Chinese Cretaceous larva exposes a southern Californian living fossil (Insecta, Coleoptera, Eucnemidae).

Palaeoxenus sinensis Chang, Muona & Teräväinen sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Eucnemidae) is described on the basis of a Cretaceous larva found from the Yixian Formation in Huangbanjigou, Liaoning Province, China. The only previously known member of this clade is a southern Californian endemic, Dohrn's elegant eucnemid beetle (Palaeoxenus dohrni), a species that develops in conifers, especially the incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens). The new find proves that the highly specialized main eucnemid lineages had evolved 123 Mya, before the main radiation of the angiosperms and probably as an adaptation to development in gymnosperms.

Subfamily Anischiinae (Coleoptera: Eucnemidae) in Early Cretaceous of Northeast China.

Rheanischia new genus, type species Rheanischia brevicornis new species (Eucnemidae, Anischiinae) is described from the Lower Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. The presence of this species in early Cretaceous deposits provides new insight into the evolution of basal lignicolous Eucnemidae clades. Both Anischiinae and Palaeoxeninae species diversified in a world dominated by gymnosperms, before the main radiation of angiosperms. More than 95% of modern eucnemid larvae have a Palaeoxenus-type highly modified head structure, but contrary to the Palaeoxenus larva, they develop in angiosperm wood. Anischiinae utilize angiosperms as well, but their head capsule shows no such modifications. These facts prove that highly specialized morphological features do not offer definite proof of similar way of life in the distant past, nor should non-modified structures be taken as proof for another kind of substrate choice. Eucnemidae have invaded angiosperms with two quite different morphological adaptations. This fact may have implications for the evolution of all clicking elateroids.

The phylogeny of the Pantropical genus Arrhipis Bonvouloir (Coleoptera, Eucnemidae).

The phylogeny of the genus Arrhipis Bonvouloir (Coleoptera, Eucnemidae) is clarified with a cladistic analysis based on five molecular markers and morphology. Sixteen species from Africa, America, Asia, and Australia are included in the analysis. Two separate Asian clades are recovered, one of them being the sister group to a clade with the American and African species. With the exception of the continental south-east Asian species, all Gondwanan regions have monophyletic faunas. According to the present data, the continental south-east Asian fauna comprises two monophyletic groups, one of which is the sister group to African and American species. Vicariance seems to be the logical explanation for the distribution of these lignicolous beetles. © The Willi Hennig Society 2009.

The Clicking Elateroidea from Chinese Mesozoic Deposits (Insecta, Coleoptera).

Recent molecular studies have suggested that the clicking beetle families Elateridae, Eucnemidae, Throscidae, and Cerophytidae evolved in the Jurassic and diversified in the Cretaceous. These studies paid little attention to fossils, using them only as dating tools. The identification of Elateridae fossils is challenging, as external synapomorphies are not known for this family. Elateridae can be identified only as something not belonging to the other related families, all of which have diagnostic synapomorphies. Most subfamilies and tribes of Elateridae do possess definite diagnostic characters, however, making their identification feasible. We checked the 28 Elateridae described from Chinese Mesozoic deposits. Twelve were Elateridae, seven were Eucnemidae, and one was a Throscidae. Three species could be Eucnemidae, but showed aberrant characters. Five species could not be placed and may not belong to Elateroidea at all. On the basis of these results we suggest that all previously described Elateridae fossils should be re-checked. They should be searched for synapomorphies defining Eucnemidae, Throscidae, and Cerophytidae. If such characters are not present, a click beetle type of fossil can be placed in Elateroidae incertae sedis. The Mesozoic Chinese Elateridae fossils all belong to clades that do not exist today, whereas the Mesozoic Eucnemidae subfamilies are extant ones. This may be the source of the disagreement between Elateridae fossil age and datings based on molecular studies. One new combination was made: Desmatus ponomarenkoi (Chang, Kiretjshuk & Ren, 2009) NEW COMBINATION (= Paradesmatus ponomarenkoi Chang, Kirejtshuk & Ren, 2009).

Phylogeny of the Thylacosterninae (Coleoptera, Elateridae).

