The Opisthokonta and the Ecdysozoa may be clades: An update on Philip et al. (2005)

To test the monophyly of Opisthokonta (animal-fungal clade) and Ecdysozoa (nematode-arthropod clade), Philip et al [Mol. Biol. Evol. 22: 1175–1184 (2005)] used sequence data from 10 eukaryotic genomes (an alveolate, a plant, two ascomycetous yeasts, a nematode, two dipterans, and three vertebrates). Strict criteria were used to select genes for phylogenetic analyses: single-gene families were identified and from these families, genes capable of recovering the uncontroversial parts of the phylogenetic tree (for example animal and vertebrate monophyly) were selected. Only five single-copy genes were found to be universally distributed across the analyzed taxa and capable of recovering all the uncontroversial parts of the tree. Phylogenetic analyses of those genes gave strong support for plant-animal grouping and the monophyly of Coelomata (vertebrate-arthropod grouping). Because numerous additional genome and EST projects have been completed since 2005, it is now possible to test the results of Philip et al using improved taxon sampling. Here, homologues of those five protein-coding genes (prefoldin 2, Tim22, U6 snRNP-associated protein, MAK16, and autophagocytosis protein) were obtained from sequence databases for additional taxa. Phylogenetic analyses of concatenation of those genes, using improved taxon sampling, recovered monophyly of Opisthokonta and Ecdysozoa, as well as Protostomia and Lophotrochozoa. These results again illustrate the importance of increased taxon sampling as shown in numerous previous studies using other datasets

Lehevaablaste perekonna Empria (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae) taksonoomia ja fülogenees

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Elurikkust on teaduslikult kirjeldatud üle 250 aasta, kuid suurem osa (hinnanguliselt 80–90%) sellest on teadusele ikka veel tundmata. Suurema osa palja silmaga nähtavast kirjeldatud ja kirjeldamata elurikkusest moodustavad putukad. Neid on teada ligi miljon liiki, kuid avastamata võib olla lausa kümme korda rohkem. Üks liigirikkamaid putukaseltse on kiletiivalised (nt. herilased, mesilased ja sipelgad), kuhu kuulub ka doktoritöös uuritud põhja poolkeral levinud 60 liigiline perekond Empria. Tegemist on lehevaablastega, kes vastsestaadiumis on kõik taimtoidulised ja meenutavad liblikaröövikuid. Täiskasvanud empriad on väiksed (4–9 mm) mustad putukad. Iseloomulikuks tunnuseks on tagakehal paiknevad valged laigud, mille põhjal on perekonda teistest lehevaablastest kerge eristada. Liikide määramine on paraku aga võimalik pea ainult mikroskoobi abiga ja seejuures tuleb tavaliselt isastel genitaalkapslist eraldada peenisvalvid ja emastel munetid. Aga kui see on tehtud, siis on liikide määramine üldjuhul lihtne igaühele, kuna tavaliselt erinevad eri liikidel peenisvalvid ja munetid väga selgesti. Võib öelda, et on lihtsalt vaja galeriid kõikide liikide peenisvalvidest ja munetitest ning seejärel üles leida otsitav. Doktoritöö raames koostati ida poolkera empria liikide (50) jaoks määramistabel koos fotodega peenisvalvidest ja munetitest (lääne poolkera liikide kohta oli vastav info juba olemas). Nende seas on 13 uut liiki teadusele, millest 9 ootab veel nimetamist. Lisaks kasutati 46 liigi (nii ida kui lääne poolkeralt) DNA andmeid põlvnemissuhete väljaselgitamiseks. Edasiste uurimuste ülesandeks oleks kirjeldada seni teadusele tundmatud liigid ja välja selgitada kõikide liikide toidutaimed (rohkem kui pooltel teadmata). Lähemat uurimist vääriks empria ka liigitekke aspektist, kuna perekonnas paistab olevat enam-vähem pidev skaala nii rohkem kui vähem eristunud liikidest ja mõnede liigirühmade või -paaride puhul polegi liigipiirid päris selged. Aga miks meil üldse neid empria liike vaja tunda? Otsest majanduslikku tähtsust neil pole (Põhja-Ameerikas võivad paar liiki siiski olla maasika kahjurid). Teaduse seisukohalt on aga tegemist ühe pusletükiga teadmiste üldises mosaiikpildis, mille kokkupanemine aitab meil üha paremini mõista ümbritsevat maailma.Although scientists have been describing biodiversity for more than 250 years, most of the species (probably 80–90%) remain unknown. Insects form the largest proportion of known and unknown macroscopic biodiversity. Nearly million insect species have been described, but the number of undescribed species could be ten times greater. Among the insects, order Hymenoptera (e.g. ants, bees, and wasps) is one of the largest, which also includes the sawfly genus Empria (60 species). Sawflies are plant feeding and caterpillar-like in the immature stage. Adults of Empria are small (4–9 mm) black insects. Characteristic of the genus are pale paired patches on abdominal terga, which makes it easy to distinguish from other sawflies. Species identification, however, is possible only using a microscope and usually penis valves need to be dissected from genital capsules of males and ovipositors from females. If this is done, the species identification is generally quite easy for anyone with a microscope, because the differences between penis valves and ovipositors of different species are usually obvious. It could be said that you simply need a gallery of penis valves and ovipositors to determine a species. The doctoral thesis includes a key to adults of Empria from eastern hemisphere (50 species) with photos of penis valves and ovipositors (corresponding information was already available for species of western hemisphere). There are 13 species new to science, 9 of which are still without a name. In addition, DNA sequence data from 46 species (including both hemispheres) was used to reconstruct the phylogeny of the genus. Future studies should describe the remaining unknown species and elucidate the host plants of all the species (unknown in more than half of the species). Closer look at Empria could also contribute to speciation studies, as there appear to be more or less continuous variation from highly distinct species to species pairs or groups with fuzzy species boundaries. Why is it necessary to know Empria species at all? The genus is not economically particularly important (couple of species in North America can be pests of strawberry), but from a scientific point of view the knowledge about it can be considered as a piece of a puzzle, assembling of which continuously improves our ability to make sense of the world

