Project description:The new Neotropical genus Henryaria (Heteroptera, Rhyparochromidae, Myodochini) is established to accommodate two new species from Bolivia and Peru. Photographs of the types and their male genitalia are provided. Similarities with other genera of the tribe are discussed, as well as the characters to distinguish the two new species.
Project description:The genus Delfinoia Nieto Nafría & Mier Durante gen. n. is established, and Utamphorophora peruviana (Essig), originally Amphorophora peruviana and currently Delfinoia peruvianacomb. n., is designated species type of the genus. The synonymy between this species and Wahlgreniella australis Delfino syn. n. is established. Apterous and alate viviparous females of D. peruviana are redescribed; the male is also described. The species is currently known from Peru and Argentina; a plant of the genus Cayaponia (Cucurbitaceae) is the only identified host.
Project description:The South American leafhopper genus Parandanus Linnavuori & DeLong (Deltocephalinae: Deltocephalini) is reviewed and four of its six species are illustrated and male genital characters are provided. Three new species from Peru, Parandanus longistylus Duan, sp. n., Parandanus nigricephalus Duan, sp. n. and Parandanus paracruciatus Duan, sp. n. are described. A key to species is also provided.
Project description:The endemic Neotropical genus Gaujonia Dognin is revised. Morphological characters and a phylogenetic analysis demonstrate paraphyletic relationships among the species. Four different groups are interpreted to represent four different genera. The G. arbosi group is the only remaining clade in the genus Gaujonia, and the other groups have been arranged into three new genera: Millerana gen. nov., Oculicattus gen. nov., and Cicadoforma gen. nov. Additionally, two other genera Cicadomorphus gen. nov., and Gaujoptera gen. nov. were found using morphological and molecular analyses based on some specimens that were misidentified as Gaujonia spp. A total of five new genera, three new combinations (Cicadoforma vau-nigrum Hampson, comb. nov., Oculicattus renifera Hampson, comb. nov., and Millerana arbosioides Dognin, comb. nov.) and 21 new species (Cicadoforma ocelotus sp. nov., Cicadomorphus chicharra sp. nov., Cicadomorphus chuya sp. nov., Cicadomorphus falkasiska sp. nov., Cicadomorphus lilianae sp. nov., Gaujonia bichu sp. nov., Gaujonia chiqyaq sp. nov., Gaujonia kanakusika sp. nov., Gaujonia sourakovi sp. nov., Gaujoptera amsa sp. nov., Millerana austini sp. nov., Millerana cajas sp. nov., Millerana cundinamarquensis sp. nov., Millerana matthewsae sp. nov., Millerana tigrina sp. nov., Oculicattus boliviana sp. nov., Oculicattus brehmi sp. nov., Oculicattus inca sp. nov., Oculicattus raizae sp. nov., Oculicattus schmidti sp. nov., and Oculicattus uturunku sp. nov.) are established.
Project description:The distribution of polyploidy along a relatively steep Andean elevation and climatic gradient is studied using the genus Fosterella L.B. Sm. (Bromeliaceae) as a model system. Ecological differentiation of cytotypes and the link of polyploidy with historical biogeographic processes such as dispersal events and range shift are assessed.4',6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining of nuclei and flow cytometry were used to estimate the ploidy levels of 159 plants from 22 species sampled throughout the distribution range of the genus. Ecological differentiation among ploidy levels was tested by comparing the sets of climatic variables. Ancestral chromosome number reconstruction was carried out on the basis of a previously generated phylogeographic framework.This study represents the first assessment of intrageneric, intraspecific and partially intrapopulational cytotype diversity in a genus of the Bromeliaceae family. In Fosterella , the occurrence of polyploidy was limited to the phylogenetically isolated penduliflora and rusbyi groups. Cytotypes were found to be ecologically differentiated, showing that polyploids preferentially occupy colder habitats with high annual temperature variability (seasonality). The combined effects of biogeographic history and adaptive processes are presumed to have shaped the current cytotype distribution in the genus.The results provide indirect evidence for both adaptive ecological and non-adaptive historical processes that jointly influenced the cytotype distribution in the predominantly Andean genus Fosterella (Bromeliaceae). The results also exemplify the role of polyploidy as an important driver of speciation in a topographically highly structured and thus climatically diverse landscape.
Project description:Two new species of cerambycid beetles are described from South America: Ataxia camiriensis (Pteropliini), from Bolivia, and Falsamblesthis uniformis (Forsteriini), from Peru. The new species are included in previous keys.
Project description:The Neotropical window fly genus Heteromphrale Kröber, 1937 is revised. Two previously described species (Heteromphrale chilensis (Kröber, 1937) and Heteromphrale cyanops (Edwards, 1932)) are redescribed while a new species (Heteromphrale blancasp. n.) is described from Argentina. The male of Heteromphrale chilensis and female of Heteromphrale cyanops are described and figured for the first time, and a key to species is presented.
Project description:The Tetraodontidae are an Acantomorpha fish family with circumglobal distribution composed of 189 species grouped in 19 genera, occurring in seas, estuaries, and rivers between the tropical and temperate regions. Of these, the genus Colomesus is confined to South America, with what have been up to now considered only two species. C. asellus is spread over the entire Amazon, Tocantins-Araguaia drainages, and coastal environments from the Amazon mouth to Venezuela, and is the only freshwater puffers on that continent. C. psittacus is found in coastal marine and brackish water environments from Cuba to the northern coast of South America as far south as to Sergipe in Brazil. In the present contribution we used morphological data along with molecular systematics techniques to investigate the phylogeny and phylogeography of the freshwater pufferfishes of the genus Colomesus. The molecular part is based on a cytochrome C oxidase subunit I dataset constructed from both previously published and newly determined sequences, obtained from specimens collected from three distinct localities in South America. Our results from both molecular and morphological approaches enable us to identify and describe a new Colomesus species from the Tocantins River. We also discuss aspects of the historical biogeography and phylogeography of the South American freshwater pufferfishes, suggesting that it could be more recent than previously expected.
Project description:The species-specific identification of fibre origin is essential in archaeology but reveals challenging for closely related species. This is particularly true between the four South American Camelids (SAC) species: alpaca, guanaco, llama and vicuña. The analysis of proteins extracted from hairs and/or yarns by proteomics has emerged as a powerful method to differentiate between species. However, for SAC, the database information available is very poor, which limits this approach. In this study, we analysed 42 modern and 4 archaeological reference samples from the four SAC species.
Project description:Based on examination of holotypes or interpretation of original descriptions, four taxonomic changes are proposed for South American species erroneously placed in the tribe Smiliini: Flynnia, gen. n. (Thuridini) and F. fascipennis (Funkhouser), comb. n. from Bolivia; Antianthe atromarginata (Goding), comb. n. from Ecuador; Amastris pilosa (Funkhouser), comb. n. from Peru; and Thelia planeflava Fairmaire from Brazil to Polyglyptini incertae sedis, new placement.