound eye shape, pronotal configuration, wings features, and the entirely brown habitus of males, can distinguish it. We highlight some aspects of sexual dimorphism in Metacanthops fuscum in relation to their dimorphic cryptic strategies, where males resemble a dry leaf and females a lichenous twig. We additionally establish five recently published names under genus Metilia as nomina nuda.

Inpauema, a new genus of Odiniidae (Diptera) from Brazil, with description of five new species.

A new genus and five new species of odiniids (Odiniidae: Traginopinae) are described from the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado biomes: Inpauema mirador gen. nov. et sp. nov. (type species), I. catarinae sp. nov., I. gaimarii sp. nov., I. raimundoluizi sp. nov., and I. xavieri sp. nov. The genus is being characterized by a unique combination of diagnostic characters: body predominantly dark brown to black, with silvery-gray pruinose spots on inner margin of eyes, longitudinally along middle of lunule and face, on notopleuron and mesopleuron; postcranium concave from dorsal view; one pair of stout proclinate ocellar setae; postocellar setae absent; lunule shorter than frons; gena lacking upturned seta; antennae separated by a maximum distance of 2X the diameter of a single antennal socket and gonocoxal apodemes directed upward, forming an arch. A key to separate Helgreelia Gaimari, 2007 from Inpauema gen. nov. and for the new species is provided.

Project Hawkeye: A cross-sectional study on the prevalence of undetected refractive errors in schoolage children / The Health Sciences Journal

Introduction@#In the Philippines, essential eye care services are not easily accessible especially for those in lower income groups, putting public elementary school students at risk for underdiagnosis of problems in visual acuity. The objective of this investigation was to determine prevalence of undetected refractive errors among public elementary students using the Welch Allyn Spot™ Vision Screener.@*Methods @#A cross-sectional design was used in this investigation to estimate the prevalence of uncorrected refractive errors in the first grade students in San Perfecto Elementary School using Welch Allyn Spot™ Vision Screener (Photoscreener). Eligible students who gave informed consent and assent answered a questionnaire and underwent an eye examination. The prevalence of undetected errors of refraction were computed for the sample population and for selected demographic variables.@*Results @#Approximately one out of four students (24.53%) had errors of refraction, with the most common type being astigmatism (22.64%), followed by myopia (3.77%) and hyperopia (2.83%).@*Conclusion @#This study revealed a high prevalence of undetected refractive errors among school-age children, higher than current published data (5%) in the Philippines.

Fossil record of stem groups employed in evaluating the chronogram of insects (Arthropoda: Hexapoda).

Insecta s. str. (=Ectognatha), comprise the largest and most diversified group of living organisms, accounting for roughly half of the biodiversity on Earth. Understanding insect relationships and the specific time intervals for their episodes of radiation and extinction are critical to any comprehensive perspective on evolutionary events. Although some deeper nodes have been resolved congruently, the complete evolution of insects has remained obscure due to the lack of direct fossil evidence. Besides, various evolutionary phases of insects and the corresponding driving forces of diversification remain to be recognized. In this study, a comprehensive sample of all insect orders was used to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and estimate deep divergences. The phylogenetic relationships of insect orders were congruently recovered by Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses. A complete timescale of divergences based on an uncorrelated log-normal relaxed clock model was established among all lineages of winged insects. The inferred timescale for various nodes are congruent with major historical events including the increase of atmospheric oxygen in the Late Silurian and earliest Devonian, the radiation of vascular plants in the Devonian, and with the available fossil record of the stem groups to various insect lineages in the Devonian and Carboniferous.

Neoplasta Coquillett (Diptera: Empididae: Hemerodromiinae) from Brazil: new species and male description of N. fortiseta Smith.

Neoplasta Coquillett is distributed in the New World. The male of N. fortiseta Smith and five new species collected in the Brazilian states of Santa Catarina and São Paulo (N. lobata sp. nov., N. longicornis sp. nov., N. macdonaldi sp. nov., N. nigrithorax sp. nov., and N. spinulosa sp. nov.), are described and illustrated. A key to Brazilian species is provided.

Latheticomyia Wheeler (Diptera: Pseudopomyzidae) from Peru: new species, description of the male of L. longiterebra Hennig and a key to species.

Latheticomyia Wheeler is a small New World genus, with five described species. Here two species from Peru, Latheticomyia peruana sp. nov. and Latheticomyia xantha sp. nov. are described and illustrated. The male of L. longiterebra Hennig is described and illustrated for the first time. Additionally, a key to species is provided.

Neotropical Hemerodromia Meigen (Diptera: Empididae), a world of discovery II: New species from Atlantic forest, Brazil.

Eight new species of Hemerodromia Meigen are described from the Brazilian Atlantic forest, H. brevicercata sp. nov., H. carioca sp. nov., H. cornuhypandrialis sp. nov., H. megalamellata sp. nov., H. membranosa sp. nov., H. mourai sp. nov., H. cummingi sp. nov., and H. ubajaraensis sp. nov. are described and illustrated. This is the first record of the genus from the Brazilian southeast and northeast.

Elmohardyia Rafael (Diptera, Pipunculidae) from northeastern Brazil: new records and description of new species.

Eleven species of Elmohardyia are recorded for the first time in northeastern Brazil, the most arid Brazilian region. There are two new records, E. lindneri (Collin) and E. trinidadensis (Hardy), and nine new species, which are here described and illustrated: Elmohardyia cearensis sp. nov.; E. cheliformis sp. nov.; E. distincta sp. nov.; E. formosa sp. nov.; E. limeirai sp. nov.; E. martae sp. nov.; E. potiguar sp. nov.; E. quadricornis sp. nov. and E. rosalinae sp. nov.

