Ichneumonid wasps from Madagascar. VI. The genus Pristomerus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae)

Pristomerus species of Madagascar are revised. We report 15 species, of which 12 are newly described: P. guinness sp. nov., P. hansoni sp. nov., P. kelikely sp. nov., P. keyka sp. nov., P. moramora sp. nov., P. melissa sp. nov., P. patator sp. nov., P. ranomafana sp. nov., P. roberti sp. nov., P. vahaza sp. nov., P. veloma sp. nov. and P. yago sp. nov. Pristomerus albescens (Morley) and P. cunctator Tosquinet are newly recorded from Madagascar and new host and/or distribution records are provided for this species. A dichotomous key to all species is provided. The zoogeographical relation of the Malagasy fauna of Pristomerus with respect to mainland Africa is discussed: only three of the 15 species are reported to occur outside of Madagascar, suggesting a high level of endemism in Madagascar which was not unexpected

The tectonic evolution of central and Northern Madagascar and its place in the final assembly of Gondwana

Copyright © 2002 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.Recent work in central and northern Madagascar has identified five tectonic units of the East African Orogen (EAO), a large collisional zone fundamental to the amalgamation of Gondwana. These five units are the Antongil block, the Antananarivo block, the Tsaratanana sheet, the Itremo sheet, and the Bemarivo belt. Geochronological, lithological, metamorphic, and geochemical characteristics of these units and their relationships to each other are used as a type area to compare and contrast with surrounding regions of Gondwana. The Antananarivo block of central Madagascar, part of a broad band of pre-1000-Ma continental crust that stretches from Yemen through Somalia and eastern Ethiopia into Madagascar, is sandwiched between two suture zones we interpret as marking strands of the Neoproterozoic Mozambique Ocean. The eastern suture connects the Al-Mukalla terrane (Yemen), the Maydh greenstone belt (northern Somalia), the Betsimisaraka suture (east Madagascar), and the Palghat-Cauvery shear zone system (south India). The western suture projects the Al-Bayda terrane (Yemen) through a change in crustal age in Ethiopia to the region west of Madagascar. Our new framework for the central EAO links the Mozambique belt with the Arabian/Nubian Shield and highlights the power of tectonic analysis in unraveling the complex tectonic collage of the EAO.Alan S. Collins and Brian F. Windle

Large-scale mitochondrial DNA analysis of native honey bee Apis mellifera populations reveals a new African subgroup private to the South West Indian Ocean islands

Background: The South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) archipelagos and Madagascar constitute a hotspot of biodiversity with a high rate of endemism. In this area, the endemic subspecies A. m. unicolor has been described in Madagascar. It belongs to the African lineage, one of the four described evolutionary lineages in honey bees. Despite a long beekeeping tradition and several recorded European introductions, few studies have been carried out on the diversity and proportion of honey bee subspecies. In order to identify and define which evolutionary lineages and potential sub-lineages are present in the SWIO, the COI-COII intergenic region and the ND2 gene of the mtDNA were sequenced in honey bee colonies from three archipelagos. An extensive sampling (n = 1184 colonies) was done in the Mascarene (La Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues), Seychelles (Mahé, Praslin, La Digue) and Comoros (Grande Comore, Mohéli, Anjouan, Mayotte) archipelagos. Islands genetic diversity was compared to newly sampled populations from Madagascar, continental African and European populations. Results: African lineage haplotypes were found in all islands (except for Rodrigues). Madagascar, Comoros and Seychelles had 100% of A lineage, 95.5% in La Réunion and 56.1% in Mauritius. Among all African colonies detected in the SWIO, 98.1% (n = 633) of COI-COII haplotypes described the presence of the subspecies A. M. unicolor. Both genetic markers revealed i) a new private AI mitochondrial group shared by the SWIO archipelagos and Madagascar distant from continental populations; ii) the private African haplotypes for each island suggested diversity radiation in the archipelagos; iii) the detection of the Comoros archipelago as a possible contact area between insular and continental African populations. The exotic European C and M lineages were only detected in the Mascarene archipelago, but striking differences of proportion were observed among islands. Merely 4.6% of European colonies were found in La Réunion whereas Mauritius cumulated 44%. Here, among the 84 observed COI-COII haplotypes, 50 were newly described including 13 which were private to the SWIO archipelagos and Madagascar. Similarly, 24 of the 34 found ND2 haplotypes were novel which included six haplotypes particular to the SWIO populations. Conclusion: A new African subgroup was described in the SWIO region with mitochondrial genetic evidence that A. m. unicolor is the indigenous subspecies of the archipelagos surrounding Madagascar. (Résumé d'auteur

Ralph Linton in Madagascar (1926-1927).

Based on archival records and other writing of the period, the author traces in detail the Ralph Linton Expedition to the Island of Madagascar, 1926-1927. Liliana Mosca also comments on the nature and extent of the American Anthropologists collecting for the Field Museum of Natural History and his encounters while touring the different regions of Madagascar in various locales that would help unravel the web that bedeviled students of Malagasy culture

Volume 18, Issue 1

Volume 18, Issue

The genus Prorops Waterson, 1923 (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Madagascar

Three species of the genus Prorops Waterson, 1923 occur in Madagascar. Prorops nasuta Waterson, 1923 is recorded for the first time from Madagascar and two new species are described and illustrated: P. sparsa sp. nov. and P. impotens sp. nov., both based on the morphology of males and females. A brief discussion of the status of the genus, illustrations, and a key to Madagascan species of Prorops are provided

A review of Gammiella Broth. in Africa : with a range extension to the East African islands and southern Africa

Gammiella ceylonensis (Broth. in Herzog) W.R.Buck & B.C.Tan is the only species of the genus in Africa. Clastobryella pusilla (Thér.) Wijk & Margad., recorded from Madagascar, the only member of the genus still recorded on the moss checklist for Africa, is a synonym of Gammiella ceylonensis. Clastobryella foliicola P.de la Varde is not a synonym of Gammiella ceylonensis but probably an Ectropothecium, thus removing the only west African record for Gammiella. An extension of range into South Africa is also noted, so Gammiella is now known from east and southern Africa and Madagascar