Hiding Amongst the Palms: the Remarkable Discovery of a New Palm Bug Genus and Species (Insecta: Heteroptera: Thaumastocoridae: Xylastodorinae) from Remote Norfolk Island; its Systematics, Natural History, Palm Specialism and Biogeography

he discovery of a remarkable new palm bug species on Norfolk Island brings into question its systematic position within the family Thaumastocoridae, and the validity and biogeography of the three extant subfamilies. Latebracoris norfolcensis gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from remote Norfolk Island in the Southwest Pacific. The species was found on the native Norfolk Island palm Rhopalostylis baueri. The formal description of the species includes fine details of external non-genitalic and genitalic characters, supported with images from light and scanning electron microscopy. Details of the egg are described, including the shape and micropylar configuration. All nymphal stages are diagnosed morphologically and morphometrically, with the segregation of the five instars using the Brooks–Dyar Rule. The natural history of the Norfolk Island Palm Bug is documented, including the oviposition site of eggs, and microhabitat of nymphs and adults on palm infructescences, with hypotheses about development in relation to reproductive succession of the palm host. The systematic position of the Norfolk Island Palm Bug is assessed through a phylogenetic analysis of a selection of taxa of the superfamily Miroidea, using the parsimony criterion. The phylogenetic analyses were partitioned into Recent and fossil taxa, revealing monophyly of the Thaumastocoridae, and the subfamilies Thaumastocorinae and Xylastodorinae, with synapomorphy and significant resampling support. The Thaicorinae are verified as synonymous with the Xylastodorinae. The monotypic fossil subfamily Thaumastotinginae is removed from the Thaumastocoridae and treated as incertae familiae. Suprageneric relationships were corroborated in the two taxon partition analyses. An overview of host associations is given verifying palm specialism for the Xylastodorinae. The natural history, palm specialism, biogeography, morphology and systematics of the Xylastodorinae and allies are discussed in light of the discovery of Latebracoris norfolcensis

Five new genera of the subfamily Cylapinae (Insecta, Heteroptera, Miridae) from Australia

Cylapinae is one of the poorly studied groups within the megadiverse family Miridae (Insecta: Heteroptera). In this paper, five monotypic genera from Australia are described as new to science. Two of those taxa, Dariella rubrocuneata gen. nov. and sp. nov., and Labriella fusca gen. nov. and sp. nov. are assigned to the tribe Cylapini. Three taxa, Callitropisca florentine gen. nov. and sp. nov., Laetifulvius morganensis gen. nov. and sp. nov. and Micanitropis seisia gen. nov. and sp. nov. are placed into the tribe Fulviini. Habitus images, SEMs of external characters, illustrations of male and female genitalia, and distribution maps are provided for each species where possible. The systematic position and possible relationships of the newly described taxa are discussed

POSTER: The fourth-corner solution: using predictive models to understand how species traits interact with the environment

<p>Posters presented at INTECOL London August 2013 highlighting recent paper published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution: </p> <p>The fourth-corner solution – using predictive models to understand how species traits interact with the environment</p> <p>Alexandra M. Brown, David I. Warton, Nigel R. Andrew, Matthew Binns, Gerasimos Cassis & Heloise Gibb.</p