Phylogeny of the beetle supertribe Trechitae (Coleoptera: Carabidae): Unexpected clades, isolated lineages, and morphological convergence.

Using data from two nuclear ribosomal genes and four nuclear protein-coding genes, we infer a well-resolved phylogeny of major lineages of the carabid beetle supertribe Trechitae, based upon a sampling of 259 species. Patrobini is the sister group of Trechitae, but the genus Lissopogonus appears to be outside of the Patrobini + Trechitae clade. We find that four enigmatic trechite genera from the Southern Hemisphere, Bembidarenas, Argentinatachoides, Andinodontis, and Tasmanitachoides, form a clade that is the sister group of Trechini; we describe this clade as a new tribe, Bembidarenini.

VernoniasubgenusAustrovernonia, a new subgenus from South America (Compositae, Vernonieae, Vernoniinae).

Less. and Less. are two semi-aquatic species from southern South American that are referred to as "the semi-aquatic of South America" and they have been, until now, retained as members of mostly because each had some unusual characters that made them hard to place.

J. Presl (Poaceae): a modern summary of infraspecific taxonomy, chromosome numbers, related species and infrageneric placement based on DNA.

J. Presl. s.

A new large-flowered species of (Malvaceae, Malvoideae) from Peru.

Dorr & C.Romero, , the third Peruvian endemic in a small genus of five species, is described and illustrated from a single collection made at high elevation on the eastern slopes of the Andes. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal ITS sequence data resolve a group of northern species of found in Bolivia and Peru from the morphologically very different southern .

Palaeontology: Many Babies or Bigger Brains?

A cynodont from the Early Jurassic reveals unexpectedly large litters in these early mammal relatives, supporting the hypothesis that an increase in brain size was connected to smaller litters during the early evolution of mammals.

Soil drivers of local-scale tree growth in a lowland tropical forest.

Soil nutrients influence the distribution of tree species in lowland tropical forests, but their effect on productivity, especially at local scales, remains unclear. We used tree census, canopy occupancy, and soil data from the Barro Colorado Island (BCI; Panama) 50-ha forest dynamics plot to investigate the influence of soil nutrients and potential toxins on aboveground tree productivity. Growth was calculated as the increase in diameter of 150,000 individual stems ≥1 cm diameter at breast height, representing 207 species.

Review of Schaus, 1911 (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae): a new combination and re-descriptions of species newly associated with ferns (Polypodiaceae).

Schaus, 1911 (Noctuidae) is the smaller of two noctuid genera originally described by Schaus that include species recently associated with ferns (Pteridophyta), in this case Polypodiaceae, as larval food plants. Following an examination of type material and reared specimens accompanied by DNA barcode data, is revised to include Schaus, 1911, (Jones, 1914), and (Schaus, 1914), , the last of which is transferred from Schaus, 1914 (= Druce, 1908). is characterized based on adult and larval morphology, especially that of the male genitalia.

A review of Druce, 1908: a newly discovered case of fern-feeding and descriptions of three new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae).

Schaus, 1914, is one of two noctuine genera originally described by Schaus that includes species recently found to feed on fern foliage (Pteridophyta) as larvae. By examining museum specimens, including type material and reared specimens accompanied by DNA barcode data, Schaus, 1914, is synonymized with Druce, 1908, all currently recognized species are re-described, including males of three species described from female holotypes, and three new species are described: Goldstein, , Goldstein, , and Goldstein, Images of adults and, where available, larvae as well as dissected genitalia are presented, with a key to adults.

A new species of from the mountains of central Arizona (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Lithosiini).

A new firefly-mimicking lichen moth of the genus , Palting & Ferguson, , is described from the mountains of east-central Arizona and the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. Hübner, 1831 is a North American genus of lithosiine tiger moths, previously consisting of five species: Hübner, 1831 and (Kirby, 1837), both of eastern and central North America; Strecker, 1878 from the Rocky Mountains into New Mexico and west Texas; H. Edwards, 1882, a widespread western USA species and Dyar, 1907 from the vicinity of Mexico City.

