Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Discoveries of the week #40

The West Indian genus Monotalla Bechyné is reviewed, redescribed and illustrated. Five new species are added: Monotalla dominica sp. n. (Dominica); M. lecticofolia sp. n. (St. Lucia); M. maierae sp. n. (St. Lucia); M. obrienorum sp. n. (Grenada); and M. viridis sp. n. (St. Lucia). A key to Monotalla species is provided.

Five new leaf beetle species named after type locality (M. dominica), food source (M. lecticofolia), collectors (M. maierae, M. obrienorum), and green coloration(M. viridis).
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A new species of Rugilus Leach, R. (Rugilus) huanghaoi sp. n. from Qinling, Shaanxi Province, China, is described and illustrated. Additional records of seven species from Qinling are reported.

A new rove beetle from China named after Hao Huang, one of the collectors of the type material.
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Two new species of oribatid mites of the genus Macrogena (Oribatida, Ceratozetidae) are described from alpine soils of the South Island of New Zealand. Macrogena brevisensilla sp. n. and M. abbreviata sp. n. differ from all species of this genus by the tridactylous legs and by the comparatively short interlamellar setae, respectively. New generic diagnosis and an identification key to the known species of Macrogena are provided.

Two new moss mites living at a higher altitude in the mountains of New Zealand. Both were named after specific structures of their setae (bristles on their body). 
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The Vietnamese species of the genus Canalirogas van Achterberg & Chen, 1996 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) are revised. Ten species are new to science, viz., Canalirogas affinis sp. n., C. cucphuongensis sp. n., C. curvinervis sp. n., C. eurycerus sp. n., C. hoabinhicus sp. n., C. intermedius sp. n., C. parallelus sp. n., C. robberti sp. n., C. vittatus sp. n. and C. vuquangensis sp. n. One species is new for the Vietnamese fauna: Canalirogas spilonotus (Cameron, 1905) and C. balgooyi van Achterberg & Chen, 1996, is synonymized with it (syn. n.); a lectotype is designated for Troporhogas spilonotus. A key to the Vietnamese species of the genus is also provided.

Nowadays, publications that describe new parasitoid wasps are usually not limited to one or two new species but rather 10,20...100. This shows how diverse these groups are and how little we know at this point. Very often DNA Barcoding helps to unravel these hidden treasures but not in this case.
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A new subgenus and species, Charidotella (Chapadacassis subgen. n.) paradoxa sp. n. is described and figured from the Chapada plateau in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Subgenera of Charidotella Weise, 1896 are listed, supplemented with basic data, diagnostic table, and a key is proposed. Based on a study of respective type material following new combinations are proposed: Charidotella (Philaspis) stulta (Boheman, 1855), comb. n., Charidotella (Xenocassis) amoenula (Boheman, 1855), comb. n., Ch. (X.) cyclographa (Boheman, 1855), comb. n., Ch. (X.) discoidalis (Boheman, 1855), comb. n., Ch. (X.) incerta (Boheman, 1855), comb. n., Ch. (X.) purpurea (Linnaeus, 1758), comb. n., Ch. (X.) myops (Boheman, 1855), comb. n. (all previously placed in the nominotypical subgenus), and Plagiometriona cingulata (Boheman, 1862), comb. n. (from Charidotella (Xenocassis)).

A new species of tortoise beetle named for the unique shape of their elytra which usually cover the entire beetle. This species was named for some unusual combinations of characters.
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A new species of Sedum, S. moniliforme (Crassulaceae) is described and illustrated from the Canyon La Gloria, Municipio Jiquilpan, State of Michoacan, Mexico. The closest morphological affinities of this taxon are with Sedum longipes from which it differs through its moniliform or markedly articulate stems with whorled leaves, 3–4 at each node, sepals that are not imbricated at the base, as well as smaller flowers, pollen grains, and sterile rosettes. 

With about 600 species Sedum is a rather large genus of plants. It is often referred to as stonecrops, succulent plants with water-storing leaves.  The name of this new species comes from the Latin words “monil” (necklace) and “formis” (shape), necklace shaped, alluding to the internodes of the stems.
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