Subfamily Limoniinae Speiser, 1909 (Diptera, Limoniidae) from Baltic amber (Eocene): the genus Helius Lepeletier & Serville, 1828.

A revision of the genus Helius Lepeletier & Serville, 1828 (Diptera: Limoniidae) from Baltic amber (Eocene) is presented. Redescriptions of 5 species, Helius formosus Krzeminski, 1993, Helius linus Podenas, 2002, Helius minutus (Loew, 1850), Helius mutus Podenas, 2002, Helius pulcher (Loew, 1850) of this genus from Baltic amber are given and documented by photographs and drawings. Four new species of the genus Helius from Baltic amber are described: Helius gedanicus sp. nov., Helius hoffeinsorum sp. nov., Helius similis sp. nov., Helius fossilis sp. nov. A key to species of Helius from Baltic amber is provided. Patterns morphological evolution and the aspects evolutionary history of Helius are discussed.

New taxa of Tanyderidae (Diptera) from Eocene Baltic amber.

Macrochile hornei sp. nov. from Baltic amber (Upper Eocene) is described and illustrated. Podemacrochile gen. nov. is described with Podemacrochile baltica (Podenas, 1997) as type species. A key to the genera and species of Tanyderidae known from Baltic amber is presented.

A new species of Bruchomyiinae (Diptera: Psychodidae) from Baltic amber.

Bruchomyiinae is one of seven subfamilies of Psychodidae. This small group comprises fewer than 60 extant species distributed mainly in tropical and sub-tropical regions (Wagner Stuckenberg 2016). All life stages of these flies are closely tied to forest environment (Fairchild 1952; Stuckenberg 1962) and as a result, bruchomyiines are frequently preserved in fossil resins. The first fossil member of this subfamily was described from Baltic amber (45 Ma) (Meunier 1905) and Burmese amber (100 Ma) is the oldest fossil resin in which representatives of Bruchomyiinae have been found (Stebner et al. 2015; Wagner 2017; Skibinska et al. 2019). Due to the relative scarcity of this subfamily in Baltic amber, any new specimens are of great interest. Up till now, there are only 12 bruchomyiine species described from Baltic amber. Wagner (2017) completed a revision of fossil Bruchomyiinae and proposed the genus Hoffeinsodes to include the species having male genitalia with gonocoxites fused with hypandrium. In this genus, he classified six species reported exclusively from Eocene Baltic amber: H. bifida Wagner, 2017, H. cubicula Wagner, 2017, H. longicauda Wagner, 2017, H. obtusa Wagner, 2017, H. reducta Wagner, 2017 and H. hoffeinsi (Wagner, 2006) transferred from Nemopalpus (Wagner, 2006). Here, we describe a new species belonging to this genus.

Review of Mycetobia Meigen, 1818 (Diptera, Anisopodidae) in the Eocene ambers.

A revision of the genus Mycetobia Meigen, 1818 from the Eocene is presented. Redescription of Mycetobia connexa Meunier, 1899 known from the Baltic amber is given and documented by photographs and drawings. Five new species of Mycetobia from Eocene resins are described, four from Baltic amber: Mycetobia christelae sp. nov., Mycetobia hansi sp. nov., Mycetobia silvia sp. nov., Mycetobia szwedoi sp. nov. and one from the Ukrainian amber: Mycetobia perkovskyi sp. nov. Key to the species of Mycetobia known from the Eocene is provided.

Subfamily Limoniinae Speiser, 1909 (Diptera, Limoniidae) from Baltic amber (Eocene): the genus Elephantomyia Osten Sacken, 1860.

A revision of the genus Elephantomyia Osten Sacken (Diptera: Limoniidae) from Baltic amber (Eocene) is presented. Four species--E. baltica Alexander, E. brevipalpa Loew, E. longirostris Loew, and E. pulchella Loew--are redescribed and documented with photographs and drawings. In addition, two new species of the genus are described: Elephantomyia bozenae sp. nov., and Elephantomyia irinae sp. nov. All these fossil species are placed within the subgenus Elephantomyia. A key to the extinct species of Elephantomyia is provided, and the genus' ecological pattern and evolutionary aspects are discussed.

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. isolated from poultry carcasses in Poland.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter in poultry carcasses at slaughter in Poland. For the isolated strains, resistance to selected antibiotics and the associated genetic determinants were identified. A total of 498 Campylobacter isolates were obtained from 802 poultry samples during the 2-year study period. Strains were identified to species with the PCR method; 53.6% of the strains were Campylobacter jejuni and 46.4% were Campylobacter coli. A high percentage of the tested Campylobacter strains were resistant to ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid (74.1 and 73.5%, respectively) followed by tetracycline (47.4%) and streptomycin (20.5%). Only one C. jejuni and two C. coli isolates were resistant to gentamicin. Seventy-nine (15.9%) of the 498 strains were resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics examined. Higher levels of resistance, irrespective of the antimicrobial agent tested, were found within the C. coli group. Almost all strains resistant to quinolones (99.5%) and to tetracycline (99.6%) carried the Thr-86-to-Ile mutation in the gyrA gene and possessed the tet(O) marker, respectively. All isolates resistant to erythromycin had the A2075G mutation in the 23S rRNA gene. These results reveal that poultry carcasses in Poland are a reservoir of potentially pathogenic and antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter strains for humans, which may pose a public health risk.

Crystal and molecular structures of new enantiopure quinuclidines.

X-ray crystal structure analysis was performed on single crystals of two diastereomeric enantiopure quinuclidines, (3R,8R)-3-vinyl-8-hydroxymethyl-quinuclidine (quincoridine, QCD) and (3R,8S)-3-vinyl-8-hydroxymethyl-quinuclidine (quincorine, QCI) as their salts with tartaric and p-toluenesulphonate anions, respectively. The molecules of these quinuclidine derivatives are considered here as fragments of the Cinchona alkaloids, quinidine and quinine. A comparison of the conformational features of QCD, QCI, and Cinchona alkaloids in the crystalline state shows that the molecular geometry of the title compounds is similar to that of threo-alkaloids (e.g., R,R isomer of epicinchonine) rather than to quinidine and quinine. The packing of the molecules in both structures is dominated by intermolecular hydrogen bonds.