An illustrated key to the Afrotropical bark beetle species of Cladoctonus Strohmeyer (Curculionidae, Scolytinae)-a genus of rare cossonine look-alikes.

The Afrotropical species of Cladoctonus Strohmeyer, 1911 is revised. A key to species is provided with all species illustrated with photos. Five species are currently recognized as valid.

An integrated taxonomic revision of (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae) reveals new Malagasy species originating from multiple recent colonisations of the island.

is a strictly Afrotropical genus of bark beetles breeding under bark of rainforest trees and lianas. A taxonomic revision of the genus included a molecular phylogenetic analysis of ten species based on three gene fragments and was compared to a morphology-based tree topology for all 24 currently recognised species. Four species are described as new to science: , , , , , , all from Madagascar, and , from Cameroon.

Morphological Ontogeny, Ecology, and Biogeography of (Acari, Oribatida, Ceratozetidae).

The systematic status of Sellnick, 1928, is not clear in the literature. Therefore, the morphological ontogeny of . (C.

Two sympatric lineages of Australian Cnestus solidus share Ambrosiella symbionts but not Wolbachia.

Sympatric lineages of inbreeding species provide an excellent opportunity to investigate species divergence patterns and processes. Many ambrosia beetle lineages (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) reproduce by predominant inbreeding through sib mating in nests excavated in woody plant parts wherein they cultivate symbiotic ambrosia fungi as their sole source of nutrition. The Xyleborini ambrosia beetle species Cnestus solidus and Cnestus pseudosolidus are sympatrically distributed across eastern Australia and have overlapping morphological variation.

The strongly dimorphic bark beetle genus Pseudomicracis (Coleoptera, Scolytinae) in Madagascaran integrated taxonomic revision.

The largely Malagasy bark beetle genus Pseudomicracis Eggers, 1920 is revised based on molecular data and morphological studies. Because the type species P. elsae Eggers, 1920 from Tanzania has no intact type material, the diagnosis is fixed using an auxiliary species, P.

New species and records of Pseudolanurgus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) from Tanzania and Madagascar.

The recently established genus Pseudolanurgus Jordal, 2021 included one species from Democratic Republic of the Congo and two from Madagascar. Two more species are here described as new to science: Pseudolanurgus mystax sp. nov.

The mainly South African genus Lanurgus revised (Coleoptera, Scolytinae).

The Afrotropical and mainly southern African genus Lanurgus Eggers, 1920 is revised. Five new species are described from the Cape provinces in South Africa: Lanurgus beaveri, sp. nov.

An integrated taxonomic revision of Diplotrichus (Coleoptera, Scolytinae) supports a Malagasy origin and single colonisation of South Africa.

The Afrotropical genus Diplotrichus Jordal, 2021 is revised. Altogether 21 species are included in the genus, with 10 species described as new to science: Diplotrichus pilifrons Jordal, sp. nov.

Revision of Dendrochilus (Coleoptera, Scolytinae)-with description of two new species from Tanzania.

The genus Dendrochilus Schedl, 1963 is revised. Two new species are described from the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania. Dendrochilus tener sp.

Patterns of host tree use within a lineage of saproxlic snout-less weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae: Scolytini).

The influence of plants in the diversification of herbivorous insects, specifically those that utilize moribund and dead hosts, is little explored. Host shifts are expected because the effectiveness of toxic secondary chemicals is lessened by decay of dead plants. Feeding on dead plants also releases herbivorous insect lineages from diversifying within a particular plant lineage.

Scolytodes Ferrari (Coleoptera, Scolytinae) from Ecuador: 40 new species, and a molecular phylogenetic guide to infer species differences.

The genus Scolytodes Ferrari is a highly diverse group of Neotropical bark beetles. Recent collecting by hand and canopy fogging in Ecuador produced many new records. Overlap in species composition between samples from the canopy and the ground was very low, and canopy fogging revealed the highest proportion of undescribed species.

DNA from resin-embedded organisms: Past, present and future.

Past claims have been made for fossil DNA recovery from various organisms (bacteria, plants, insects and mammals, including humans) dating back in time from thousands to several million years BP. However, many of these recoveries, especially those described from million-year-old amber (fossil resin), have faced criticism as being the result of modern environmental contamination and for lack of reproducibility. Using modern genomic techniques, DNA can be obtained with confidence from a variety of substrates (e.

Rainforest and cloud forest (Curculionidae, Scolytinae, Hexacolini) from the Arthropods of La Selva inventory in Costa Rica: new species, new synonymy, new records.

Quantitative collecting efforts over the last several decades in Costa Rica have resulted in many new species of insects. The Arthropods of La Selva projects included collecting from a typical lowland Neotropical forest and up an altitudinal transect, and has provided many valuable samples of insects, spiders and mites potentially new to science. We describe 18 new species in the bark beetle genus Ferrari, 1867, 14 of which were collected during this project: Jordal & Kirkendall, .

Hidden gems in museum cabinets: new species and new distributional records of Scolytodes (Coleoptera: Scolytinae).

Twenty-one new species of Scolytodes Ferrari are described from Central and South America: Scolytodes cavus Jordal, sp. nov., Scolytodes excavatus Jordal, sp.

