Phylogenomics and biogeography of sawflies and woodwasps (Hymenoptera, Symphyta).

Phylogenomic approaches have recently helped elucidate various insect relationships, but large-scale comprehensive analyses on relationships within sawflies and woodwasps are still lacking. Here, we infer the relationships and long-term biogeographic history of these hymenopteran groups using a large dataset of 354 UCE loci collected from 385 species that represent all major lineages. Early Hymenoptera started diversifying during the Early Triassic âˆ¼249 Ma and spread all over the ancient supercontinent Pangaea. We recovered Xyeloidea as a monophyletic sister group to other Hymenoptera and Pamphilioidea as sister to Unicalcarida. Within the diverse family Tenthredinidae, our taxonomically and geographically expanded taxon sampling highlights the non-monophyly of several traditionally defined subfamilies. In addition, the recent removal of Athalia and related genera from the Tenthredinidae into the separate family Athaliidae is supported. The deep historical biogeography of the group is characterised by independent dispersals and re-colonisations between the northern (Laurasia) and southern (Gondwana) palaeocontinents. The breakup of these landmasses led to ancient vicariance in several Gondwanan lineages, while interchange across the Northern Hemisphere has continued until the Recent. The little-studied African sawfly fauna is likewise a diverse mixture of groups with varying routes of colonization. Our results reveal interesting parallels in the evolution and biogeography of early hymenopterans and other ancient insect groups.

The Pamphiliinae of the Russian Far East and Korea (Hymenoptera, Pamphiliidae).

Four genera and 58 species of the web-spinning or leaf-rolling sawfly subfamily Pamphiliinae are recognized in the Russian Far East and Korea. Pamphilius belokobylskiji sp. nov. and Pamphilius graciloides sp. nov. are described from Primorskij Kraj (Russia) and Korea. Pamphilius zinovjevi Shinohara, 1988, is syn. nov. of Pamphilius ussuriensis Shinohara, 1988. Lectotypes are designated for Lyda hilaris Eversmann, 1847, Lyda kumamotonis Matsumura, 1912, Lyda sapporensis Matsumura, 1912, Pamphilius virescens Malaise, 1931, and Neurotoma sibirica Gussakovskij, 1935. Pamphilius aucupariae Vikberg, 1971, and Pamphilius hilaris (Eversmann, 1847) are newly recorded from Korea. Keys are given to separate the two tribes, four genera and 58 species. Additional collection records from Primorskij Kraj and Korea and photographs of all the species treated are given. The number of the specimens examined for each species, in total over 16000, is noted under the respective species. We undertook molecular analyses of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) for 597 specimens and of the nuclear gene sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (NaK) for 271 specimens. Based on the results, we assess the monophyly of each supraspecific taxon and each intrageneric species group or subgroup and the hypotheses about their relationships. The tribe Neurotomini with its single genus Neurotoma, the tribe Pamphiliini and the genus Onycholyda are considered monophyletic with 99100% UFBoot supports, whereas monophyly of the genus Pamphilius is not sufficiently supported by the COI results. The three available datasets, namely, morphology (Shinohara, 2002b), COI genes (present work) and NaK genes (present work), support three different hypotheses of relationships within the tribe Pamphiliini.

Completing Linnaeus's inventory of the Swedish insect fauna: Only 5,000 species left?