Taxonomy and nomenclature of some Fennoscandian Sawflies, with descriptions of two new species (Hymenoptera, Symphyta)

While working on an identification guide to the sawflies of Fennoscandia, we encountered numerous taxonomic problems, for some of which we present solutions. Dicrostema Benson, 1952 is a new synonym of Phymatoceropsis Rohwer, 1916, and not congeneric with Paracharactus MacGillivray, 1908. Two species occurring in Europe are transferred to Phymatoceropsis. Dolerus aericepsellus Heidemaa and Mutanen sp. nov. and Heptamelus viitasaarii Liston, Mutanen and Prous sp. nov. are described from Finland. Abia brevicornis Leach, 1817 nom. rev. is the valid name of Abia nitens auct. nec Linnaeus, and Abia nitens (Linnaeus, 1758) is the valid name for what has recently been called Abia sericea (Linnaeus, 1767). Tenthredo haemorrhoidalis Fabricius, 1781 is treated as an unplaced species of Hymenoptera, possibly Ichneumonoidea. Calameuta variabilis (Mocsáry, 1886) is the valid name of the species recently generally called C. haemorrhoidalis. Claremontia confusa (Konow, 1886) sp. rev. and Claremontia brevicornis (Brischke, 1883) are distinct species. Dolerus coracinus (Klug, 1818) is the valid name for D. anthracinus auct. Dolerus anthracinus (Klug, 1818) is a valid species similar to D. nitens Zaddach, 1859. Dolerus coruscans Konow, 1890 sp. rev. is a valid species. Dolerus junci (Stephens, 1835) is the valid name for Dolerus cothurnatus auct. Dolerus timidus (Klug, 1818) sp. rev. is distinguished from the similar D. pratensis (Linnaeus, 1758). A neotype is designated for Astatus punctatus Klug, 1803. Lectotypes are designated for 39 nominal species. 29 species group names are new junior synonyms. We present data on some species recently collected for the first time in Finland, including first records for the Palaearctic and West Palaearctic

