Is the leafhopper Asymmetrasca decedens (Paoli, 1932) invading Madeira Island?

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An annotated check list of the Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha (Hemiptera) of the Madeira and Salvages archipelagos

The volcanic archipelagos of Madeira and Salvages located respectively at 635 km and 373 km offshore of the north eastern African coast are very rich in endemic species. These two archipelagos together with the Canary Ils and the archi pelagos of Cape Verde and Azores represent part of the Mediterranean hot spot which is considered the richest area in flora and fauna of Europe. To synthesize the knowledge on these groups, an annotated checklist of Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha of the archipelagos of Salvages and Madeira is presented based on published literature including data on distribution and food plants. In addition 9 new species records are reported: Austragallia caboverdensis, Austragallia sinuata, Balclutha rufofascia, B. hebe, Cicadella viridis, Macrosteles sexnotatus, Recilia angusticeps, Tamaricella cf fas ciolata and Zyginidia lineata. The checklist comprises 79 species of 7 different families. Of these species 87% occur in Madeira and 10% in the Salvages archipelago. As a whole 27% are endemic to Madeira and 8% are endemic to Macaro nesia. Despite this diversity, knowledge of their habitats and food plants is still very scarce.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A new synonym and new records of Tychiini (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from Madeira Archipelago and Selvagens Islands

Tychius bicolor Brisout, 1862 and Sibinia arenariae Stephens, 1831 are reported from the Archipelago of Madeira, respectively Madeira and Porto Santo, for the first time. Two additional specimens of T. filirostris Wollaston, 1854, known previously from only two specimens from Porto Santo, were examined. Following the study of these specimens and others from the Canary Islands (Tenerife, La Palma) and Selvagen Pequena, T. colonnellii Caldara, 1991 from Tener ife is proposed as a junior synonym of T. filirostris. The archipelagos of Macaronesia (Madeira, Azores, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands) represent one of the richest areas for endemic species in Europe. Although some genera, especially of beetles, have there under gone considerable radiation, the tribe Tychiini, which in the Palaearctic region comprises about 250 species, is poorly represented in Macaronesia. Its archipelagos harbour only 13 species belonging to the only two genera known in the Palaearctic region, Tychius Germar, 1817 and Sibinia Germar, 1817. Among these species only three are endemic, the others being mainly of European, Mediterranean and North African distribution. Up to now, in the Macaronesian archi pelagos Tychiini are unknown from the Cape Verde Islands and Selvagens, whereas the group has its largest number of species in the Canaries (10), followed by the Azores (2) and Madeira (1). The only species of Tychiini reported so far from Madeira is T. filirostris Wollaston, 1854, which was only known from two females collected on the island of Porto Santo and is seemingly endemic to this archipelago. This study reports new material of T. filirostris and two new species records from the Madeira archipelago: Tychius bicolor Brisout, 1862 from Madeira and Sibinia arenariae Stephens, 1831 from Porto Santo. In addition, examination of Wollaston’s holotype and two new specimens of T. filirostris and their comparison with the holotype, paratypes and other specimens of T. colonnellii Caldara, 1991 from the Canary Islands (Tenerife, La Palma) and Selvagen Pequena (new record) have led to the establishment of a new synonymy. Thus, T. colonnellii, considered endemic to the Canary Islands archipelago, is sunk into synonymy with T. filirostris. A checklist of all the species of Tychiini present in the archipela gos of Macaronesia is presented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Euscelidius variegatus (Kirschbaum, 1858), a new leafhopper record to Madeira Archipelago (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae)

A new record of Euscelidius variegatus is reported for the first time to Madeira. Data on its distribution and bioecology on this Island are included.Euscelidius variegatus se cita por primera vez para Madeira. Se incluyen también datos sobre su distribución y bioecologia en esta isla.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multiple parthenoforms of Empoasca leafhoppers from Madeira Island: where are these unisexual forms coming from?

