Outside the pattern: Evolution of the genital asymmetry in Saicinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae).

Despite genital structures in insects being consistently important as systematic and taxonomy evidence, within assassin bugs (Heteroptera, Reduviidae) at least, the male and female genitalic structures of several subfamilies are poorly or totally unknown. The genital structure is mostly symmetric within Saicinae genera, but male genital asymmetry has been recorded in Gallobelgicus, Polytoxus, and recently Pseudosaica. The subfamily has been considered as closely related to Emesinae and Visayanocorinae but this hypothesis has never been tested using a comprehensive taxa sampling, being a constraint to test morphological traits changes or exploring characters' evolution hypotheses. Here, we compiled a morphological data set of 170 characters that includes external morphological characters and genitalia of both sexes of Saicinae which was analyzed cladistically including 55 terminals, comprising 16 genera (64% of the generic diversity), 43 species of Saicinae and 12 outgroups. Saicinae was recovered as polyphyletic, Saicireta correntina is recovered as sister-species of Empicoris armatus + Collartida (Emesinae), Oncerotrachelus, Carayonia (Visayanocorinae), and the Clade Saicinae sensu stricto. Carayonia orientalis is recovered as sister-species of Saicinae sensu stricto. Ancestral state reconstruction of symmetry of the male genitalia shows an ancestor with symmetric male genitalia, two independent emergences of asymmetrical male genitalia within Saicinae sensu stricto, and the asymmetrical endosomal sclerites appearing before the other asymmetric traits.

Considerations on the Systematics of Neotropical Pierina, with the Description of Two New Species of Phulia Herrich-Schäffer from the Peruvian Andes (Lepidoptera: Pieridae, Pierinae, Pierini).

A comparative analysis of high-Andean Pierina was carried out, including a total of 25 species. Based on morphological evidence, with an emphasis on venation and genitalia and molecular data, using three genetic markers, we confirm the recent subjective synonymy of the generic names Tatochila Butler, 1870, Piercolias, Staudinger, 1894, Hypsochila Ureta, 1955, Infraphulia Field, 1958, Pierphulia Field, 1958, and Theochila Field, 1958 with Phulia Herrich-Schäffer, 1867. Two new species are described, namely Phulia stoddardi Pyrcz & Cerdeña n. sp., from the Andes of Central Peru, which occurs at an unusually high altitude of close to 5000 m a.s.l. in dry puna habitat, and Phulia phantasma Lamas, Willmott & Boyer n. sp., from dry montane forests in northern Peru and southern Ecuador. An overview of high-elevation butterflies is presented, with some discussion on adaptations to this environment.

Two remarkable new species of Argyrophorus Blanchard from the Peruvian high Andes (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae).

Two new species of butterflies of the genus Argyrophorus Blanchard (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae)-A. idealis n. sp. and A. rubrostriata n. sp.-are described from the Cordillera Negra in north-central Peru. Both, as indicated by colour patterns, male and female genitalia, are related to Argyrophorus lamna (Thieme) which occurs further east and southwards. The new species occur in open puna grassland at approximately 4000 m. One of them is exceptional because both fore and hindwings are uniform shining silvery, in this respect similar only to the Chilean A. argenteus Blanchard.

A new species of Rhytidognathus (Carabidae, Migadopini) from Argentina.

The Migadopini are a small tribe of Carabidae with 47 species that occur in South America, Australia, and New Zealand, in the sub-Antarctic areas. In South America, most of the genera inhabit areas related to sub-Antartic Nothofagus forest except two monogeneric genera, the Ecuadorian genus Aquilex Moret and the Pampean genus Rhytidognathus Chaudoir. These two genera are geographically isolated from the remaining five South American genera. New material of Rhytidognathus from the northeast of Buenos Aires province and from Entre Ríos province permits establishing that the previous records of Rhytidognathus ovalis (Dejean) for Argentina were erroneous and that it belongs to a new species. Based on external morphological characters and from male and female genitalia we describe Rhytidognathus platensis as a new species. In this contribution we provide illustrations, keys, habitat characteristics and some biogeographic considerations on the distribution of Rhytidognathus.