To and fro in the archipelago: Repeated inter-island dispersal and New Guinea's orogeny affect diversification of Delias, the world's largest butterfly genus.

The world's largest butterfly genus Delias, commonly known as Jezebels, comprises ca. 251 species found throughout Asia, Australia, and Melanesia. Most species are endemic to islands in the Indo-Australian Archipelago or to New Guinea and nearby islands in Melanesia, and many species are restricted to montane habitats over 1200 m. We inferred an extensively sampled and well-supported molecular phylogeny of the group to better understand the spatial and temporal dimensions of its diversification. The remarkable diversity of Delias evolved in just ca. 15-16 Myr (crown age). The most recent common ancestor of a clade with most of the species dispersed out of New Guinea ca. 14 Mya, but at least six subsequently diverging lineages dispersed back to the island. Diversification was associated with frequent dispersal of lineages among the islands of the Indo-Australian Archipelago, and the divergence of sister taxa on a single landmass was rare and occurred only on the largest islands, most notably on New Guinea. We conclude that frequent inter-island dispersal during the Neogene-likely facilitated by frequent sea level change-sparked much diversification during that period. Many extant New Guinea lineages started diversifying 5 Mya, suggesting that orogeny facilitated their diversification. Our results largely agree with the most recently proposed species group classification system, and we use our large taxon sample to extend this system to all described species. Finally, we summarize recent insights to speculate how wing pattern evolution, mimicry, and sexual selection might also contribute to these butterflies' rapid speciation and diversification.

Horned and spiky: Tegotettix derijei sp. n. (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) is a peculiar new pygmy grasshopper species from Mindanao.

A new peculiar, spiky, and yellowish species of the genus Tegotettix Hancock, 1913 is described from the Davao region of the island of Mindanao (the Philippines)-T. derijei sp. n. (Mindanao horned pygmy devil). The species is visually similar to T. cristiferus (Günther, 1935) from Borneo and T. armatus Hancock, 1913 from Borneo, which is the type species of the genus, and of which a new record from Sabah is also presented in the study. The new species is also similar to an undescribed species from Bukidnon, which we presented by photographs in its natural habitat. To date, T. armatus was known only from old descriptions and drawings and has not been reported for more than 100 years. A brief overview of the species of the genus Tegotettix, with its division into three species groups, is presented.

Yellow Striped Giraffehopper Spartolus pugionatus Stål, 1877 comb. resurr. (Tetrigidae: Ophiotettegini) inhabits Mindanao Island of the Philippines' archipelago.

The genus Threciscus Bolívar, 1887 (Tetrigidae: Ophiotettigini) was a monotypic genus endemic for the Philippines and included only T. pugionatus (Stål, 1877). Here, after examination of series of specimens, we conclude that T. pugionatus is morphologically close to Spartolus tricostatus Bolívar, 1887 and we move the species back to the genus Spartolus Stål, 1877, giving it back combination Spartolus pugionatus comb. resurr. The species was originally described from a single female (holotype) from Semper's collection, and, as most of specimens from that collection, lacked locality data. It is only known that Semper's material originates from the Philippines. In this study, the very first annotated records of the species are presented. It inhabits central part of the island of Mindanao, mountainous tropical rainforests. We provide images of specimens under stereomicroscope and in natural habitat, brief morphological description, as well as updated distribution map. The species is easily recognizable by its coloration, lack of wings, prolonged head, foliaceous palpi and lateral spines. Furthermore, we report new localities for Arulenus miae Skejo et Caballero, 2016.

A new species of the genus Colilodion Besuchet, 1991 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from Mindanao, the Philippines.

Colilodion colongi sp. nov. of the clavigerite ant-loving beetle from Mindanao, the Philippines is described, illustrated, and distinguished from related species. The distribution map for all known species is given.

Inflation of Molecular Clock Rates and Dates: Molecular Phylogenetics, Biogeography, and Diversification of a Global Cicada Radiation from Australasia (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettini).

Dated phylogenetic trees are important for studying mechanisms of diversification, and molecular clocks are important tools for studies of organisms lacking good fossil records. However, studies have begun to identify problems in molecular clock dates caused by uncertainty of the modeled molecular substitution process. Here we explore Bayesian relaxed-clock molecular dating while studying the biogeography of ca. 200 species from the global cicada tribe Cicadettini. Because the available fossils are few and uninformative, we calibrate our trees in part with a cytochrome oxidase I (COI) clock prior encompassing a range of literature estimates for arthropods. We show that tribe-level analyses calibrated solely with the COI clock recover extremely old dates that conflict with published estimates for two well-studied New Zealand subclades within Cicadettini. Additional subclade analyses suggest that COI relaxed-clock rates and maximum-likelihood branch lengths become inflated relative to EF-1[Formula: see text] intron and exon rates and branch lengths as clade age increases. We present corrected estimates derived from: (i) an extrapolated EF-1[Formula: see text] exon clock derived from COI-calibrated analysis within the largest New Zealand subclade; (ii) post hoc scaling of the tribe-level chronogram using results from subclade analyses; and (iii) exploitation of a geological calibration point associated with New Caledonia. We caution that considerable uncertainty is generated due to dependence of substitution estimates on both the taxon sample and the choice of model, including gamma category number and the choice of empirical versus estimated base frequencies. Our results suggest that diversification of the tribe Cicadettini commenced in the early- to mid-Cenozoic and continued with the development of open, arid habitats in Australia and worldwide. We find that Cicadettini is a rare example of a global terrestrial animal group with an Australasian origin, with all non-Australasian genera belonging to two distal clades. Within Australia, we show that Cicadettini is more widely distributed than any other cicada tribe, diverse in temperate, arid and monsoonal habitats, and nearly absent from rainforests. We comment on the taxonomic implications of our findings for thirteen cicada genera.

Heth impalutiensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Ransomnematoidea: Hethidae) a millipede parasite from Central Mindanao, Philippines.

The nematode Heth impalutiensis n. sp. is described from an unidentified spirostreptid millipede (Harpagophoridae) from the Bukidnon Province of Mindanao, the Philippines. Based on morphological characters, H. impalutiensis n. sp. is closest to Asian-Pacific representatives of the genus. Females of H. impalutiensis n. sp. are close to H. dimorphum and H. vietnamensis in body size and form of the lateral lappets, but can be distinguished by the significantly longer tail. Males of H. impalutiensis n. sp. strongly resemble that of H. xaniophora by the presence of such a rare character combinations as mammiform papillae and a bursa-like cuticular fold, but can be easily differentiated by the numbers of genital papillae (7 vs 6 pairs, respectively). Heth impalutiensis n. sp. can be distinguished from all nominal species by hypertrophy of the anterior anal lip in females which overlaps the anal aperture. Phylogenetic analysis based on the newly obtained set of sequences did not provide an evidence of infraorder Rhigonematomorpha monophyly as two superfamilies Ransomnematoidea and Rhigonematoidea formed independent clades in the frames of ascaridid-spirurid-oxyurid super clade (Clade III of Nadler et al., 2007).