Type catalogue of the Orthoptera collection in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Types represent the most important specimens in natural history museums as they define a species and should usually be studied within the framework of revisions and new taxon descriptions, hence their documentation is of high importance. Orthoptera is a medium-size order of insects, but its members are important in many food chains as herbivores and as food for other animals. While the documentation of types in Orthoptera is overall very good thanks to the Orthoptera Species File site, there are still many gaps that need to be filled.

A new species of Contarinia (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from flower galls on the relict tree Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae) endemic to Crete (Greece).

Contarinia ampelitsiae n. sp. Dorchin & Fazan is described as a newly discovered gall-midge species (Diptera: Cecidoymiidae) forming galls in flowers of Zelkova abelicea (Ulmaceae), a tree species endemic to the Mediterranean island of Crete (Greece).

Hidden Diversity-A New Speciose Gall Midge Genus (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) Associated with Succulent Aizoaceae in South Africa.

Aizoaceae (Caryophyllales) constitute one of the major floral components of the unique Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR), with more than 1700 species and 70% endemism. Within succulent Aizoaceae, the subfamily Ruschioideae is the most speciose and rapidly diversifying clade, offering potential niches for the diversification of specialized herbivorous insects. Nevertheless, insect diversity on these plants has not been studied to date, and knowledge of gall-inducing insects in the Afrotropics is generally scarce.

Reclassification of Gall Midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae: Cecidomyiini) from Amaranthaceae, with Description of Ten New Species Based on an Integrative Taxonomic Study.

The genus includes 99 species restricted to host-plants of the Amaranthaceae, virtually all of which are from Central Asia. The discovery of numerous undescribed species putatively belonging to this genus in Israel instigated an exhaustive review of the original descriptions of all known species in this genus. This study revealed that the generic concept of and some of the genera synonymized under it should be redefined based on morphological and life-history attributes, such that is limited to only 13 species developing in plant tissues without obvious gall formation or as inquilines in galls of other cecidomyiids.

Phylogeny of the gall midges (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae, Cecidomyiinae): Systematics, evolution of feeding modes and diversification rates.

Gall midges (Cecidomyiidae) constitute one of the largest and most diverse families of Diptera, with close to 6600 described species and thousands of undescribed species worldwide. The family is divided into six subfamilies, the five basal ones comprising only fungivorous taxa, whereas the largest, youngest and most diverse subfamily Cecidomyiinae includes fungivorous as well as herbivorous and predatory species. The currently accepted classification of the Cecidomyiinae is morphology-based, and the few phylogenetic inferences that have previously been suggested for it were based on fragmentary or limited datasets.

The oak gall wasps of Israel (Hymenoptera, Cynipidae, Cynipini)-diversity, distribution and life history.

Oak-galling wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae, Cynipini) have been studied in Israel only superficially so far, despite interest in the Israeli fauna given its location at the southern edge of distribution range of the wasps and their oak hosts. We provide the first comprehensive review of the Israeli fauna of oak cynipids based on an extensive survey of the five naturally occurring oak species in Israel. We report 53 cynipid species, 37 of which are reported from Israel for the first time, 10 are currently known only from this country, and 9 are undescribed.

Taxonomy of Leach in Israel (Ephemeroptera, Baetidae).

The taxonomy and systematics of the genus Leach (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) in Israel is clarified for the first time as part of an ongoing comprehensive survey of the Israeli mayfly fauna. Six clearly defined species are currently recognized in Israel, four of which are described here as new to science. The validity of all species is supported by a molecular analysis of the mitochondrial COI gene.

Taxonomic review of the subgenus Andrena (Poecilandrena) (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) in Israel and the Levant.