The phylogeny of the Elateridae subfamily Thylacosterninae was studied using morphological characters and mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequences. Five monophyletic groups were recovered: the Asian Cussolenis, the American Pterotarsus, Balgus and Thylacosternus, and the African "Cussolenis", which is described here as Lumumbaia new genus Muona & Vahtera (type-species Cussolenis attenuatus Fleutiaux, 1925). The following new combinations are made: Lumumbaia africanus (Fleutiaux, 1897) [Soleniscus], Lumumbaia praeustus (Fleutiaux, 1926) [Cussolenis], Lumumbaia nigripes (Fleutiaux, 1926) [Cussolenis], Lumumbaia robustus (Fleutiaux, 1925) [Cussolenis], Lumumbaia attenuatus (Fleutiaux, 1925) [Cussolenis] and Lumumbaia notabilis (Fleutiaux, 1926) [Cussolenis]. A key to the genera of the subfamily is provided. The data were efficient in recovering generic limits within the group. At species level the mitochondrial 16S rDNA data seemed to work unpredictably, either agreeing or not with traditional species-level limits based on male genitalia and body structure. The evolution of bioluminescence is optimized as a feature originating in the ancestors of clicking elateroids. © The Willi Hennig Society 2009.

Throscidae (Coleoptera) relationships, with descriptions of new fossil genera and species.

Two new Throscidae genera from Baltic amber are described: Tyrannosthroscus n..gen. (type species Tyrannothroscus rex n.sp.) and Pseudothroscus n. gen. (type species Pseudothroscus balticus n. sp.). Four species are described from Baltic amber: Tyrannothroscus rex n. sp., Pseudothroscus balticus n. sp., Potergus superbus n. sp. and Trixagus parvulus n. sp. Pactopus burmensis n. sp. is described from Burmese amber. A phylogenetic analysis of the known throscid genera is performed. Aulonothroscus Horn and Trixagus Kugelann are shown to be sister-groups, the sister-group of this clade is the genus Pactopus Horn and the sister group of these three genera is the genus Potergus Bonvouloir. The oldest previously known throscids were species belonging to the genera Rhomboaspis Kirejtshuk Kovalev and Potergosoma Kirejtshuk Kovalev, both from Lebanese Amber, 125-135 Mya. The present analysis shows that the extinct Baltic amber genera Jaira Muona and Pseudothroscus belong to clades at least as old as the Lebanese fossils. The Burmese amber fossil Pactopus burmensis, 99 Mya, is considerably older than any of the previously known species belonging to the four extant genera: Pactopus, Potergus, Aulonothroscus or Trixagus. At least three throscid lineages are now known to have gone extinct. Both the Pactopus and Potergus lineages are more than 99 milion years old, whereas the Aulonothroscus and Trixagus lineages extend at least to the Baltic amber, 50 million years ago. The presence of Jaira in Baltic amber shows that that lineage persisted at least 80 million years before going to extinction.

Taxonomic review of the genus Dirrhagofarsus in Korea (Coleoptera, Eucnemidae).

The genus Dirrhagofarsus is firstly recorded from Korea with three species: Dirrhagofarsuslewisi (Fleutiaux, 1900), Dirrhagofarsusmodestus (Fleutiaux, 1923), and Dirrhagofarsusunicolor (Hisamatsu, 1960). A key to Korean species of Dirrhagofarsus, with diagnoses, redescriptions, and photographs of important structures is provided. In this work, Dirrhagusmodestusf.unicolor Hisamatsu, 1960 is regarded as a valid species, Dirrhagofarsusunicolor (Hisamatsu, 1960), comb. n.

To be named or not to be named-Heteropodarke pleijeli sp. n. (Annelida, Polychaeta).

Heteropodarke pleijeli n. sp. (Annelida, Polychaeta, Hesionidae) is described from Papua New Guinea. This taxon was characterized in a PhyloCode context by Pleijel in 1999 and again in 2000. The valid name for this annelid will be decided by the zoological community in the future, but the description provided here is regarded as the only available and thus valid one.

Nine genera of Eucnemidae (Coleoptera) new to Peru, with a key to Peruvian genera.