Despite more than 250 years of taxonomic research, we still have only a vague idea about the true size and composition of the faunas and floras of the planet. Many biodiversity inventories provide limited insight because they focus on a small taxonomic subsample or a tiny geographic area. Here, we report on the size and composition of the Swedish insect fauna, thought to represent roughly half of the diversity of multicellular life in one of the largest European countries. Our results are based on more than a decade of data from the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative and its massive inventory of the country's insect fauna, the Swedish Malaise Trap Project The fauna is considered one of the best known in the world, but the initiative has nevertheless revealed a surprising amount of hidden diversity: more than 3,000 new species (301 new to science) have been documented so far. Here, we use three independent methods to analyze the true size and composition of the fauna at the family or subfamily level: (1) assessments by experts who have been working on the most poorly known groups in the fauna; (2) estimates based on the proportion of new species discovered in the Malaise trap inventory; and (3) extrapolations based on species abundance and incidence data from the inventory. For the last method, we develop a new estimator, the combined non-parametric estimator, which we show is less sensitive to poor coverage of the species pool than other popular estimators. The three methods converge on similar estimates of the size and composition of the fauna, suggesting that it comprises around 33,000 species. Of those, 8,600 (26%) were unknown at the start of the inventory and 5,000 (15%) still await discovery. We analyze the taxonomic and ecological composition of the estimated fauna, and show that most of the new species belong to Hymenoptera and Diptera groups that are decomposers or parasitoids. Thus, current knowledge of the Swedish insect fauna is strongly biased taxonomically and ecologically, and we show that similar but even stronger biases have distorted our understanding of the fauna in the past. We analyze latitudinal gradients in the size and composition of known European insect faunas and show that several of the patterns contradict the Swedish data, presumably due to similar knowledge biases. Addressing these biases is critical in understanding insect biomes and the ecosystem services they provide. Our results emphasize the need to broaden the taxonomic scope of current insect monitoring efforts, a task that is all the more urgent as recent studies indicate a possible worldwide decline in insect faunas.

The West Palaearctic genera of Nematinae (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae).

Keys to adults and larvae of the genera of West Palaearctic nematine sawflies are presented. Species of some of the smaller genera are keyed, and their taxonomy, distribution, and host plants reviewed, with a geographic focus on north-western Europe, particularly Sweden. Dinematus Lacourt, 2006 is a new junior subjective synonym of Pristiphora Latreille, 1810, resulting in the new combination Pristiphora krausi (Lacourt, 2006) for the type species of Dinematus. Hemichroa monticola Ermolenko, 1960 is a new junior subjective synonym of Hemichroa australis (Serville, 1823). Lectotypes are designated for Tenthredo opaca Fabricius, 1775, Mesoneura opaca var. nigerrima Enslin, 1914, Mesoneura opaca var. obscuriventris Enslin, 1914, Nematus hypogastricus Hartig, 1837, Nematus alnivorus Hartig, 1840, Leptopus rufipes Förster, 1854, Nematus protensus Förster, 1854, and Platycampus luridiventris var. pleuritica Enslin, 1915. A phylogenetic analysis based on four genes (mitochondrial COI and nuclear NaK, POL2, and TPI) supports the current generic classification.

Fauna Europaea: Hymenoptera - Symphyta & Ichneumonoidea.

Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all extant European terrestrial and freshwater animals, their geographical distribution at the level of countries and major islands (west of the Urals and excluding the Caucasus region), and some additional information. The Fauna Europaea project comprises about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies, which is much more than the originally projected number of 100,000 species. Fauna Europaea represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many users in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. For the Hymenoptera, taxonomic data from one grade (Symphyta) and one Superfamily (Ichneumonoidea), including 15 families and 10,717 species, are included. Ichneumonoidea is the largest superfamily of Hymenoptera and consisting of two extant families, Ichneumonidae and Braconidae. The costal cell of the fore wing is absent, the fore wing has at least two closed cells, the constriction between the mesosoma (thorax + first abdominal segment or propodeum) and the metasoma (remainder of abdomen) is distinct and the parasitoid larvae usually spin a silken cocoon. Also, the metasoma is ventrally partly desclerotized in the vast majority of ichneumonoids.

Pachyprotasis kojimai sp. nov.-the "Pachyprotasis nigronotata" of Japanese authors (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae).

The species formerly known as Pachyprotasis nigronotata Kriechbaumer, 1874 in Japan is described as P. kojimai Taeger & Shinohara, sp. nov. Both taxa are not very closely related, but were hitherto mixed up because of their similar coloration. The new species is endemic to the mountains of central Honshu and P. nigronotata is to be deleted from the fauna of Japan.

Identification of sawflies and horntails (Hymenoptera, 'Symphyta') through DNA barcodes: successes and caveats.

The 'Symphyta' is a paraphyletic assemblage at the base of the order Hymenoptera, comprising 14 families and about 8750 species. All have phytophagous larvae, except for the Orussidae, which are parasitoids. This study presents and evaluates the results of DNA barcoding of approximately 5360 specimens of 'Symphyta', mainly adults, and 4362 sequences covering 1037 species were deemed of suitable quality for inclusion in the analysis. All extant families are represented, except for the Anaxyelidae. The majority of species and specimens are from Europe, but approximately 38% of the species and 13% of the specimens are of non-European origin. The utility of barcoding for species identification and taxonomy of 'Symphyta' is discussed on the basis of examples from each of the included families. A significant level of cryptic species diversity was apparent in many groups. Other attractive applications include the identification of immature stages without the need to rear them, community analyses based on metabarcoding of bulk samples and association of the sexes of adults.

