A review of the monophyly and composition of the Bengaliinae with the description of a new genus and species, and new evidence for the presence of Melanomyinae in the Afrotropical Region (Diptera, Calliphoridae)

Mafikengia ciliata gen. nov., sp. nov. is described from South Africa and assigned to the subfamily Bengaliinae of the Calliphoridae. It is recognisable by its small size (4 mm), mostly yellow body, and a number of peculiar characteristics. The upper end of the bacilliform sclerite is attached to the medial side of the posterior portion of the surstylus on each side, a very unusual feature among calliphorids. This medial connection in Mafikengia is found in all genera of Bengaliinae, but is not present in any other calliphorid subfamily. The monophyly of the Bengaliinae is discussed, the subfamily is diagnosed, the component genera are listed, and a key to the world Bengaliinae is presented. The Bengaliinae are a very well circumscribed group within the Oestroidea, and it is suggested that the status of the subfamily might be raised to the rank of family. A cladistic analysis using NONA shows that Mafikengia is more closely related to the Oriental genus Termitoloemus Baranov, 1936 than to any other genus, and that the tribes Auchmeromyiini and Bengaliini may still be upheld as separate monophyletic groups, but with very low support. The Afrotropical nominal genus Neocordylobia Villeneuve, 1929 is reduced to a synonym of Cordylobia Grünberg, 1903, syn. nov. The nominal species Neocordylobia tauffliebiZumpt, 1958 is transferred to the genus Tricyclea Wulp, 1885, as Tricyclea tauffliebi (Zumpt), comb. nov. A new interpretation of the male genitalia of Termitoloemus marshalli Baranov is presented. The male genitalia of the Afrotropical species Tricycleala maculipennis Villeneuve as well as the male and female genitalia of the Afrotropical genera Adichosina Villeneuve, Ochromelinda Villeneuve and Onesihoplisa Villeneuve are figured. The uterine first instar larva of the female of Ochromelinda thoracica Villeneuve is described and illustrated. The genera Adichosina, Ochromelinda, Onesihoplisa and Zernyiella Zumpt are assigned to the calliphorid subfamily Melanomyinae on the basis of the morphology of the female ovipositor, male aedeagus and first instar larva. The occurrence of this subfamily in the Afrotropical Region is established for the first time. A lectotype is designated for Zernyiella dubia Zumpt, 1956 to fix the interpretation of the name. Auchmeromyia kurahashi Lehrer, 2005 is established as a junior synonym of Auchmeromyia senegalensis Macquart, 1851, syn. nov. Auchmeromyia pattoniella Lehrer, 2005 is an unavailable name [no type designation] in the synonymy of Auchmeromyia bequaerti Roubaud, 1913. Cordylobia ebadiana Lehrer & Goergen, 2006 is established as a junior synonym of Cordylobia rodhaini Gedoelst, 1910, syn. nov. Pachychoeromyia kanemia Lehrer, 2011 is reduced to a synonym of Pachychoeromyia praegrandis Austen, 1910, syn. nov. The family-group name Coganomyinae of Peris & González-Mora, 2004 is established as a synonym of Bengaliinae Brauer & Bergenstamm, 1889, syn. nov

Revision of the Bengalia spinifemorata species-group (Diptera, Calliphoridae)

The Afrotropical Bengalia spinifemorata species-group is revised and their male genitalia illustrated by means of digital colour photography. Six species are recognized and keyed, and their geographical distribution reconsidered, i.e., Bengalia akamanga (Lehrer, 2005), comb. nov. (Malawi); B. racovitzai (Lehrer, 2005) (Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya); B. seniorwhitei (Lehrer, 2005) (Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda); B. smarti (Lehrer, 2005), comb. nov. (Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe); B. spinifemorata Villeneuve, 1913 (Democratic Republic of Congo) and B. wangariae (Lehrer, 2005), comb. nov. (Democratic Republic of Congo). Maraviola congoliana Lehrer, 2005, M. samburella Lehrer, 2005, M. amlaka Lehrer & Freidberg, 2008, M. danakiliana Lehrer & Freidberg, 2008, and M. akufulana Lehrer, 2011 are recognized as synonyms of Bengalia seniorwhitei, syn. nov. The genus group names Sindhigalia Lehrer, 2006 and Anshuniana Lehrer & Wei, 2010 are reduced to synonyms of Bengalia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, syn. nov. The distiphallus is described in detail and new morphological terms introduced. Ten synapomorphies defining the B. spinifemorata species-group are listed. A re-assignment of the Oriental species B. fani Feng & Wei, 1998 to the Afrotropical B. spinifemorata species-group to replace its current position in the B. peuhi species-group is rejected since B. fani shares none of the ten synapomorphies of the former group

The world Polleniidae (Diptera, Oestroidea): key to genera and checklist of species