A new species of myrmecophilous lady beetle in the genus Diomus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Diomini) from Chiapas, Mexico that feeds on green coffee scale, Coccus viridis (Green) (Hemiptera: Coccidae).

A new species of myrmecophilous lady beetle, Diomus lupusapudoves, sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Diomini), is described from a coffee agroecosystem in Chiapas, Mexico.

Chorionic sculpture of eggs in the subfamily Dismorphiinae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea: Pieridae).

This is the second exploration, comparison, and analysis of the chorion of species (45 sspp.) of the subfamily Dismorphiinae (Pieridae). This study includes nearly 50% of the species of the subfamily, including six of the seven genera in its two subtribes: Leptidea (Leptideini), Enantia, Pseudopieris, Lieinix, Moschoneura, and Dismorphia (Dismorphiini).

Acoustic adaptation to city noise through vocal learning by a songbird.

Anthropogenic noise imposes novel selection pressures, especially on species that communicate acoustically. Many animals-including insects, frogs, whales and birds-produce sounds at higher frequencies in areas with low-frequency noise pollution. Although there is support for animals changing their vocalizations in real time in response to noise (i.

Convergent evolution of complex structures for ant-bacterial defensive symbiosis in fungus-farming ants.

Evolutionary adaptations for maintaining beneficial microbes are hallmarks of mutualistic evolution. Fungus-farming "attine" ant species have complex cuticular modifications and specialized glands that house and nourish antibiotic-producing Actinobacteria symbionts, which in turn protect their hosts' fungus gardens from pathogens. Here we reconstruct ant-Actinobacteria evolutionary history across the full range of variation within subtribe Attina by combining dated phylogenomic and ultramorphological analyses.

Comprehensive inventory of true flies (Diptera) at a tropical site.

Estimations of tropical insect diversity generally suffer from lack of known groups or faunas against which extrapolations can be made, and have seriously underestimated the diversity of some taxa. Here we report the intensive inventory of a four-hectare tropical cloud forest in Costa Rica for one year, which yielded 4332 species of Diptera, providing the first verifiable basis for diversity of a major group of insects at a single site in the tropics. In total 73 families were present, all of which were studied to the species level, providing potentially complete coverage of all families of the order likely to be present at the site.

Hyoliths with pedicles illuminate the origin of the brachiopod body plan.

Hyoliths are a taxonomically problematic group of Palaeozoic lophotrochozoans that are among the first shelly fossils to appear in the Cambrian period. On the basis of their distinctive exoskeleton, hyoliths have historically been classified as a separate phylum with possible affinities to the molluscs, sipunculans or lophophorates-but their precise phylogenetic position remains uncertain. Here, we describe a new orthothecide hyolith from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Cambrian Series 2 Stage 3), Sun, Zhao et Zhu gen.

Using Bloodmeal Analysis to Assess Disease Risk to Wildlife at the New Northern Limit of a Mosquito Species.

The historically southeastern mosquito species Culex erraticus has over the last 30 years undergone a marked expansion north. We evaluated this species' potential to participate in local disease cycles in the northeastern USA by identifying the vertebrate sources of blood in Cx. erraticus specimens from New Jersey.

Impacts of Inference Method and Data set Filtering on Phylogenomic Resolution in a Rapid Radiation of Ground Squirrels (Xerinae: Marmotini).

Phylogenomic data sets are illuminating many areas of the Tree of Life. However, the large size of these data sets alone may be insufficient to resolve problematic nodes in the most rapid evolutionary radiations, because inferences in zones of extraordinarily low phylogenetic signal can be sensitive to the model and method of inference, as well as the information content of loci employed. We used a data set of $>$3950 ultraconserved element (UCE) loci from a classic mammalian radiation, ground-dwelling squirrels of the tribe Marmotini (Sciuridae: Xerinae), to assess sensitivity of phylogenetic estimates to varying per-locus information content across four different inference methods (RAxML, ASTRAL, NJst, and SVDquartets).

