ABSTRACT
The yellow paper wasp, Polistes versicolor (Olivier) was first recorded in the Galapagos archipelago in 1988. Its life cycle and ecological impacts were studied on two islands 11 yr after it was first discovered. This invasive wasp adapted quickly and was found in most environments. Colony counts and adult wasp monitoring showed a strong preference for drier habitats. Nest activities were seasonally synchronized, nest building followed the rains in the hot season (typically January-May), when insect prey increases, and peaked as temperature and rains started to decline. Next, the number of adult wasps peaked during the cool season when there is barely any rain in the drier zones. In Galapagos, almost half of the prey loads of P. versicolor were lepidopteran larvae, but wasps also carried spiders, beetles, and flies back to the colonies. An estimated average of 329 mg of fresh insect prey was consumed per day for an average colony of 120-150 wasp larvae. The wasps preyed upon native and introduced insects, but likely also affect insectivorous vertebrates as competitors for food. Wasps may also compete with native pollinators as they regularly visited flowers to collect nectar, and have been recorded visiting at least 93 plant species in Galapagos, including 66 endemic and native plants. Colonies were attacked by a predatory moth, Taygete sphecophila (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Autostichidae), but colony development was not arrested. High wasp numbers also affect the activities of residents and tourists. A management program for this invasive species in the archipelago is essential.
Subject(s)
Wasps , Animals , Ecuador , Insecta , Islands , Predatory BehaviorABSTRACT
This paper presents an updated catalog of all taxa of Leiodidae (s.lat.) reported from the Neotropical Region. Keys are presented for the identification of all subfamilies, tribes, and 62 described genera. Three undescribed genera are included in the keys. A total of 600 valid named species are listed, with type localities, type depositories, synonyms, distributions, and biologies where known, and some unnamed species as recorded in the literature. Many species remain to be described. In this work we formally establish no new synonyms and no new combinations although we may indicate the existence of these; but we add new records for described species, and we make spelling corrections of scientific names, when appropriate. A brief review of distribution patterns is given. The fauna has been derived partly from some Nearctic elements that have penetrated as far south as Bolivia. A few genera in the Neotropical element have penetrated the Nearctic Region as far north as the northern U.S.A. or southeastern Canada. Most of the Neotropical genera are autochthonous. In southern South America there is a diverse Neo-Austral fauna with clear "Transantarctic" relationships to Australia and New Zealand and weakly to southern Africa. Some genera variously occur on other continents.
Subject(s)
Coleoptera , Animals , Latin America , Mexico , South America , West IndiesABSTRACT
Detailed studies of microstructure have recently been shown to provide phylogenetic signals at several supraspecific levels within leiodid coleopterans, as well as in other insects. The tribe Ptomaphagini (Leiodidae: Cholevinae), with a Holarctic-Neotropical-Oriental distribution, has been characterized, among other things, by having a comb of equal-sized, flat spines around the apex of the tibiae of all legs, with a row of spines extending along the outer edge of the protibiae in the subtribes Baryodirina and Ptomaphaginina (but not in Ptomaphagina). A pattern similar to the one in Ptomaphaginina also occurs in the Neotropical cholevine tribe Eucatopini, and this has been used to indicate a phylogenetic relationship between the two tribes (but recent phylogenetic studies have not supported such a close relationship). We here review and revise the presence and structure of periapical (here called an apical crown) and marginal (here called an external comb) combs of spines on tibiae in Ptomaphagini, using other cholevines (with and without apical tibial combs) for comparison. We find a phylogenetic signal in an apical crown of tibial spines not interrupted at the outer spur, which seems to be an additional synapomorphy of Ptomaphagini, differing from the pattern in Eucatopini and remaining cholevines with an apical comb of spines, in which the comb is interrupted. We highlight differences not previously noticed between the apical protibial armature of Ptomaphaginina and Eucatopini.
Subject(s)
Animals , Coleoptera/anatomy & histology , Coleoptera/classification , Tibia/anatomy & histology , PhylogenyABSTRACT
Detailed studies of microstructure have recently been shown to provide phylogenetic signals at several supraspecific levels within leiodid coleopterans, as well as in other insects. The tribe Ptomaphagini (Leiodidae: Cholevinae), with a Holarctic-Neotropical-Oriental distribution, has been characterized, among other things, by having a comb of equal-sized, flat spines around the apex of the tibiae of all legs, with a row of spines extending along the outer edge of the protibiae in the subtribes Baryodirina and Ptomaphaginina (but not in Ptomaphagina). A pattern similar to the one in Ptomaphaginina also occurs in the Neotropical cholevine tribe Eucatopini, and this has been used to indicate a phylogenetic relationship between the two tribes (but recent phylogenetic studies have not supported such a close relationship). We here review and revise the presence and structure of periapical (here called an apical crown) and marginal (here called an external comb) combs of spines on tibiae in Ptomaphagini, using other cholevines (with and without apical tibial combs) for comparison. We find a phylogenetic signal in an apical crown of tibial spines not interrupted at the outer spur, which seems to be an additional synapomorphy of Ptomaphagini, differing from the pattern in Eucatopini and remaining cholevines with an apical comb of spines, in which the comb is interrupted. We highlight differences not previously noticed between the apical protibial armature of Ptomaphaginina and Eucatopini.(AU)
Subject(s)
Animals , Coleoptera/anatomy & histology , Coleoptera/classification , Tibia/anatomy & histology , PhylogenyABSTRACT
Abstract Detailed studies of microstructure have recently been shown to provide phylogenetic signals at several supraspecific levels within leiodid coleopterans, as well as in other insects. The tribe Ptomaphagini (Leiodidae: Cholevinae), with a Holarctic-Neotropical-Oriental distribution, has been characterized, among other things, by having a comb of equal-sized, flat spines around the apex of the tibiae of all legs, with a row of spines extending along the outer edge of the protibiae in the subtribes Baryodirina and Ptomaphaginina (but not in Ptomaphagina). A pattern similar to the one in Ptomaphaginina also occurs in the Neotropical cholevine tribe Eucatopini, and this has been used to indicate a phylogenetic relationship between the two tribes (but recent phylogenetic studies have not supported such a close relationship). We here review and revise the presence and structure of periapical (here called an apical crown) and marginal (here called an external comb) combs of spines on tibiae in Ptomaphagini, using other cholevines (with and without apical tibial combs) for comparison. We find a phylogenetic signal in an apical crown of tibial spines not interrupted at the outer spur, which seems to be an additional synapomorphy of Ptomaphagini, differing from the pattern in Eucatopini and remaining cholevines with an apical comb of spines, in which the comb is interrupted. We highlight differences not previously noticed between the apical protibial armature of Ptomaphaginina and Eucatopini.