A key to the world genera and a checklist of the world species for the family Polleniidae, including distributions, are provided. The following taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are proposed: Nitellia hermoniella Lehrer, 2007 = Pollenia mediterranea Grunin, 1966, syn. nov., Pollenia bentalia Lehrer, 2007 = Pollenia semicinerea Villeneuve, 1911, syn. nov., Dasypoda angustifrons Jacentkovsky, 1941 = Pollenia tenuiforceps Seguy, 1928, syn. nov.; Anthracomyza Malloch, 1928, resurrected name (monotypic; type species Anthracomyia atratula Malloch) is considered a valid name and tentatively assigned to Polleniidae, giving Anthracomyza atratula (Malloch, 1927) as a resurrected combination; Morinia crassitarsis (Villeneuve, 1936), stat. rev. is considered a valid species, and Micronitellia Enderlein, 1936, stat. nov. is considered an available name

The world Polleniidae (Diptera, Oestroidea): key to genera and checklist of species

A key to the world genera and a checklist of the world species for the family Polleniidae, including distributions, are provided. The following taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are proposed: Nitellia hermoniella Lehrer, 2007 = Pollenia mediterranea Grunin, 1966, syn. nov., Pollenia bentalia Lehrer, 2007 = Pollenia semicinerea Villeneuve, 1911, syn. nov., Dasypoda angustifrons Jacentkovsky, 1941 = Pollenia tenuiforceps Seguy, 1928, syn. nov.; Anthracomyza Malloch, 1928, resurrected name (monotypic; type species Anthracomyia atratula Malloch) is considered a valid name and tentatively assigned to Polleniidae, giving Anthracomyza atratula (Malloch, 1927) as a resurrected combination; Morinia crassitarsis (Villeneuve, 1936), stat. rev. is considered a valid species, and Micronitellia Enderlein, 1936, stat. nov. is considered an available name

Predicting non-coding RNA genes in Escherichia coli with boosted genetic programming

Several methods exist for predicting non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in Escherichia coli (E.coli). In addition to about sixty known ncRNA genes excluding tRNAs and rRNAs, various methods have predicted more than thousand ncRNA genes, but only 95 of these candidates were confirmed by more than one study. Here, we introduce a new method that uses automatic discovery of sequence patterns to predict ncRNA genes. The method predicts 135 novel candidates. In addition, the method predicts 152 genes that overlap with predictions in the literature. We test sixteen predictions experimentally, and show that twelve of these are actual ncRNA transcripts. Six of the twelve verified candidates were novel predictions. The relatively high confirmation rate indicates that many of the untested novel predictions are also ncRNAs, and we therefore speculate that E.coli contains more ncRNA genes than previously estimated

First records of blowflies from Andorra (Diptera, Calliphoridae)

En este trabajo se aborda el estudio faunístico y fenológico de las especies de Calliphoridae capturadas con trampa Malaise durante el año 1993 en Andorra. En cuanto a los resultados faunísticos concluir que 18 de las 19 especies estudiadas son nuevas citas para Andorra y la novedad de Pollenia atramentaria para la Península Ibérica. Destacar la ausencia de Chrysomya albiceps en Andorra, especie abundante y ampliamente distribuida en la Península Ibérica. La actividad imaginal en la zona de estudio se centra principalmente en los meses de primavera y verano cuando la temperatura media supera los 15° C. Las especies más frecuentes fueron Onesia floralis y Pollenia labialis, presentando la primera una actividad de vuelo bimodal con máximos en junio y septiembre y P. labialis sólo uno a finales de marzo.In this paper, the fauna and annual activity of Calliphoridae species, which were caught in Malaise trap during 1993 from Andorra, were studied. Regarding to faunistic results, 18 of 19 studied species are new records from Andorra and Pollenia atramentaria being new record from Iberian Peninsula. Stand out the absence of Chrysomya albiceps, common and widely distributed species in the Iberian Peninsula. In the studied area, the annual activity of blowflies is mainly in spring and summer months, when the average temperature exceeds 15° C. Onesia floralis and Pollenia labialis are the commoner species, the former showing a bimodal activity with peaks in June and September and the latter peaking only at the end of March.Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente subvencionado por el proyecto del Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología BOS2000-0148

First fossil of an oestroid fly (Diptera: Calyptratae: Oestroidea) and the dating of oestroid divergences