There are controversial opinions on whether asexual reproduction is more common on islands than on the mainland. Al though some authors consider that the evidences of geographical parthenogenesis support the view that asexual reproduction is more common on islands, comparative data on the modes of reproduction of insular and continental taxa confirming this statement are very limited. In this work, we report the presence of three unisexual forms and three bisexual species of the genus Empoasca (Cicadelloidea, Hemiptera, Insecta) from Madeira Island. Experimentally, the unisexual forms reproduced in the absence of males for several generations. The chromosome analysis has shown that the bisexual species differ from one another in chromosome number, and unisexual forms are apomictic and also each have different chromosome numbers. Of parthenoforms, one is triploid and two are of obscure level of ploidy, 2n or 3n. The results obtained show that for this genus unisexual forms are more common on Madeira Island than in the nearby continental areas. It is suggested that unisexual forms may be more plentiful on islands than on the mainland because if an asexual reproduction event occurs, the relaxing com petition in these underexploited and enemy-free habitats may favor the establishment of new parthenogenetic lineages.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Morphological and ecological differences between two endemic species of Asianidia Zachvatkin (A. insulana and A. madeirensis) from Madeira: species boundaries and conservation status

A . insulana (Lindberg, 1961) and A. madeirensis (China, 1938) are two endemic and closely related species of the A sianidia perspidllata complex present in Madeira. They are relatively easy to distinguish on the basis of the aedeagus shape, body size and colour pattern, yet nymph morphology, distribution, plant associations and habitats were poorly known. The present study is a general overview of the morphology and ecology o f this pair of species. New information on intra- and inter-specific variation, together with new distributional and ecological data are presented as a result of a thorough field-work from sea level up to the mountains and involving all main vegetation zones in the island. Moreover, their eventual origin through adaptive radiation by host-plant shift together with some conservation considerations are discussed.A . insulana (Lindberg, 1961) und A. madeirensis (China, 1938) sind zwei endemische und nah verwandte Arten des A sianidia perspicillata-K.om'p\cx&i, von Madeira. Sie sind relativ einfach an der unter schiedlichen Form der Aedeagusbasis, der Körpergröße und -Färbung zu unterscheiden. Die Morphologie der Nymphen sowie die Verbreitung, Nahrungspflanzen- und Habitatbindung waren bisher wenig bekannt. Der Beitrag gibt einen allgemeinen Überblick zu Morphologie und Ökologie dieses Artenpaars. A uf der Basis umfangreicher Feldarbeiten, die vom Meeresniveau bis in die Gipfelregionen alle Hauptvegetationszonen der Insel einschlossen, werden neue Informationen zur intra- und interspezifischen Variation sowie mit neuen Daten zu Verbreitung und Ökologie präsentiert. Außerdem werden Aspekte der Artentstehung durch adaptive Radiation und Nahrungspflanzen wechsel sowie zum Artenschutz diskutiertinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Differences in wing venation between parthenogenetic and bisexual species of Empoasca leafhoppers from Madeira Island

Empoasca is a large worldwide distributed genus of about 400 species many of which are pests to agricultural plants. Species of Empoasca are bisexual but recently three parthenogenetic morphotypes (A, B and C) of various degrees of polyploidy have been reported from Madeira Island. Females of Empoasca are difficult to identify because they show insufficient morphological diag nostic characters. In this work, we evaluate the utility of wing venation pattern for the identification of the three bisexual and three unisexual taxa of Empoasca present in Madeira. Our main motivation is to test whether the wing venation pattern is a stable char acter and to assess whether it could be suitable to develop an identification key for females of taxa present in Madeira Island. We analysed 107 categorical characters of wing patterns and vein shape in the forewings and hind wings of 677 females. The results showed that wing venation may provide useful characters to identify species of Empoasca despite a considerable amount of in traspecific variation. The variation within each species in wing pattern was analysed and several modifications in vein number such as additional or missing veins and in vein shape as bifurcations or incomplete veins are reported.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Morphological and ecological differences between two endemic species of Asianidia Zachvatkin (A. insulana and A. madeirensis) from Madeira: species boundaries and conservation status: (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae)