Andrena (Poecilandrena) Hedicke is a subgenus of small solitary bees, with the greatest diversity in the Eastern Mediterranean Region-an important but understudied biodiversity hotspot for bees. We studied Andrena (Poecilandrena) collected mostly in Israel and the West Bank, and make several additions to the regional fauna. We provide the first comprehensive review of Andrena (Poecilandrena) species currently known from Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, including diagnostic keys to females and males, descriptions of new species and unknown sexes, and detailed information for each taxon regarding distribution, phenology and flower visitation.

Eight new species of Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Andrenidae) from Israel-a Mediterranean hotspot for wild bees.

More than 150 solitary bee species of the genus Andrena Fabricius are known from Israel and the West Bank, where they are distributed along a broad climatic gradient and diverse habitats and vegetation types. Extensive collecting throughout Israel in recent years has yielded eight new species and one new subspecies, adding to the rich bee fauna of the region:   A. crocusella Pisanty & Scheuchl n.

Morphological and Molecular Revision of the Genus Ozirhincus (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)-Long-Snouted Seed-Feeding Gall Midges on Asteraceae.

The Palaearctic gall-midge genus Ozirhincus is unique among the Cecidomyiidae for its morphology and biology. Unlike most other phytophagous gall midges, species in this genus do not induce galls but develop inside achenes of Asteraceae plants. The heads of adults are characterized by an unusually elongate proboscis, the function of which is unclear.

Saltbush-associated Asphondylia species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in the Mediterranean Basin and their chalcidoid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea).

Numerous species of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) have been recorded from saltbush (Chenopodiaceae: Atriplex) around the world but only 11 of them belong to the large cecidomyiid genus Asphondylia. Of these, two species were described in the late 19th century from complex bud galls on Atriplex halimus in the Mediterranean Basin. In the present study Asphondylia punica is redescribed, A.

The Nabidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Israel and the Sinai Peninsula.

A long-term taxonomic and faunistic survey of the family Nabidae from Israel and the Sinai (Egypt) was conducted based primarily on material housed in the National Collection of Insects at Tel Aviv University, Israel (TAUI). A key is provided to all species and information is given for each, species including its distribution, previous records from the study area and life history details if available. Eleven species are recorded; Nabis (Nabis) pseudoferus orientarius Remane and Nabis (Halonabis) sareptanus Dohrn are new records to the fauna of the study area.

Behavioural, ecological and genetic evidence confirm the occurrence of host-associated differentiation in goldenrod gall-midges.

Host-associated differentiation (HAD) is considered a step towards ecological speciation and an important mechanism promoting diversification in phytophagous insects. Although the number of documented cases of HAD is increasing, these still represent only a small fraction of species and feeding guilds among phytophagous insects, and most reports are based on a single type of evidence. Here we employ a comprehensive approach to present behavioural, morphological, ecological and genetic evidence for the occurrence of HAD in the gall midge Dasineura folliculi (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on two sympatric species of goldenrods (Solidago rugosa and S.

Photosynthesis and sink activity of wasp-induced galls in Acacia pycnantha.

Although insect galls are widely known to influence source-sink relationships in plants, the relationship between photosynthesis and gall activity has not been extensively studied. In this study we used 14CO2, photosynthesis, and respiration measurements to examine the capacity of bud galls induced by the wasp Trichilogaster signiventris (Pteromalidae) as carbon sinks in Acacia pycnantha. Galls of this species develop either in vegetative or reproductive buds, depending on the availability of tissues at different times of the year, and effectively eliminate seed production by the plant.

Phylogeny of the Baldratiina (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) inferred from morphological, ecological and molecular data sources, and evolutionary patterns in plant-galler relationships.

The phylogeny of the gall-midge subtribe Baldratiina (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) was reconstructed from molecular (partial sequence of the mitochondrial 12S rDNA), morphological and ecological data sets, using 16 representative species of most of the genera. The morphological and ecological data were combined in a single character matrix and analyzed separately from the molecular data, resulting in an eco-morphological cladogram and a molecular cladogram. Attributes of galls and host associations were superimposed on the molecular cladogram in order to detect possible trends in the evolution of these traits.