Serendipity at the Smithsonian: The 107-year journey of Rhipidocyrtus muiri Falin & Engel, new genus and species (Ripidiinae, Ripidiini), from jungle beast to valid taxon

The long and tortuous history of an enigmatic and rare new genus and species of ripidiine wedge beetle (Ripiphoridae: Ripidiinae: Ripidiini) from Borneo is discussed and the taxon described and figured as Rhipidocyrtus muiri Falin & Engel, gen. n. and sp. n. The holotype male, and only known specimen, was collected 107 years ago in Borneo but subsequent to this it was transferred among early researchers in the early 1900s. The specimen was dissected and many portions slide mounted, but these were disassociated from the pinned body for more than a generation. A happenstance encounter led to the rediscovery and reassociation of the body and slide-mounted abdomen and other sclerites in 2011, and to its eventual description herein. Ripidiine diversity is briefly discussed and comparisons made between Rhipidocyrtus and other members of the subfamily

A new genus of Pelecotominae from Mexico, with notes on the genera Clinops and Scotoscopus and the description of new species (Coleoptera, Ripiphoridae)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Taxonomic notes are provided on species of the uncommonly encountered ripiphorid subfamily Pelecotominae. Zapotecotoma sumichrasti gen. et sp. nov., is described from southern Mexico based on a unique male likely collected in the later part of the mid-19th Century. The discovery of additional species of the South African genus Clinops Gerstaecker permit a revised diagnosis and distinction of the group from the eastern Mediterranean genus Scotoscopus Brenske and Reitter, resurrected status. Two new species of Clinops are established: Clinops inexpectatus sp. nov. (northeast of Durban near Swaziland) and C. perpessus sp. nov. (region of Durban), and Scotoscopus spectabilis (Schaufuss) is newly recorded for the Peloponnese in Greece.Institutional Research Support grant of Charles University, Prague (No. SVV 260 434 / 2018)Charles University Grant Agency (GAUK, No. 1546218

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Figs. 1–2 in Revision of Three New World Macrosiagon Hentz Species (Coleoptera: Ripiphoridae: Ripiphorinae) with a Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships within the Macrosiagonini

Figs. 1–2. Macrosiagon spp., females, lateral habitus. 1) M. gracilis; 2) M. mutilata.Published as part of <i>Falin, Zachary H., 2004, Revision of Three New World Macrosiagon Hentz Species (Coleoptera: Ripiphoridae: Ripiphorinae) with a Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships within the Macrosiagonini, pp. 1-19 in The Coleopterists Bulletin 58 (1)</i> on page 4, DOI: 10.1649/587, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10104229">http://zenodo.org/record/10104229</a&gt

Fig. 1 in Notes On The Occurrence Of Ripidius Pectinicornis Thunberg (Coleoptera: Rhipiphoridae) In The Continental United States And Hawaii

Fig. 1. Ripidius pectinicornis, adult male, dorsal habitus, overall length 4.5 mm.Published as part of <i>Falin, Zachary H., 2001, Notes On The Occurrence Of Ripidius Pectinicornis Thunberg (Coleoptera: Rhipiphoridae) In The Continental United States And Hawaii, pp. 194-197 in The Coleopterists Bulletin 55 (2)</i> on page 195, DOI: 10.1649/0010-065X(2001)055[0194:NOTOOR]2.0.CO;2, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10102734">http://zenodo.org/record/10102734</a&gt

Revision of Three New World Macrosiagon Hentz Species (Coleoptera: Ripiphoridae: Ripiphorinae) with a Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships within the Macrosiagonini

Figs. 7–8. Macrosiagon spp., male abdominal segment IX; (a) dorsal view, (b) ventral view,Published as part of <i>Falin, Zachary H., 2004, Revision of Three New World Macrosiagon Hentz Species (Coleoptera: Ripiphoridae: Ripiphorinae) with a Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships within the Macrosiagonini, pp. 1-19 in The Coleopterists Bulletin 58 (1)</i> on page 6, DOI: 10.1649/587, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10104229">http://zenodo.org/record/10104229</a&gt

On a Misidentification of the Mud Dauber Wasp Parasite Macrosiagon Ferrugineum (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Rhipiphoridae) in India

Volume: 101Start Page: 329End Page: 32

Nouveau genre de Ptilodactylidae (Coleoptera: Byrrhoidea) de l’ambre albien terminal du Myanmar (Birmanie)

Le premier fossile mésozoïque de la famille Ptilodactylidae Laporte, 1836 (Coleoptera: Byrrhoidea) est formellement décrit et illustré à partir d’un mâle de l’ambre albien terminal du Myanmar. Aphebodactyla rhetine n. gen., n. sp., est la deuxième espèce fossile formellement décrite de cette famille. Le fossile possède des caractères considérés comme dérivés des différentes sous-familles de Ptilodactylidae, suggèrant que la définition actuelle de ces lignées nécessite une révision.The first Mesozoic fossil of the beetle family Ptilodactylidae Laporte, 1836 (Byrrhoidea) is formally described and figured from a male preserved in latest Albian amber from Myanmar. Aphebodactyla rhetine n. gen., n. sp., is distinguished from its modern relatives and is only the second fossil species yet formally described in the family. The fossil intermingles putatively derived features of various ptilodactylid subfamilies, suggesting that the current circumscription of these lineages is in dire need of revision.</p