Australian trypetinae (Diptera: Tephritidae)

The Australian species of Trypetinae are revised, with 77 species (31 new) placed in 35 genera (9 new) and 6 tribes. New taxa and taxonomic changes are proposed as follows. New genera: Acanthonevroides, Aridonevra, Austronevra, Austrorioxa, Lumirioxa, Micronevrina, Taeniorioxa, Epinettyra, Hemiristina. New species: Acanthonevroides mayi, A, variegatus, Austronevra bimaculata, Aridonevra cunnamullae, Clusiosoma macalpinei, Copiolepis colpopteris, Micronevrina apicalis, M. breviseta, M. gloriosa, M. hyalina, M. mediivitta, M. montana, M. setosa, Taeniorioxa quinaria, Termitorioxa exleyae, T. inconnexa, T. laurae, Elleipsa distincta, Euphranta athertonia, E. leichhardtiae, E. marina, E. meringue, E. mulgravea, E. numeralis, E. ternaria, Hardyadrama alyta, Diplochorda australis, Ornithoschema queenslandense, Epinettyra setosa, Hemiristina pleomeles, Vidalia dualis. New synonyms: Kertesziola Hering (of Termitorioxa Hendel), Staurocneros Hering (of Coelotrypes Bezzi), Dirioxa confusa Hardy [of D. pornia (Walker)], Neothemara trigonifera Hering [of N. formosipennis (Walker)], Adrama spinata Enderlein and A. centralis Malloch (of A. selecta Walker), Staurocneros imitator Hardy [of Coelotrypes circumscriptus (Hering)]. New combinations: Acanthonevroides bicolor (Macquart), A. jarvisi (Tryon), A. nigriventris (Malloch), Austronevra australina (Hendel), Austrorioxa acidiomorpha (Hendel), Lumirioxa araucariae (Tryon), Termitorioxa bicalcarata (Hering), T. testacea (Hendel), Coelotrypes circurnscriptus (Hering), Hardyadrama magister (Lee), H. presignis (Hardy), Philophylla australina (Hardy). Removed from synonymy: Acanthonevroides nigriventris (Malloch) [with A. jarvisi (Tryon)], Clusiosoma semifuscum Malloch [with C. minutum (de Meijere)]

Effect of some environmental factors on arthropod communities in bat guano

Data are presented on the taxonomic composition of arthropod fauna found in bat guano in 6 limestone caves of southern Thailand, collected by Berlese's funnel type trap. There were 2 sampling periods; the first from 29 April to 7 May 1996 and the second from 1 to 4 August 1996. Combined samples of bat guano comprised 4,430 individuals of 32 families of the following : 13 orders (2 classes ; Arachnida and Hexapoda) Araneae, Acari, Pseudoscorpiones, Collembola, Blattaria, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Psocoptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. The relationships between arthropods and physical factors such as cave temperature, relative humi-dity of the cave, moisture in guano, pH of guano, total nitrogen in guano and organic matters in guano were explored. The results showed that the number of individuals of Leptonetidae (P<0.05), Araneae (P<0.05) and Psocoptera (P<0.05) positively correlated with total nitrogen in guano but numbers of Blattellidae (P<0.05) and Blattaria (P<0.05) negatively correlated with total nitrogen in guano. The total numbers of families of arthropods (P<0.05) and the number of individuals of Leptonetidae (P<0.05), Sphaeropsocidae (P<0.05), Liposcelidae (P<0.05), Alleculidae (P<0.01), Chironomidae (P<0.05), Formicidae (P<0.05), Araneae (P<0.05), Psocoptera (P<0.01) and Hymenoptera (P<0.05) positively correlated with organic matters in guano. None of all arthropods correlated with cave temperature, relative humidity of the cave, moisture in guano and pH of guano. Study on the effect of type of bat guano (insectivore or frugivore bat guano) and the light factor (light or dark zone) on arthropods showed that type of bat guano has an effect on total numbers of families (P<0.05) and the number of individuals of Leptonetidae (P<0.01), Laelapidae (P<0.05), Blattellidae (P<0.05), Sphaeropsocidae (P<0.01), Liposcelidae (P<0.05), Dermestidae (P<0.01), Staphylinidae (P<0.01), Tineidae (P<0.05), Araneae (P<0.01), Blattaria (P<0.05), Psocoptera (P<0.01), Coleoptera (P<0.01), Lepidoptera (P<0.05) and Diptera (P<0.05). The light factor has an effect on the number of individuals of Carabidae (P<0.05) and Psocoptera (P<0.05). Interaction between type of bat guano and light affects only the number of individuals of Psocoptera (P<0.05). This study concludes that at least one of these physical factors is important in determining the number of families and the number of individuals in each family, particularly the scavenger or detritivore arthropods, and that bat guano is the food source and larva nursery for arthropods in tropical limestone caves

Geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, Narathiwat Province

The purpose of this research was to investigate the species diversity and abundance of geometrid moths in tropical rain forest of Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary (< 200 meters above sea level), Narathiwat Province, southern Thailand. Field data were collected every 2 months from July 2001 to July 2002. Three light traps were placed 200 meters apart. Moths were collected every 2 hours between 18.00 - 24.00 pm for 3 consecutive nights. Seven hundred and fifty six individuals of geometrid moths comprising 5 subfamilies, 17 tribes, 67 genera and 129 species were collected and identified. According to the numbers of species and individuals, moths in subfamily Ennominae (79 species, 522 individuals respectively) were the predominant group followed by Geometrinae (32 species, 88 individuals), Desmobathrinae (8 species, 42 individuals), Sterrhinae (7 species, 24 individuals) and Larentiinae (3 species, 80 individuals). The number of species and individuals varied with collecting time as follows: 18.00 - 20.00 pm (61 species, 199 individuals); 20.00 - 22.00 pm (90 species, 298 individuals); 22.00 - 24.00 pm (75 species, 259 individuals). However, the most abundantspecies were Hypocecis costaria Guenee / , Omiza lycoraria Guenee / , Ectropis bhurmitra Walker, Hypomecis sommereri Sato and Eois memorata Walker. No association between rainfall or temperature and total number of species or individuals was found. The total numbers of individuals in subfamilies Ennominae and Geometrinae were positively correlated with temperature (P<0.01, rs = 0.893 and 0.964 respectively). No difference in total number of species or individuals was found between dry and wet season