European Rhogogaster s. str., with notes on several Asian species (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae).

The European Rhogogaster s. str. species are revised, and several nominal taxa from Asia discussed. The taxonomic identity of the type species Tenthredo viridis Linnaeus, 1758 is different from that assumed in the past. Tenthredo dryas Benson, 1943 is syn. nov. of R. viridis. The name Rhogogaster scalaris (Klug, 1817), species revocata, is to be applied to Rhogogaster viridis auct. New subjective junior synonyms of R. scalaris (Klug, 1817) are R. chlorosoma podkumokensis Muche, 1973, syn. nov. and Tenthredo (Rhogogaster) carpatica Zhelochovtsev & Zinovjev, 1988, syn. nov. Rhogogaster magniserrula Viitasaari, spec. nov. is described from Finland and Russia. The former synonym of R. viridis auct., Tenthredo hebraica Geoffroy in Fourcroy, 1785, is treated as species incertae sedis within Rhogogaster. The Asian Rhogogaster viridis var. sibirica Enslin, 1912, is regarded as a valid species, Rhogogaster sibirica Enslin, 1912, stat. nov., and Rhogogaster kudiana Rohwer, 1925, is a subjective syn. nov. of R. sibirica. A key to the European Rhogogaster s. str. with special emphasis on Fennoscandia is given.The following nominal taxa are excluded from Rhogogaster: Rhogogaster viridis forma montana Betrem, 1933, is syn. nov. of Tenthredo olivacea Klug, 1817; Sciapteryx virescens Jakowlew, 1887, is Tenthredo (Eurogaster) virescens (Jakowlew, 1887), comb. nov.; Tenthredo interrupta Fabricius, 1804 (nomen oblitum) is syn. nov. of Tenthredopsis tessellata (Klug, 1817) (nomen protectum). Tenthredo viridis Poda, 1761, Tenthredo straminea Schrank, 1776, Tenthredo annalicornis [sic!] Gmelin, 1790, and Tenthredo chloros Rudow, 1871 are considered to be species incertae sedis within Tenthredinidae.Lectotypes are designated for Tenthredo interrupta Fabricius, 1804, Sciapteryx virescens Jakowlew, 1887, Sciopteryx gilva Konow, 1908, Rhogogaster viridis var. sibirica Enslin, 1912, R. viridis forma montana Betrem, 1933, R. chlorosoma podkumokensis Muche, 1973, R. genistae viridifrons Muche, 1973 and Tenthredo (Rhogogaster) carpatica "Bokotey" [= Zhelochovtsev & Zinovjev], 1988.

The type specimens of sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid.

The type specimens of sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) housed in the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, were examined. Lectotypes are designated and illustrated for the following 32 nominal taxa (preserved in the MNCN collection if not stated otherwise): Tenthredo acutiscutis Konow, 1908; Tenthredo aericeps Konow, 1907; Allantus albipectus Konow, 1907; Athalia bolivari Dusmet, 1896; Tristactus punctatus var. candidatus Konow, 1899; Tenthredo capistrata Konow, 1907; Megalodontes capitalatus Konow 1904 (coll. SDEI); Tenthredo casta Konow, 1908; Clydostomus cestatus Konow, 1908; Miocephala chalybea Konow, 1907 (coll. SDEI); Peus cupreiceps Konow, 1907; Metallopeus cupreolus Malaise, 1945 (coll. NHRS); Allantus dusmeti Konow, 1894 (coll. SDEI); Megalodontes dusmeti Enslin, 1914 (coll. ZSM); Megalodontes escalerai Konow, 1899; Tenthredo flavitarsis Konow, 1908; Sciopteryx galerita Konow, 1907; Tenthredo habenata Konow, 1907; Allantus inguinalis Konow, 1908; Clydostomus merceti Konow, 1908; Megalodontes merceti Konow 1904 (coll. SDEI); Tenthredo mordax Konow, 1908; Megalodontes mundus Konow, 1904; Tenthredo nimbata Konow, 1906; Tenthredo oculissima Konow, 1907; Peus pannulosus Konow, 1907; Tenthredo podagrica Konow, 1907; Arge segmentaria var. rufiventris Konow, 1899; Tenthredo rugiceps Konow, 1908; Tenthredo segrega Konow, 1908; Peus splendidus Konow 1907; Tenthredo suta Konow, 1906. Peus cupreiceps Konow, 1907, is considered to be a valid species. New synonymy is proposed for Tenthredo (Metallopeus) cupreiceps (Konow, 1907), comb. nov., spec. rev. (=Metallopeus cupreolus Malaise, 1945, syn. nov.; =Metallopeus inermis Malaise, 1945, syn. nov.). 

