Records for Bittacus Hangingflies and Panorpa Scorpionflies (Mecoptera: Bittacidae and Panorpidae) in Florida

We provide new county records for four species of panorpids (Panorpa americana Swederus, Panorpa lugubris Swederus, Panorpa sp. undetermined, and one undescribed species from the Panorpa rufescens Rambur species group) and two species of bittacids (Bittacus pilicornis Westwood, Bittacus punctiger Westwood), and call attention to a previously published county record for another species, Panorpa rufa Gray, in Florida. Additionally, we reject a previously published record for the scorpionfly Panorpa claripennis Hine in Florida, which we overlooked in our 2008 preliminary checklist of Florida mecopterans. The record for P. lugubris in Miami-Dade County is the southernmost record for any panorpid in the continental United States

Nomenclatural faux pas for Speyeria atlantis greyi Moeck, 1950 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)

Nomenclatural errors associated with the nymphalid butterfly, Speyeria atlantis greyi Moeck, have persisted in the literature and electronic databases. We present here a synonymy of the various combinations and misspellings associated with it and clearly indicate the correct name and spelling based on Moecks (1950) original description. Additionally, color images of the holotype and allotype specimens are published herein for the first time

Preliminary Checklist of the Mecoptera of Florida: Earwigflies, Hangingflies, and Scorpionflies

We provide the first species checklist of Mecoptera indigenous to Florida, based upon preliminary data gathered primarily from specimens housed in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods. There are 11 described and one undescribed species of mecopterans, representing three families, inhabiting the state of Florida. These include the recently discovered meropeid (earwigfly), Merope tuber Newman, four species of bittacids (hangingflies), represented by the genus Bittacus Latreille, and 7 species (one undescribed) of panorpids (scorpionflies), represented by the genus Panorpa Linnaeus. We are not certain if one of these, Bittacus texanus Banks, is indigenous, represents a nonindigenous occurrence, or is simply erroneous. Two of the species on our list, Bittacus stigmaterus Say and Panorpa venosa Westwood, represent first state records and one species, Panorpa floridana Byers, is endemic. Six of the species which have been recorded in Florida, M. tuber, Bittacus punctiger Westwood, Panorpa rufa Gray, Panorpa pachymera Byers, Panorpa lugubris Swederus and P. venosa, represent the southernmost records for these species in the continental United States. Perceived diversity and abundance of mecopteran species in Florida are limited by climate, biogeography, and collection bias

Rediscovery of the Florida Scorpionfly, Panorpa floridana Byers (Mecoptera: Panorpidae)

We describe the rediscovery of the Florida scorpionfly, Panorpa floridana Byers (Mecoptera: Panorpidae), at Gold Head Branch State Park, Clay County, Florida, based upon a single, living, adult specimen photographed on 4 November 2010. The hardcopy photographic prints and electronic digital images of this panorpid are the first vouchers for P. floridana in 28 years, the only observation of a living specimen, and the sixth individual known of this seemingly rare Florida endemic

On approximate solutions of semilinear evolution equations

A general framework is presented to discuss the approximate solutions of an evolution equation in a Banach space, with a linear part generating a semigroup and a sufficiently smooth nonlinear part. A theorem is presented, allowing to infer from an approximate solution the existence of an exact solution. According to this theorem, the interval of existence of the exact solution and the distance of the latter from the approximate solution can be evaluated solving a one-dimensional "control" integral equation, where the unknown gives a bound on the previous distance as a function of time. For example, the control equation can be applied to the approximation methods based on the reduction of the evolution equation to finite-dimensional manifolds: among them, the Galerkin method is discussed in detail. To illustrate this framework, the nonlinear heat equation is considered. In this case the control equation is used to evaluate the error of the Galerkin approximation; depending on the initial datum, this approach either grants global existence of the solution or gives fairly accurate bounds on the blow up time.Comment: 33 pages, 10 figures. To appear in Rev. Math. Phys. (Shortened version; the proof of Prop. 3.4. has been simplified

Etymology of the earwigfly, \u3ci\u3eMerope tuber\u3c/i\u3e Newman (Mecoptera: Meropeidae): Simply dull or just inscrutable?

The naturalist Edward Newman did not provide an etymology for the mecopteran Merope tuber when he described it in 1838. In 1872 Asa Fitch asserted that the genus was named after Merope one of the Pleiades sisters of Greek mythology; however, he provided no reason for his assumption. We researched several etymological alternatives. We concur with Fitch and conclude that Newman did indeed name the genus Merope after the dullest of the Pleiades sisters

A new functional calculus for non-commuting operators

In this paper we use the notion of slice monogenic functions \cite{slicecss} to define a new functional calculus for an $n$-tuple $T$ of not necessarily commuting operators. This calculus is different from the one discussed in \cite{jefferies} and it allows the explicit construction of the eigenvalue equation for the $n$-tuple $T$ based on a new notion of spectrum for $T$. Our functional calculus is consistent with the Riesz-Dunford calculus in the case of a single operator.Comment: to appear in Journal of Functional Analysi

Convergence in measure under Finite Additivity

We investigate the possibility of replacing the topology of convergence in probability with convergence in $L^1$. A characterization of continuous linear functionals on the space of measurable functions is also obtained