Entiminae Schoenherr 1823

Fil: Marvaldi, Adriana E.. Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas. Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Lanteri, Analía Alicia. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Entomología; ArgentinaFil: del Río, María Guadalupe. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Entomología; ArgentinaFil: Oberprieler, Rolf G.. CSIRO Entomology. Canberra; Australi

Mitogenomics of the Olive Seed Weevil, Anchonocranus oleae Marshall and Implications for Its Phylogenetic Position in Curculionidae

Anchonocranus oleae Marshall (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a seed-feeding weevil native to southern Africa; its larvae are known to develop in the fruits of the African Wild Olive and, more rarely, cultivated olives. The species has been mainly found in the Western Cape province of South Africa, but it has remained in relative obscurity because it does not seem to represent a current threat to commercial olive production. As part of an ongoing effort to produce baseline genetic data for olive-associated entomofauna in South Africa, we generated reference DNA barcodes for A. oleae collected from wild and cultivated olives and sequenced its mitogenome for assessment of the phylogenetic position of the species in the family Curculionidae. The mitochondrial phylogeny estimate indicated that A. oleae shares a common ancestor with Elaidobius (tribe Derelomini), but a definite and close relationship to this tribe and the precise tribal placement of A. oleae in the subfamily Curculioninae could not be inferred due to the lack of representative mitogenomes of other relevant curculionine tribes and genera. This study will assist future work on the DNA-based species identification, genetic diversity, and phylogenetic position of the genus Anchonocranus and related taxa

Cretaceous fossils from the Orapa Diamond Mine

Main articleThe Orapa kimberlite pipe, situated in north-central Botswana, is well-known for its rich reserves of diamonds. It is indeed one of the largest and richest diamond mines in the world. The kimberlite magma transporting the diamonds from the upper mantle erupted through a sequence ofKaroo-aged rocks before the deposition ofthe Kalahari Sands. This eruption has been radiometrically dated at early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Coniacian). When volcanism ceased, a succession of epiclastic crater lake sediments was deposited above the kimberlite plug. Analysis of these sediments, which mostly comprise the results of mudflows and debris flows and fmer sediments during quiescenttimes, suggests that most of the sediments within the crater were deposited rapidly as mass flows, and were therefore mobilised soon after the volcanic eruption. Buried within the fine-grained sediments is a unique assemblage of fossils including flowering plants and many whole-bodied insects. The fossils are commonly exquisitely preserved in extremely fine-grained mudstone. Interpretation of the sedimentary facies and fossils is that the mid-Cretaceous climate of central Botswana was temperate, seasonal and wet, and the area surrounding the crater was forested. The fossils represent the recovery of the biota of the area after the violent eruptions of Orapa and other nearby kimberlite fissures and pipes. The fossils have contributed considerably to our understanding of mid-Cretaceous insects and flowering plants and suggest intimate relationships between the two at an early stage in the radiation of flowering plants. It seems that southern Gondwana (including southern Africa) was a centre of diversification for both insects and angiosperms in the mid-Cretaceous.Friends of the Museum, Gaborone; Debswana (Orapa); University of the Witwatersrand; South African Foundation for Research Developmen

Revision of the enigmatic South African Cryptolaryngini (Coleoptera, Curculionidae), with description of a new genus and twenty-two new species

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL : Supp. file 1. Uncorrected p-distances between specimens based on COI and EF1. https://DOI.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.877.2151.9151The weevil genus Cryptolarynx Van Schalkwyk, 1966 is endemic to the Northern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. The two previously known species of the genus, C. vitis (Marshall, 1957) and C. estriatus (Marshall, 1957), have an aberrant globular body and head shape, which has made it difficult to place the genus into the classification systems of the Curculionoidea. This paper presents the description of 21 new species of Cryptolarynx from South Africa (C. subglaber Haran sp. nov., C. squamulatus Haran sp. nov., C. muellerae Haran sp. nov., C. hirtulus Haran sp. nov., C. robustus Haran sp. nov., C. namaquanus Haran sp. nov., C. carinatus Haran sp. nov., C. variabilis Haran sp. nov., C. pyrophilus Haran sp. nov., C. pilipes Haran sp. nov., C. armatus Haran sp. nov., C. falciformis Haran sp. nov., C. oberprieleri Haran sp. nov., C. spinicornis Haran sp. nov., C. cederbergensis Haran sp. nov., C. homaroides Haran sp. nov., C. marshalli Haran sp. nov., C. endroedyi Haran sp. nov., C. oberlanderi Haran sp. nov., C. san Haran sp. nov., and C. luteipennis Haran sp. nov.) and of one new genus and species, Hadrocryptolarynx major Haran gen. et sp. nov., also from South Africa. A redescription of the genus Cryptolarynx is provided to incorporate the characters of the new species. The plant genus Oxalis (Oxalidaceae) is recorded as larval host for several species of Cryptolarynx and for Hadrocryptolarynx Haran gen. nov., as their larvae develop in the subterranean bulbs of members of the genus, and the egg, larva and pupa of C. variabilis are described. The characters of the Cryptolarynx larva confirm that Cryptolaryngini are an early-diverging group of Curculionidae, with a placement among taxa currently classified in the subfamily Brachycerinae sensu lato, and although their exact taxonomic position remains unresolved, some larval characters, and also pupal ones, suggest a close relationship between Cryptolaryngini and Stenopelmus Schoenherr. Potential use of species of Cryptolarynx in the biological control of weedy South African species of Oxalis is discussed.http;//www.europeanjournaloftaxonomy.euam2024Plant Production and Soil ScienceSDG-15:Life on lan