A second species of Tyloceridius Malaise (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae).

Tyloceridius Malaise, 1945 and T. dorsatus (Mocsáry, 1883) are redescribed. Tyloceridius stictocephalus sp. n. from China and Nepal is described. Tyloceridius is recorded in China for the first time.

The type specimens of Tenthredo Linnaeus, 1758 (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae) deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum.

The type specimens of Tenthredo sensu lato deposited in the Hungarian Natural History Museum (Budapest) are reviewed. The following synonyms are recognized and discussed: Rhogogastera aenescens Mocsáry, 1909, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Temuledo) finschi finschi W.F. Kirby, 1882; Macrophya prasinipes Konow, 1891, syn. nov. of Macrophya caucasica (Mocsáry, 1880); Tenthredo concinnoides Malaise, 1945, syn. nov. of Tenthredo concinna Mocsáry, 1883; Tenthredo fulviventris Mocsáry, 1909, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Tenthredella) crenata (Enslin, 1912); Tenthredo vespa inaffectata Muche, 1965, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Tenthredo) vespa Retzius, 1783; Rhogogaster kaszabi Zombori, 1973, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Eurogaster) aaliensis (Strand, 1898); Tenthredo kaszabi Muche, 1965, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Eurogaster) mesomela Linné, 1758; Rhogogastera opacella Mocsáry, 1909, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Eurogaster) stulta Jakowlew, 1891; Tenthredo tschinggischanensis Muche, 1965 syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Tenthredella) balteata Klug, 1817; Tenthredo unfasciata Mocsáry, 1909, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Tenthredella) colon Klug, 1817; Tenthredella cucullata Enslin, 1912, syn. nov. of Tenthredo (Tenthredella) colon Klug, 1817. Macrophya caucasica (Mocsáry, 1880) is a new combination (comb. nov.) for Allantus caucasicus Mocsáry, 1880. Tenthredo semicolon Mol, is a replacement name (nom. nov.) for Tenthredo punctulata Konow, 1887, nom. praeocc., nec Klug, 1817. Tenthredo chanae Taeger & Shinohara spec. nov., a species close to Tenthredo concinna, is described from Taiwan. Lectotypes are designated and illustrated for the following 30 nominal taxa: Rhogogastera aenescens Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus albiventris Mocsáry, 1880; Allantus almasyanus Mocsáry, 1909; Macrophya binaculata Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus brachycerus Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus caucasicus Mocsáry, 1880; Allantus centrorufus Mocsáry, 1909; Tenthredo chyzeri Mocsáry, 1891; Tenthredo concinna Mocsáry, 1883; Tenthredo concinnoides Malaise, 1945; Allantus eburneus Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus eburneus Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus fulvicornis Mocsáry, 1909; Tenthredo fulvicornis Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus fulvipennis Mocsáry, 1909; Tenthredo fulviventris Mocsáry, 1909; Tenthredo gribodoi Konow, 1898; Allantus lateralis Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus limbiferus Mocsáry, 1891; Allantus moestus Mocsáry, 1883; Rhogogastera nigrita Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus obesus Mocsáry, 1880; Macrophya prasinipes Konow, 1891; Tenthredo punctulata Konow, 1887; Allantus rufipes Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus sabariensis Mocsáry, 1880; Allantus sanguinolentus Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus temulus var. scutellatus Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus testaceus Mocsáry, 1909; Allantus variabilis Mocsáry, 1909. The first records of Tenthredo concinna for Vietnam and Nepal are given.