PlutoF—a Web Based Workbench for Ecological and Taxonomic Research, with an Online Implementation for Fungal ITS Sequences

DNA sequences accumulating in the International Nucleotide Sequence Databases (INSD) form a rich source of information for taxonomic and ecological meta-analyses. However, these databases include many erroneous entries, and the data itself is poorly annotated with metadata, making it difficult to target and extract entries of interest with any degree of precision. Here we describe the web-based workbench PlutoF, which is designed to bridge the gap between the needs of contemporary research in biology and the existing software resources and databases. Built on a relational database, PlutoF allows remote-access rapid submission, retrieval, and analysis of study, specimen, and sequence data in INSD as well as for private datasets though web-based thin clients. In contrast to INSD, PlutoF supports internationally standardized terminology to allow very specific annotation and linking of interacting specimens and species. The sequence analysis module is optimized for identification and analysis of environmental ITS sequences of fungi, but it can be modified to operate on any genetic marker and group of organisms. The workbench is available at http://plutof.ut.ee

On Scottish sawflies, with results of the 14th International Sawfly Workshop, in the southern Highlands, 2010 (Hymenoptera, Symphyta).

Die Ergebnisse der Feldarbeit aus dem 14. Internationalen Sawfly Workshop werden vorgestellt. Dies fand im südlichen schottischen Hochland, überwiegend in Perthshire, statt. Einige Nachweise von Pflanzenwespen aus anderen Teilen von Schottland sind enthalten. Erstnachweise für die Britischen Inseln werden für acht tenthredinide Arten erbracht: Amauronematus mimus, Phyllocolpa alienata, P. erythropyga, P. plicalapponum, P. plicaphylicifolia, P. prussica, Pristiphora thalictri und Tenthredo ignobilis. A. mimus ist auch aus Irland nachgewiesen. Amauronematus stenogaster ist aus der Liste der Symphyta der Britischen Inseln zu entfernen. Erstmalig sind in Schottland eine Cephiden-Art (Hartigia xanthostoma) und zehn Tenthrediniden gefunden worden (Claremontia uncta, Dolerus brevicornis, Empria basalis, Empria parvula, Parna apicalis, Pristiphora decipiens, Pristiphora leucopus, Pristiphora testacea, Tenthredo mandibularis und Tenthredopsis ornata). Merkmale für die Unterscheidung einzelner Arten werden dargestellt. Der Locus typicus von Nematus herbaceae Cameron, 1876 ist geklärt. Geranium pratense ist als Wirtspflanze von Macrophya albipuncta bestätigt. Salix reticulata ist eine Wirtspflanze von Amauronematus mcluckieae. Sedum rosea kann eine Wirtspflanze von Tenthredo ignobilis sein. Allgemeine Schlussfolgerungen: hoher Artenreichtum der Pflanzenwespenfauna von Perthshire im Vergleich zu anderen Regionen in Schottland, darunter mehrere Arten, die auf den Britischen Inseln nur von dort bekannt sind; die Wichtigkeit der Erhaltung der Lebensräume von Felssimsen; große Defizite in unseren Kenntnissen bei vielen Arten, insbesondere zu Wirtspflanzen, Phänologie und Verbreitung; hoher Wert der Malaise-Falle in faunistischen Untersuchungen von Symphyta, weil das Spektrum von erfassten Taxa sich unterscheidet von dem was mit Streifnetz erfasst wird; Zusammensetzung des 'fall-out’ auf Schneeresten deutet darauf hin, dass Pflanzenwespen in einem größeren Ausmaß als bisher angenommen, aktiver Dispersion innerhalb von Landmassen unterliegen.StichwörterBritish Isles, Cephidae, Pamphiliidae, Tenthredinoidea, hosts, phenology, distribution.Results of fieldwork are presented from the 14th International Sawfly Workshop, held in the southern Highlands of Scotland, mostly in Perthshire. Some records of Symphyta from other parts of Scotland are included. First records in the British Isles are given for eight tenthredinid species: Amauronematus mimus, Phyllocolpa alienata, P. erythropyga, P. plicalapponum, P. plicaphylicifolia, P. prussica, Pristiphora thalictri and Tenthredo ignobilis. A. mimus is also recorded from Ireland. Amauronematus stenogaster is removed from the list of British Isles Symphyta. Recorded for the first time in Scotland are one cephid (Hartigia xanthostoma) and ten tenthredinids (Claremontia uncta, Dolerus brevicornis, Empria basalis, Empria parvula, Parna apicalis, Pristiphora decipiens, Pristiphora leucopus, Pristiphora testacea, Tenthredo mandibularis and Tenthredopsis ornata). Characters useful for the distinction of some species are illustrated. The type locality of Nematus herbaceae Cameron, 1876 is clarified. Geranium pratense is confirmed as a host of Macrophya albipuncta. Salix reticulata is a host of Amauronematus mcluckieae [mandatory correction of spelling of species name]. Sedum rosea may be a host of Tenthredo ignobilis. General conclusions: high species richness of Perthshire sawfly fauna compared to other regions of Scotland, including several species only known in British Isles from there; importance to conservation of rock-ledge habitats; large data deficits for many species, particularly on hosts, phenology and distribution; high value of Malaise traps in faunal survey of Symphyta, because spectrum of taxa captured differs from that recorded by hand-netting; as indicated by species and sex composition of ‘fall-out’ on snow patches, adult sawflies undertake active dispersal, within landmasses, to a greater extent than is often assumed.KeywordsBritish Isles, Cephidae, Pamphiliidae, Tenthredinoidea, hosts, phenology, distribution