Thirteen genera of Eucnemidae containing forty species were collected from the Iquitos region in Peru. Nine of the genera are new to the country: Rhagomicrus Fleutiaux, 1902, Adelorhagus Horn, 1890, Adelothyreus Chevrolat, 1867, Microrhagus Dejean, 1833, Dyscharachthis Blackburn, 1900, Heterotaxis Bonvouloir, 1871, Spinifornax Fleutiaux, 1926, Serrifornax Fleutiaux, 1926 and Maelodrus Fleutiaux, 1928. The previous eucnemid record from Peru contained eleven species in ten genera. Only one of the forty species caught, Entomophthalmusamericanus Bonvouloir, was previously known and described from the country. Dyscharachthis, Maelodrus and Adelorhagus are recorded from South America for the first time. Many of the collected species seem to favor white-sand forest as their habitat. Possible reasons for this are discussed. A list of eucnemids from Peru is included, containing taxa already recorded from the country and also taxa that are likely to occur there. A key to the Peruvian genera is included.

DNA multiple sequence alignments.

In this chapter we examine the procedure of multiple sequence alignment. We first examine the heuristic procedures commonly used in multiple sequence alignment. Next we examine sources of ambiguity involved in the alignment procedure. We suggest that several alignment parameters be employed to examine alignment sensitivity. We end by presenting an experiment with humans showing the ambiguity involved in manual alignment.

THE PHYLOGENY OF ELATEROIDEA (COLEOPTERA), OR WHICH TREE IS BEST TODAY?

- The relationships of the clicking Elateroidea beetles were studied with the help of parsimony analysis using Hennig86. The character matrix included 70 characters and 27 taxa. The results demonstrate the monophyly of the group Throscidae sensu Crowson, contrary to views presented in other papers. Methods for solving this problem were sought. When several minimum length solutions were obtained, successive weighting and a search for a strict consensus tree identical with one of the original trees appeared to be acceptable ways for trying to identify the preferred solution. When conflicting trees from separate data sets were compared, a combined global analysis turned out to be impossible to perform because the data sets used different terminal taxa. In this case, the incongruence and total support tests provided by Farris' programs RNA and KON proved indispensable. The conflict found between the results obtained here and those presented by other workers using a large suite of larval characters were shown to be caused by an incongruent data matrix used in the latter study-the larval data set resulted in a polyphyletic ingroup and suggests relationships quite different from adult data alone. Directed large scale homoplasy due to repeated re-invasion of two major habitats by separate clades may be the factor causing difficulties in coding the larval characters.

Phylogenetic relationships of the genus Cheilosia and the tribe Rhingiini (Diptera, Syrphidae) based on morphological and molecular characters.

The phylogenetic relationships of the tribe Rhingiini and the genus Cheilosia (Diptera, Syrphidae) were investigated using morphological and molecular characters. The genus Cheilosia is one of the most diverse lineages of hoverflies (Syrphidae). The mitochondrial protein coding gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), and the D2-3 region of the nuclear 28S rRNA gene were chosen for sequencing, and morphological characters were scored for both adults and immature stages. The combined dataset included 56 ingroup taxa. The datasets were analyzed separately and in conjunction, using both static and dynamic alignment under the parsimony criterion. The aim of the study was to assess the phylogenetic relationships of the tribe Rhingiini, and to explore if the subgenera of Cheilosia were supported as monophyletic clades. Results showed that the monophyly of subtribes of Rhingiini remained ambiguous, especially due to unstable phylogenetic placements of the genera Portevinia and Rhingia. We recovered most subgenera of Cheilosia as monophyletic clades. Dynamic alignment, using the optimization alignment program POY, always recovered more parsimonious topologies under all parameter weighting schemes, than did parsimony analyses using static alignment and analyzed with NONA.

Description of Dirrhagofarsus ernae n. sp. with a key to the known Dirrhagofarsus species (Coleoptera: Eucnemidae).

The adult and the larva of Dirrhagofarsus ernae n. sp. are described from the Eastern United States. The genus Dirrhagofarsus is diagnosed and a key to all known species of the genus is provided.