A unique box in 28S rRNA is shared by the enigmatic insect order Zoraptera and Dictyoptera.

The position of the Zoraptera remains one of the most challenging and uncertain concerns in ordinal-level phylogenies of the insects. Zoraptera have been viewed as having a close relationship with five different groups of Polyneoptera, or as being allied to the Paraneoptera or even Holometabola. Although rDNAs have been widely used in phylogenetic studies of insects, the application of the complete 28S rDNA are still scattered in only a few orders. In this study, a secondary structure model of the complete 28S rRNAs of insects was reconstructed based on all orders of Insecta. It was found that one length-variable region, D3-4, is particularly distinctive. The length and/or sequence of D3-4 is conservative within each order of Polyneoptera, but it can be divided into two types between the different orders of the supercohort, of which the enigmatic order Zoraptera and Dictyoptera share one type, while the remaining orders of Polyneoptera share the other. Additionally, independent evidence from phylogenetic results support the clade (Zoraptera+Dictyoptera) as well. Thus, the similarity of D3-4 between Zoraptera and Dictyoptera can serve as potentially valuable autapomorphy or synapomorphy in phylogeny reconstruction. The clades of (Plecoptera+Dermaptera) and ((Grylloblattodea+Mantophasmatodea)+(Embiodea+Phasmatodea)) were also recovered in the phylogenetic study. In addition, considering the other studies based on rDNAs, this study reached the highest congruence with previous phylogenetic studies of Holometabola based on nuclear protein coding genes or morphology characters. Future comparative studies of secondary structures across deep divergences and additional taxa are likely to reveal conserved patterns, structures and motifs that can provide support for major phylogenetic lineages.

Hesperioidea e Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera) coligidos em expedição aos Rios Nhamundá e Abacaxis, Amazonas, Brasil: novos subsídios para o conhecimento da biodiversidade da Amazônia Brasileira

Hesperioidea e Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera) coligidos em expedição aos Rios Nhamundá e Abacaxis, Amazonas, Brasil: novos subsídios para o conhecimento da biodiversidade da Amazônia Brasileira. Objetivando um aprimoramento do conhecimento da lepidopterofauna diurna da Amazônia brasileira, este estudo lista 180 taxa coligidos em cinco pontos distintos de dois afluentes do Rio Amazonas, envolvendo as áreas de endemismo Guiana e Rondônia. As coletas foram passivas e ativas e as diferentes localidades comparadas através de análise de Escalonamento Multidimensional Não-Métrico (NMDS).

Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea (Lepidoptera) collected in an expedition to the Nhamundá and Abacaxis rivers, Amazonas, Brazil: new insights for understanding the biodiversity of the Brazilian Amazon. Aiming at improving the knowledge of the diurnal lepidopterofauna of the Amazon rainforest, this study lists 180 taxa collected at five different points along two tributaries of the Amazon River, including the Guyana and Rondonia areas of endemism. The different localities were compared using Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling analysis (NMDS).

Attraction of Chagas disease vectors (Triatominae) to artificial light sources in the canopy of primary Amazon rainforest

Adult triatomines occasionally fly into artificially lit premises in Amazonia. This can result in Trypanosoma cruzi transmission to humans either by direct contact or via foodstuff contamination, but the frequency of such behaviour has not been quantified. To address this issue, a light-trap was set 45 m above ground in primary rainforest near Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil and operated monthly for three consecutive nights over the course of one year (432 trap-hours). The most commonly caught reduviids were triatomines, including 38 Panstrongylus geniculatus, nine Panstrongylus lignarius, three Panstrongylus rufotuberculatus, five Rhodnius robustus, two Rhodnius pictipes, one Rhodnius amazonicus and 17 Eratyrus mucronatus. Males were collected more frequently than females. The only month without any catches was May. Attraction of most of the known local T. cruzi vectors to artificial light sources is common and year-round in the Amazon rainforest, implying that they may often invade premises built near forest edges and thus become involved in disease transmission. Consequently, effective Chagas disease prevention in Amazonia will require integrating entomological surveillance with the currently used epidemiological surveillance.

[Seasonality and landscape use by Tabanidae species (Diptera) in the Central Amazon, Brazil]. / Sazonalidade e uso de ambientes por espécies de Tabanidae (Diptera) na Amazônia Central, Brasil.

Adults of Tabanidae may become serious pests wherever they occur due to their attack to humans and others animals. Tabanids were captured near ground, water surface and at 25 m high on primary forests and forest gaps of anthropogenic origin, to understand their abundance, seasonality, diversity and similarity on such environments. Collections were carried out in the Base II of the War Instruction Center in the Jungle (CIGS) located at 54 km from Manaus municipality, Amazonas state. Two Malaise flight interception traps and four attraction traps (two suspended at 25 m high and two above the water surface of igarapé) were installed in forest gap and primary forest, areas for 10 consecutive days, during 15 months. A total of 2,643 specimens of 66 species were captured. Diachlorini (35 species /11 genera) was the most abundant tribe, followed by Tabanini (19 species /three genera), Chrysopsini (seven species /one genus) and Scionini (five species /two genera). Seventeen species were captured only in the primary forest, 11 in the anthropic clearing, and 38 species were common to both environments. The most abundant species were Phorcotabanus cinereus (Wiedemann), Tabanus occidentalis L, Chrysops laetus Fabricius and Tabanus angustifrons Macquart. The greatest richness was found in drier months (September/October) in both areas. Theforest gap showed higher abundance of specimens (1,827) than the primary forest (816). Traps suspended above the water surface were the most efficient (1,723 specimens) probably due to the dispersion of horseflies over small streams.