ABSTRACT
As preparation for a revision of the Neotropical genera Adelopsis Portevin, 1907, Paulipalpina Gnaspini and Peck, 1996, and Parapaulipalpina Gnaspini, 1996, we review and redescribe the earlier named species and code characters of their genitalia. These characters are then used to redefine species groups. We review the following 22 "older" species: Adelopsis ascutellaris (Murray, 1856) (male lectotype here designated); Adelopsis aspera Jeannel, 1936; Adelopsis asperoides Szymczakowski, 1963; Adelopsis azzalii Szymczakowski, 1975 (here raised to specific status-previously as Adelopsis brunnea azzalii); Adelopsis bellator Szymczakowski, 1968; Adelopsis benardi (Portevin, 1923); Adelopsis brasiliensis Jeannel, 1936; Adelopsis brevicollis Szymczakowski, 1975 (here raised to specific status-previously as Adelopsis brunnea brevicollis); Adelopsis bruchi (Pic, 1926) (male lectotype here designated); Adelopsis darwini Jeannel, 1936; Adelopsis grouvellei Jeannel, 1936; Adelopsis heterocera Portevin, 1907 (the type species of Adelopsis, here considered a junior synonym of Adelopsis ruficollis (Portevin, 1903)); Adelopsis insolita Szymczakowski, 1961; Adelopsis luculenta Szymczakowski, 1963; Adelopsis orcina Szymczakowski, 1975 (here raised to specific status-previously as Adelopsis brunnea orcina); Adelopsis ovalis Jeannel, 1936; Adelopsis pteromoria Szymczakowski, 1975 (here raised to specific status-previously as Adelopsis brunnea pteromoria); Adelopsis ruficollis (Portevin, 1903) (male lectotype here designated) (here considered a senior synonym of Adelopsis heterocera Portevin, 1907); Adelopsis triangulifer Szymczakowski, 1961; Parapaulipalpina filicornis (Jeannel, 1936); Paulipalpina dispar (Portevin, 1903) (male lectotype here designated); and Paulipalpina simoni (Portevin, 1903). The status of Adelopsis brunnea Jeannel, 1936 is discussed, and is restricted to a single, nominal subspecies. Specific status is restablished for Adelopsis linaresi Szymczakowski, 1969 (previously as Adelopsis brunnea linaresi). The status of Paulipalpina claudicans (Szymczakowski, 1980) is discussed. To correct published misidentifications in museum collections, we also describe the following nine new species: Adelopsis claudina sp. n., Adelopsis mrazi sp. n., Adelopsis szymczakowskii sp. n., Adelopsis waclawi sp. n., and Paulipalpina jeanneli sp. n. (all from Brazil), Paulipalpina consuelo sp. n. from Peru, Adelopsis portevini sp. n. and Paulipalpina aragua sp. n. from Venezuela, and Paulipalpina coatepec sp. n. from Mexico. Iutururuca Gnaspini, 1993, described as a subgenus of Adelopsis, is here considered a junior synonym of Adelopsis Portevin, 1907, which is defined as having no subgenera.
Subject(s)
Coleoptera , Animals , MaleABSTRACT
Cyrtodesmus baerti, n. sp., previously reported from the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, as Cyrtodesmus sp., is described, together with notes on the systematics, natural history and morphology of cyrotdesmid millipedes.
Subject(s)
Arthropods , Animals , EcuadorABSTRACT
We list all described species and subspecies of parasitic lice from the Galápagos Islands, based on literature and specimen records. A total of eight families, 47 genera, and 104 species and subspecies of parasitic lice are listed, of which 26 are new species records and eight are new genus records. Also, we report 17 new host-louse associations. The checklist includes 17 endemic species (16 from birds, one from a mammal), 79 native species and subspecies (78 from birds, one from a mammal), and eight species and subspecies (five from birds, three from mammals) introduced by human agency. Nine species assigned in error to the Galápagos Islands in the literature are discussed and deleted from the fauna. For each valid species and subspecies we give information on its taxonomic history, type material, host associations, geographic distribution, biogeographical status, systematic relationships, and relevant literature references. We also give a brief summary of louse biology, and an account of the history of louse collecting, expeditions, collections, and research relating to Galápagos Islands lice. We include a host-parasite list, and a list of hosts which breed in the Galápagos Islands but without lice recorded from them. Also, we formally designate four lectotypes from the Kellogg Collection.