Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera) of Madagascar: I. Descriptions of eighteen new species of Torodora Meyrick, 1894.

The present study is aimed at describing lecithocerid specimens from Madagascar collected by Pierre Viette and his colleagues during the 1950's and preserved in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (MNHN, Paris). Eighteen new species of Torodora Meyrick, 1894 are described, namely: T. hana Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. larseni Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. toliarensis Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. silvestris Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. sogai Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. vietteiola Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. haploista Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. septentriella Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. zahamenensis Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. unicolorella Park & Koo, sp. nov., T. pistillia Park & Minet, sp. nov., T. andringitrensis Park & Minet, sp. nov., T. ochrizona Park & Minet, sp. nov., T. anosibensis Park & Minet, sp. nov., T. convexula Park & Minet, sp. nov., T. sphenosa Park & Minet, sp. nov., T. malagasiella Park & Minet, sp. nov., and T griveaudi Park & Minet, sp. nov. The previously unknown male of T. lecithocerella (Viette, 1956) is described for the first time. Adults and their male or female genitalia are illustrated.

A new species of Xylodes Waterhouse from Madagascar, with a key to the genera of the tribe Ptinini from Madagascar, Mascarenes and adjacent regions, and a key to species of Xylodes, subgenus Diegous (Coleoptera: Ptinidae).

A new species, Xylodes (Diegous) korinae Zahradnk & Trzna sp. nov. (Bostrichoidea: Ptinidae, Ptininae, Ptinini), from east Madagascar is described, illustrated and compared with other species from the subgenus Diegous Pic, 1896. Male and female genitalia are studied and illustrated. Keys to morphologically similar genera from Madagascar and adjacent areas, to both subgenera of the genus Xylodes Waterhouse, 1876, and to all species of the subgenus Diegous are presented. Ecological notes, including photographs of habitats of the new species are also provided.

Remaining forests on the Central Highlands of Madagascar-Endemic and endangered aquatic beetle fauna uncovered.

Madagascar is known for its high endemism and as many as 90% of this unique diversity are forest-dwellers. Unfortunately, the forest cover of Madagascar is decreasing at an alarming rate. This decrease can also affect aquatic insects, but our knowledge on aquatic insect diversity and distribution on Madagascar are limited. Although the eastern rainforests are considered the most diverse, the Central Highlands of Madagascar also harbors unique microendemic fauna but has been less studied. Here, we analyze the aquatic Adephaga beetle fauna of three remaining protected forests of the Central Highlands. Diversity, abundance, and uniqueness are compared between and within natural forests and surrounding grasslands. At least 15 undescribed species were found, highlighting the Central Highlands as an important area for endemism. The natural forests and the surrounding grasslands differed significantly in species assemblages. Interestingly, the three remaining forests differed in their assemblages with the geographically more distant Manjakatompo Ankaratra having the most unique fauna but also the highest altitude span. By contrast, the species composition was similar between the peripheral zones of each of the three remaining forests. The similarity of the fauna in the peripheral open habitats illustrates how some local forest endemics are replaced with widespread generalists in degraded habitats. Our study shows that the remaining forests of the Central Highlands of Madagascar are important refuges of unique fauna at high risk of extinction.

Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships of Coevolving Symbiont-Harboring Insect Trypanosomatids, and Their Neotropical Dispersal by Invader African Blowflies (Calliphoridae).

This study is about the inter- and intra-specific genetic diversity of trypanosomatids of the genus Angomonas, and their association with Calliphoridae (blowflies) in Neotropical and Afrotropical regions. Microscopic examination of 3,900 flies of various families, mostly Calliphoridae, revealed that 31% of them harbored trypanosomatids. Small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) barcoding showed that Angomonas predominated (46%) over the other common trypanosomatids of blowflies of genera Herpetomonas and Wallacemonas. Among Angomonas spp., A. deanei was much more common than the two-other species, A. desouzai and A. ambiguus. Phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rRNA, glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) and internal transcribed spacer rDNA (ITS rDNA) sequences revealed a marked genetic diversity within A. deanei, which comprised four infraspecific genotypes (Dea1-Dea4), and four corresponding symbiont genotypes (Kcr1-Kcr4). Host and symbiont phylogenies were highly congruent corroborating their co-divergence, consistent with host-symbiont interdependent metabolism and symbiont reduced genomes shaped by a long coevolutionary history. We compared the diversity of Angomonas/symbionts from three genera of blowflies, Lucilia, Chrysomya and Cochliomyia. A. deanei, A. desouzai, and A. ambiguus were found in the three genera of blowflies in South America. In Africa, A. deanei and A. ambiguus were identified in Chrysomya. The absence of A. desouzai in Africa and its presence in Neotropical Cochliomyia and Lucilia suggests parasite spillback of A. desouzai into Chrysomya, which was most likely introduced four decades ago from Africa into the Neotropic. The absence of correlation between parasite diversity and geographic and genetic distances, with identical genotypes of A. deanei found in the Neotropic and Afrotropic, is consistent with disjunct distribution due to the recent human-mediated transoceanic dispersal of Angomonas by Chrysomya. This study provides the most comprehensive data gathered so far on the genetic repertoires of a genus of trypanosomatids found in flies from a wide geographical range.