Pristiphora mongololaricis Haris, 2003, holotype

<div><b><i>Pristiphora mongololaricis</i></b> Haris, 2003, holotype<br></div><div><br></div>Original description: Haris, A. 2003: The world Nematinae collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum with the description of three new species (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae). - Folia Entomologica Hungarica, Budapest 64: 105-119.<div><br></div><div>Currently valid as <i>Pristiphora malaisei</i> (Lindqvist, 1952).<br></div><div><br></div><div>DEI-GISHym80350<br></div><div>female</div><div><div>Bogd Uul (Mongolia: Tov)</div><div>+47.81666</div><div>+107.00000</div><div>1500-1600 m</div><div>1967-07-21</div><div>leg. Z. Kaszab<br></div><div>Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM)</div></div

Tenthredo (Allantus) repanda Klug, 1816, syntype (3)

<p><em><strong>Tenthredo (Allantus) repanda</strong></em> Klug, 1816, syntype</p> <p>Original description: Klug, F. 1816: Die Blattwespen nach ihren Gattungen und Arten zusammengestellt. - Der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin Magazin für die neuesten Entdeckungen in der gesamten Naturkunde, Berlin 8 (1814) (1): 42-84.</p> <p>Type locality: Germany.</p

Katsujia planaritibia Togashi, 1964, DEI-GISHym15499

<p><strong><em>Katsujia planaritibia</em></strong> Togashi, 1964, DEI-GISHym15499</p> <p> </p> <p>Kamiange, Mt. Jinba (Japan: Tokyo), +35.65222 +139.16667; 2000-05-07; leg. A. Shinohara; det. A. Shinohara as Katsujia planaritibia TOGASHI, 1964</p> <p>Deposited in National Science Museum, Natural History, Department of Zoology</p> <p> </p

Empria asiatica Muche, 1965, types

<p><em><strong>Empria asiatica</strong></em> Muche, 1965, types</p> <p>holotype, GBIF-GISHym2376</p> <p>paratype, paratypus_01</p> <p>paratype, paratypus_02</p