Combined description (morphology with DNA barcode data) of a new quill mite Torotrogla paenae n. sp. (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) parasitising the Kalahari scrub-robin Cercotrichas paena (Smith) (Passeriformes: Muscicapidae) in Namibia.

A new quill mite species Torotrogla paenae n. sp. (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) parasitising the Kalahari scrub-robin Cercotrichas paena (Smith) (Passeriformes: Muscicapidae) in Namibia is described based on the external morphology and DNA barcode data (the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 sequences, cox1).

Phylogenomics, biogeography, and adaptive radiation of grapes.

The application of whole-genome resequencing based on next-generation sequencing technologies provides an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to resolve long-standing evolutionary problems. Taxa belonging to the grape genus (Vitis L.) represent important genetic resources for the improvement of cultivated grapes.

Description of immature stages and biological notes of Medvedev, 1957, a newly recorded species from China (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae, Hispini).

The first instar and mature larva and pupa of Medvedev, 1957, a newly recorded species from China, are described and figured. The chaetotaxy of the head, mouthparts, legs, and dorsal and ventral surfaces of the body is described. This is the first detailed description of immatures in the genus .

Crown damage and the mortality of tropical trees.

What causes individual tree death in tropical forests remains a major gap in our understanding of the biology of tropical trees and leads to significant uncertainty in predicting global carbon cycle dynamics. We measured individual characteristics (diameter at breast height, wood density, growth rate, crown illumination and crown form) and environmental conditions (soil fertility and habitat suitability) for 26 425 trees ≥ 10 cm diameter at breast height belonging to 416 species in a 52-ha plot in Lambir Hills National Park, Malaysia. We used structural equation models to investigate the relationships among the different factors and tree mortality.

Resolving the rapid plant radiation of early diverging lineages in the tropical Zingiberales: Pushing the limits of genomic data.

Many cases of rapid evolutionary radiations in plant and animal lineages are known; however phylogenetic relationships among these lineages have been difficult to resolve by systematists. Increasing amounts of genomic data have been sequentially applied in an attempt to resolve these radiations, dissecting their evolutionary patterns into a series of bifurcating events. Here we explore one such rapid radiation in the tropical plant order Zingiberales (the bananas and relatives) which includes eight families, approximately 110 genera, and more than 2600 species.

Phylogeny of Muhlenbergia subg. Pseudosporobolus, including (Poaceae, Chloridoideae, Cynodonteae, Muhlenbergiinae) now found in Zacatecas, Mexico.

, previously known only from near the type locality in San Luis Potosí, is reported from two localities in Zacatecas, Mexico. Historically, botanists have overlooked this diminutive annual. To clarify affinities of , we present a molecular phylogeny emphasising species in M.

Empirical selection between least-cost and current-flow designs for establishing wildlife corridors in Gabon.

Corridors are intended to increase species survival by abating landscape fragmentation resulting from the conversion of natural habitats into human-dominated matrices. Conservation scientists often rely on 1 type of corridor model, typically the least-cost model or current-flow model, to construct a linkage design, and their choice is not usually based on theory or empirical evidence. We developed a method to empirically confirm whether corridors produced by these 2 models are used by target species under current landscape conditions.

Ediacaran Extinction and Cambrian Explosion.

The Ediacaran-Cambrian (E-C) transition marks the most important geobiological revolution of the past billion years, including the Earth's first crisis of macroscopic eukaryotic life, and its most spectacular evolutionary diversification. Here, we describe competing models for late Ediacaran extinction, summarize evidence for these models, and outline key questions which will drive research on this interval. We argue that the paleontological data suggest two pulses of extinction - one at the White Sea-Nama transition, which ushers in a recognizably metazoan fauna (the 'Wormworld'), and a second pulse at the E-C boundary itself.