Historical Isolation versus Recent Long-Distance Connections between Europe and Africa in Bifid Toadflaxes (Linaria sect. Versicolores)

Background: Due to its complex, dynamic and well-known paleogeography, the Mediterranean region provides an ideal framework to study the colonization history of plant lineages. The genus Linaria has its diversity centre in the Mediterranean region, both in Europe and Africa. The last land connection between both continental plates occurred during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, in the late Miocene (5.96 to 5.33 Ma). Methodology/Principal Findings: We analyzed the colonization history of Linaria sect. Versicolores (bifid toadflaxes), which includes c. 22 species distributed across the Mediterranean, including Europe and Africa. Two cpDNA regions (rpl32-trnL UAG and trnK-matK) were sequenced from 66 samples of Linaria. We conducted phylogenetic, dating, biogeographic and phylogeographic analyses to reconstruct colonization patterns in space and time. Four major clades were found: two of them exclusively contain Iberian samples, while the other two include northern African samples together with some European samples. The bifid toadflaxes have been split in African and European clades since the late Miocene, and most lineage and speciation differentiation occurred during the Pliocene and Quaternary. We have strongly inferred four events of post-Messinian colonization following long-distance dispersal from northern Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Greece. Conclusions/Significance: The current distribution of Linaria sect. Versicolores lineages is explained by both ancien

The future of botanical monography : report from an international workshop, 12–16 March 2012, Smolenice, Slovak Republic

Monographs are fundamental for progress in systematic botany. They are the vehicles for circumscribing and naming taxa, determining distributions and ecology, assessing relationships for formal classification, and interpreting long-term and short-term dimensions of the evolutionary process. Despite their importance, fewer monographs are now being prepared by the newer generation of systematic botanists, who are understandably involved principally with DNA data and analysis, especially for answering phylogenetic, biogeographic, and population genetic questions. As monographs provide hypotheses regarding species boundaries and plant relationships, new insights in many plant groups are urgently needed. Increasing pressures on biodiversity, especially in tropical and developing regions of the world, emphasize this point. The results from a workshop (with 21 participants) reaffirm the central role that monographs play in systematic botany. But, rather than advocating abbreviated models for monographic products, we recommend a full presentation of relevant information. Electronic publication offers numerous means of illustration of taxa, habitats, characters, and statistical and phylogenetic analyses, which previously would have been prohibitively costly. Open Access and semantically enhanced linked electronic publications provide instant access to content from anywhere in the world, and at the same time link this content to all underlying data and digital resources used in the work. Resources in support of monography, especially databases and widely and easily accessible digital literature and specimens, are now more powerful than ever before, but interfacing and interoperability of databases are much needed. Priorities for new resources to be developed include an index of type collections and an online global chromosome database. Funding for sabbaticals for monographers to work uninterrupted on major projects is strongly encouraged. We recommend that doctoral students be assigned smaller genera, or natural portions of larger ones (subgenera, sections, etc.), to gain the necessary expertise for producing a monograph, including training in a broad array of data collection (e.g., morphology, anatomy, palynology, cytogenetics, DNA techniques, ecology, biogeography), data analysis (e.g., statistics, phylogenetics, models), and nomenclature. Training programs, supported by institutes, associations, and agencies, provide means for passing on procedures and perspectives of challenging botanical monography to the next generation of young systematists.Appreciation is expressed to: the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for financial support that allowed the workshop to be convened; the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) for additional financial support for the workshop.http://www.botanik.univie.ac.at/iapt/s_taxon.phpam201