A. insulana (Lindberg, 1961) und A. madeirensis (China, 1938) sind zwei endemische und nah verwandte Arten des Asianidia perspicillata-Komplexes von Madeira. Sie sind relativ einfach an der unterschiedlichen Form der Aedeagusbasis, der Körpergröße und –färbung zu unterscheiden. Die Morphologie der Nymphen sowie die Verbreitung, Nahrungspflanzen- und Habitatbindung waren bisher wenig bekannt. Der Beitrag gibt einen allgemeinen Überblick zu Morphologie und Ökologie dieses Artenpaars. Auf der Basis umfangreicher Feldarbeiten, die vom Meeresniveau bis in die Gipfelregionen alle Hauptvegetationszonen der Insel einschlossen, werden neue Informationen zur intra- und interspezifischen Variation sowie mit neuen Daten zu Verbreitung und Ökologie präsentiert. Außerdem werden Aspekte der Artentstehung durch adaptive Radiation und Nahrungspflanzenwechsel sowie zum Artenschutz diskutiert.A. insulana (Lindberg, 1961) and A. madeirensis (China, 1938) are two endemic and closely related species of the Asianidia perspicillata complex present in Madeira. They are relatively easy to distinguish on the basis of the aedeagus shape, body size and colour pattern, yet nymph morphology, distribution, plant associations and habitats were poorly known. The present study is a general overview of the morphology and ecology of this pair of species. New information on intra- and inter-specific variation, together with new distributional and ecological data are presented as a result of a thorough field-work from sea level up to the mountains and involving all main vegetation zones in the island. Moreover, their eventual origin through adaptive radiation by host-plant shift together with some conservation considerations are discussed

A bibliographic catalogue of the Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha of North East Spain (Aragon)

The knowledge of a large number of Iberian Peninsula Hemiptera such as Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromopha is still fragmentary. Nevertheless, these two groups are especially remarkable because many species are endemic to this region while others are pests and/or vectors of diseases to cultivated plants. Therefore, information on these Hemiptera is important not only for conservation purposes, but also necessary for agricultural pest management. Within Spain, Aragon -located in the northeast of the country- is especially interesting due to the great diversity of habitats, rich flora and the strategic geographic position. For this political re gion, a bibliographic catalogue of Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromopha is here compiled. The results show that 136 species of 12 of the 15 families present in Iberian Peninsula have been reported in Aragon in previous works. Of these species, 17 percent are en demic to Spain and 15 percent were never mentioned in previous catalogues or checklists for the whole Iberian Peninsula. These results although exciting are clearly insufficient if we consider that several hundreds of species should be expected in this area; clearly more work should be done.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A cultura do castanheiro na Madeira: manual prático

A cultura do castanheiro, nos arquipélagos da Macaronésia, tem particularidades únicas que a diferenciam do resto da Europa. As características destes arquipélagos, nomeadamente o clima, o tipo de solo e a orografia acidentada, fazem desta cultura um exemplo de adaptabilidade e sobrevivência. Na Madeira, o castanheiro, além de estar perfeitamente enraizado na cultura regional e nas tradições populares, representa um importante sustento para as populações locais. Esta árvore é uma componente fundamental da paisagem desta ilha. Contribui, ainda, para a manutenção de um panorama rural tradicional, com grande potencial turístico, e tem, também, uma função como agente mediador na fixação das águas superficiais e na retenção do solo. Apesar das reconhecidas potencialidades, esta cultura, à semelhança do que ocorre no resto da Europa, atravessa um momento crítico, resultado das doenças, da falta de perspectivas económicas e do abandono progressivo dos soutos. Este livro faz uma abordagem do cultivo do castanheiro num contexto insular e trata de várias matérias que vão desde a produção à comercialização da castanha. Os textos de diferentes autores estão baseados em conhecimentos que englobam desde os saberes seculares até aos mais recentes avanços científicos. Muitos dos dados aqui apresentados são inéditos, obtidos nas últimas décadas, através de vários projectos de investigação desenvolvidos, essencialmente, na Madeira, mas, igualmente, nos Açores. O livro desenvolve-se ao longo de 12 capítulos. Entre os assuntos abordados estão a análise da superfície ocupada, a caracterização das cultivares e as práticas culturais, o controlo das pragas e das doenças principais, assim como a produção, a comercialização e a valorização dos frutos e dos soutos. Num contexto europeu, são, também, incluídos alguns dados científicos, que pela inovação e pela oportunidade, reforçam o interesse da obra. Esperamos que o livro contribua para estimular o interesse pela cultura, e permita actualizar os conhecimentos dos agricultores, dos técnicos e de todos aqueles que, como o leitor, estão interessados no castanheiro.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio