Changes to the Fossil Record of Insects through Fifteen Years of Discovery

The first and last occurrences of hexapod families in the fossil record are compiled from publications up to end-2009. The major features of these data are compared with those of previous datasets (1993 and 1994). About a third of families (>400) are new to the fossil record since 1994, over half of the earlier, existing families have experienced changes in their known stratigraphic range and only about ten percent have unchanged ranges. Despite these significant additions to knowledge, the broad pattern of described richness through time remains similar, with described richness increasing steadily through geological history and a shift in dominant taxa, from Palaeoptera and Polyneoptera to Paraneoptera and Holometabola, after the Palaeozoic. However, after detrending, described richness is not well correlated with the earlier datasets, indicating significant changes in shorter-term patterns. There is reduced Palaeozoic richness, peaking at a different time, and a less pronounced Permian decline. A pronounced Triassic peak and decline is shown, and the plateau from the mid Early Cretaceous to the end of the period remains, albeit at substantially higher richness compared to earlier datasets. Origination and extinction rates are broadly similar to before, with a broad decline in both through time but episodic peaks, including end-Permian turnover. Origination more consistently exceeds extinction compared to previous datasets and exceptions are mainly in the Palaeozoic. These changes suggest that some inferences about causal mechanisms in insect macroevolution are likely to differ as well

Diversity of leaf katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Phaneropterinae) of Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic, with selected records from other African countries.

Forty-four species of Phaneropterinae are recorded from Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic. Eight species collected within the park are described as new to science: Phlaurocentrum morettoi n. sp., P. paratuberosum n. sp., P. elegans n. sp., Myllocentrum raggei n. sp., Poreuomena sanghensis n. sp., Cestromoecha longicerca n. sp., C. magnicerca n. sp., and Goetia purpurea n. sp. An additional new species from Guinea is described from specimens preserved in the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales of Madrid, Poreuomena huxleyi n. sp. Eurycorypha stylata St\ue5l, 1873 is recorded for the first time from Burkina Faso and Brycoptera lobata Ragge, 1981 from Ivory Coast. The following synonyms are established: Enochletica affinis Bol\uedvar, 1906 is synonymized with Enochletica ostentatrix Karsch, 1896, Poreuomena gladiator Bol\uedvar, 1906 is synonymized with Poreuomena forcipata Sj\uf6stedt, 1902, and Azamia doriae (Griffini, 1906) is synonymized with Azamia biplagiata Bol\uedvar, 1906. In addition, morphological characters of previously unknown females of Phaneroptera maculosa Ragge, 1956 and Eurycorypha canaliculata Karsch, 1890, and males of Myllocentrum stigmosum (Karsch, 1896) and Cestromoecha crassipes (Karsch, 1890) are described. The presence of titillators in four African genera (Gelotopoia, Brycoptera, Phlaurocentrum and Azamia) is recorded for the first time. In the genus Zeuneria, a sub-equally bilobed, dorsally curved, dorso-lateral abdominal appendage is described for the first time. This new structure apparently delimits an abdominal gland of unknown function on the second tergite