Phylogenomics clarifies repeated evolutionary origins of inbreeding and fungus farming in bark beetles (Curculionidae, Scolytinae).

Bark and ambrosia beetles (Curculionidae, Scolytinae) display a conspicuous diversity of unusual genetic and ecological attributes and behaviors. Reconstructing the evolution of Scolytinae, particularly the large and ecologically significant tribe Cryphalini (pygmy borers), has long been problematic. These challenges have not adequately been addressed using morphological characters, and previous research has used only DNA sequence data from small numbers of genes.

The smallest known species of Afrotropical Schaufuss (Curculionidae, Scolytinae) - with unique features and an isolated phylogenetic position.

Recent flight intercept trapping in Gabon provided four female specimens of a new species of Schaufuss with several unusual features. It is the smallest known Afrotropical species found to date (1.6 mm long), it has unusually long antennal clubs, and some characters show resemblance to small Asian species or to the Malagasy genus Jordal.

Ancient diversity of Afrotropical : three endemic species - not one widespread.

The primarily Neotropical genus Blandford is represented with three species in Africa and Madagascar. The previously recorded species from this region, Blandford, is a Neotropical species restricted to Central America and is likely not found in the Afrotropics. The previously recognised species in western parts of Africa is (Eggers) and is resurrected from synonymy under Molecular and morphological data revealed a second species of this complex in Madagascar, Jordal.

Biological factors contributing to bark and ambrosia beetle species diversification.

The study of species diversification can identify the processes that shape patterns of species richness across the tree of life. Here, we perform comparative analyses of species diversification using a large dataset of bark beetles. Three examined covariates-permanent inbreeding (sibling mating), fungus farming, and major host type-represent a range of factors that may be important for speciation.

Genomic Mining of Phylogenetically Informative Nuclear Markers in Bark and Ambrosia Beetles.

Deep level insect relationships are generally difficult to resolve, especially within taxa of the most diverse and species rich holometabolous orders. In beetles, the major diversity occurs in the Phytophaga, including charismatic groups such as leaf beetles, longhorn beetles and weevils. Bark and ambrosia beetles are wood boring weevils that contribute 12 percent of the diversity encountered in Curculionidae, one of the largest families of beetles with more than 50000 described species.

Globally distributed Xyleborus species reveal recurrent intercontinental dispersal in a landscape of ancient worldwide distributions.

Background: Invasive species can have devastating effects on native ecosystems and therefore impose a significant threat to human welfare. The introduction rate of invasive species has accelerated dramatically in recent times due to human activity (anthropogenic effects), with a steadily growing pool of widespread tramp species. We present an in-depth analysis of four pantropical species of Xyleborus ambrosia beetles (Xyleborus volvulus, Xyleborus perforans, Xyleborus ferrugineus, and Xyleborus affinis) with similar ecology (fungus cultivation in dead wood), reproductive biology (permanent inbreeding) and genetic system (haplodiploidy).

Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the weevil subfamily Platypodinae reveals evolutionarily conserved range patterns.

Platypodinae is a peculiar weevil subfamily of species that cultivate fungi in tunnels excavated in dead wood. Their geographical distribution is generally restricted, with genera confined to a single continent or large island, which provides a useful system for biogeographical research. This study establishes the first detailed molecular phylogeny of the group, with the aim of testing hypotheses on classification, diversification, and biogeography.

Classification of weevils as a data-driven science: leaving opinion behind.

Data and explicit taxonomic ranking criteria, which minimize taxonomic change, provide a scientific approach to modern taxonomy and classification. However, traditional practices of opinion-based taxonomy (i.e.

The ambrosia symbiosis is specific in some species and promiscuous in others: evidence from community pyrosequencing.

Symbioses are increasingly seen as dynamic ecosystems with multiple associates and varying fidelity. Symbiont specificity remains elusive in one of the most ecologically successful and economically damaging eukaryotic symbioses: the ambrosia symbiosis of wood-boring beetles and fungi. We used multiplexed pyrosequencing of amplified internal transcribed spacer II (ITS2) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) libraries to document the communities of fungal associates and symbionts inside the mycangia (fungus transfer organ) of three ambrosia beetle species, Xyleborus affinis, Xyleborus ferrugineus and Xylosandrus crassiusculus.

Bulk de novo mitogenome assembly from pooled total DNA elucidates the phylogeny of weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea).

Complete mitochondrial genomes have been shown to be reliable markers for phylogeny reconstruction among diverse animal groups. However, the relative difficulty and high cost associated with obtaining de novo full mitogenomes have frequently led to conspicuously low taxon sampling in ensuing studies. Here, we report the successful use of an economical and accessible method for assembling complete or near-complete mitogenomes through shot-gun next-generation sequencing of a single library made from pooled total DNA extracts of numerous target species.

Deep phylogenetic divergence between Scolytoplatypus and Remansus, a new genus of Scolytoplatypodini from Madagascar (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae).

Scolytoplatypodini Blandford is a monotypic tribe of ambrosia beetles found in Asia, Madagascar and Africa. Only three species are currently known from Madagascar and four additional species are here described as new to science. Phylogenetic analyses of morphological and molecular data revealed that four of the seven endemic species are deeply separated from all other species by genetic and distinct morphological characters and therefore placed in a new genus Remansus Jordal.