Calyptrate flies include about 22,000 extant species currently classified into Hippoboscoidea (tsetse, louse, and bat flies), the muscoid grade (house flies and relatives) and the Oestroidea (blow flies, bot flies, flesh flies, and relatives). Calyptrates are abundant in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems, often playing key roles as decomposers, parasites, parasitoids, vectors of pathogens, and pollinators. For oestroids, the most diverse group within calyptrates, definitive fossils have been lacking. The first unambiguous fossil of Oestroidea is described based on a specimen discovered in amber from the Dominican Republic. The specimen was identified through digital dissection by CT scans, which provided morphological data for a cladistic analysis of its phylogenetic position among extant oestroids. The few known calyptrate fossils were used as calibration points for a molecular phylogeny (16S, 28S, CAD) to estimate the timing of major diversification events among the Oestroidea. Results indicate that: (a) the fossil belongs to the family Mesembrinellidae, and it is identified and described as Mesembrinella caenozoica sp. nov.; (b) the mesembrinellids form a sister clade to the Australian endemic Ulurumyia macalpinei (Ulurumyiidae) (McAlpine’s fly), which in turn is sister to all remaining oestroids; (c) the most recent common ancestor of extant Calyptratae lived just before the K–Pg boundary (ca. 70 mya); and (d) the radiation of oestroids began in the Eocene (ca. 50 mya), with the origin of the family Mesembrinellidae dated at ca. 40 mya. These results provide new insight into the timing and rate of oestroid diversification and highlight the rapid radiation of some of the most diverse and ecologically important families of flies. ZooBank accession number–urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0DC5170B-1D16-407A-889E-56EED3FE3627.publishedVersio

A new protein superfamily includes two novel 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylases from Bacillus cereus, AlkC and AlkD

Soil bacteria are heavily exposed to environmental methylating agents such as methylchloride and may have special requirements for repair of alkylation damage on DNA. We have used functional complementation of an Escherichia coli tag alkA mutant to screen for 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase genes in genomic libraries of the soil bacterium Bacillus cereus. Three genes were recovered: alkC, alkD and alkE. The amino acid sequence of AlkE is homologous to the E. coli AlkA sequence. AlkC and AlkD represent novel proteins without sequence similarity to any protein of known function. However, iterative and indirect sequence similarity searches revealed that AlkC and AlkD are distant homologues of each other within a new protein superfamily that is ubiquitous in the prokaryotic kingdom. Homologues of AlkC and AlkD were also identified in the amoebas Entamoeba histolytica and Dictyostelium discoideum, but no other eukaryotic counterparts of the superfamily were found. The alkC and alkD genes were expressed in E. coli and the proteins were purified to homogeneity. Both proteins were found to be specific for removal of N-alkylated bases, and showed no activity on oxidized or deaminated base lesions in DNA. B. cereus AlkC and AlkD thus define novel families of alkylbase DNA glycosylases within a new protein superfamily

Fauna Europaea: Diptera -Brachycera

Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Pape, T., Beuk, P., Pont, A. C., Shatalkin, A. I., Ozerov, A. L., Woźnica, A. J., ... de Jong, Y. (2015). Fauna Europaea: 3, [e4187]. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.3.e4187 General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Abstract Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all extant multicellular European terrestrial and freshwater animals and their geographical distribution at the level of countries and major islands (east of the Urals and excluding the Caucasus region). The Fauna Europaea project comprises about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies, which is much more than the originally projected number of 100,000 species. Fauna Europaea represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing taxonomic specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many user communities in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. The Diptera-Brachycera is one of the 58 Fauna Europaea major taxonomic groups, and data have been compiled by a network of 55 specialists. Within the two-winged insects (Diptera), the Brachycera constitute a monophyletic group, which is generally given rank of suborder. The Brachycera may be classified into the probably paraphyletic 'lower brachyceran grade' and the monophyletic Eremoneura. The latter contains the Empidoidea, the Apystomyioidea with a single Nearctic species, and the Cyclorrhapha, which in turn is divided into the paraphyletic 'aschizan grade' and the monophyletic Schizophora. The latter is traditionally divided into the paraphyletic 'acalyptrate grade' and the monophyletic Calyptratae. Our knowledge of the European fauna of Diptera-Brachycera varies tremendously among families, from the reasonably well known hoverflies (Syrphidae) to the extremely poorly known scuttle flies (Phoridae). There has been a steady growth in our knowledge of European Diptera for the last two centuries, with no apparent slow down, but there is a shift towards a larger fraction of the new species being found among the families of the nematoceran grade (lower Diptera), which due to a larger number of small-sized species may be considered as taxonomically more challenging. Most of Europe is highly industrialised and has a high human population density, and the more fertile habitats are extensively cultivated. This has undoubtedly increased the extinction risk for numerous species of brachyceran flies, yet with the recent re-discovery of Thyreophora cynophila (Panzer), there are no known cases of extinction at a European level. However, few national Red Lists have extensive information on Diptera. For the Diptera-Brachycera, data from 96 families containing 11,751 species are included in this paper

The identity of Pollenoides kuyanianus Matsumura, 1916 (Diptera: Calliphoridae: Bengaliinae)

Pollenoides kuyanianus Matsumura, 1916, described from Taiwan, is established as a junior synonym of Bengalia fuscipennis Bezzi, 1913, syn. nov. Pollenoides Matsumura, 1916 is established as a junior synonym of Bengalia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, syn. nov. Of the three original spellings of the specific name kuyanianus is chosen as the correct original spelling by first reviser action. Lectotypes are designated for Bengalia fuscipennis and Pollenoides kuyanianus. Bengalia fuscipennis is known from Taiwan and Guangdong province of China