Inferring the Provenance of an Alien Species with DNA Barcodes: The Neotropical Butterfly Dryas iulia in Thailand

The Neotropical butterfly Dryas iulia has been collected from several locations in Thailand and Malaysia since 2007, and has been observed breeding in the wild, using introduced Passiflora foetida as a larval host plant. The butterfly is bred by a butterfly house in Phuket, Thailand, for release at weddings and Buddhist ceremonies, and we hypothesized that this butterfly house was the source of wild, Thai individuals. We compared wing patterns and COI barcodes from two, wild Thai populations with individuals obtained from this butterfly house. All Thai individuals resemble the subspecies D. iulia modesta, and barcodes from wild and captive Thai specimens were identical. This unique, Thai barcode was not found in any of the 30 specimens sampled from the wild in the species\u27 native range, but is most similar to specimens from Costa Rica, where many exporting butterfly farms are located. These data implicate the butterfly house as the source of Thailand\u27s wild D. iulia populations, which are currently so widespread that eradication efforts are unlikely to be successful

Comparison of rainforest butterfly assemblages across three biogeographical regions using standardized protocols

Insects, like most other organisms, are more diverse in tropical than in temperate regions, but standardized comparisons of diversity among tropical regions are rare. Disentangling the effects of ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographic factors on community diversity requires standardized protocols and long-term studies. We compared the abundance and diversity of butterflies using standardised ‘Pollard walk’ transect counts in the understory of closed-canopy lowland rainforests in Panama (Barro Colorado Island, BCI), Thailand (Khao Chong, KHC) and Papua New Guinea (Wanang, WAN). We observed 1792, 1797 and 3331 butterflies representing 128, 131 and 134 species during 230, 231 and 120 transects at BCI, KHC and WAN, respectively. When corrected for length and duration of transects, butterfly abundance and species richness were highest at WAN and KHC, respectively. Although high butterfly abundance at WAN did not appear to result from methodological artefacts, the biological meaning of this observation remains obscure. The WAN site appeared as floristically diverse as KHC, but supported lower butterfly diversity. This emphasizes that factors other than plant diversity, such as biogeographic history, may be crucial for explaining butterfly diversity. The KHC butterfly fauna may be unusually species rich because the site is at a biogeographic crossroads between the Indochinese and Sundaland regions. In contrast, WAN is firmly within the Australian biogeographic region and relatively low species numbers may result from island biogeographic processes. The common species at each of the three sites shared several traits: fruit and nectar feeders were equally represented, more than half of common species fed on either epiphytes or lianas as larvae, and their range in wing sizes was similar. These observations suggest that Pollard walks in different tropical rainforests target similar assemblages of common species, and, hence, represent a useful tool for long-term monitoring of rainforest butterfly assemblages.Organismic and Evolutionary Biolog

Insect assemblages attacking seeds and fruits in a rainforest in Thailand

Insect seed predators are important agents of mortality for tropical trees, but little is known about the impact of these herbivores in rainforests. During three years at Khao Chong (KHC) in southern Thailand we reared 17,555 insects from 343.2 kg or 39,252 seeds/fruits representing 357 liana and tree species. A commented list of the 243 insect species identified is provided, with details about their host plants. We observed that: (1) about 43% of identified species can be considered pests. Most were seed eaters, particularly on dry fruits. (2) About 19% of parasitoid species (all Opiinae) for which we could determine whether their primary insect host was a pest or not (all Bactrocera spp. breeding in fruits) can be considered beneficials. (3) The seeds/fruits of about 28% of the plant species in this forest were free of attack. Phyllanthaceae, Rubiaceae, and Meliaceae were attacked relatively infrequently; in contrast, Annonaceae, Fabaceae, Sapindaceae, and Myristicaceae were more heavily attacked. There was no apparent effect of plant phylogeny on rates of attack but heavily attacked tree species had larger basal area in the KHC plot than rarely attacked tree species. (4) Insects reared from fleshy fruits were more likely to exhibit relatively stable populations compared to insects reared from dry fruits, but this was not true of insects reared from dipterocarps, which appeared to have relatively stable populations throughout the study period. We tentatively conclude that insects feeding on seeds and fruits have little effect on observed levels of host abundance in this forest

Two new species of Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) found in fungus gardens of Odontotermes termites (Isoptera, Termitidae, Macrotermitinae) in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand

Discoxenus katayamai sp. n. and Odontoxenus thailandicus sp. n. are described from Khao Yai National Park, East Thailand. Both species were collected from nests of termite of the genus Odontotermes Holmgren, 1912. These are the first records of both genera from Thailand. Discoxenus katayamai is similar to D. indicus Wasmann, 1904, and O. thailandicus is similar to O. butteri (Wasmann, 1916). Each species is easily distinguished from their congeners by the body size, the number of the setae on the pronotum, elytra and abdomen and other characters discussed below

2008. Diversity of pselaphine beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae

Abstract Pselaphine beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) are cosmopolitan, species-rich, and yet poorly studied, particularly in the tropics. We sampled beetles in three types of primary forest and two types of disturbed forest habitats in eastern Thailand to assess the utility of pselaphine beetles as bioindicators of forest disturbance. We simultaneously measured leaf litter mass, soil moisture, soil acidity and canopy cover at each site to infer which environmental factors affect pselaphine beetle diversity and abundance. At each site, pselaphine beetles were extracted from ten 1 m 2 samples of leaf litter and soil with Tullgren funnels. We sampled 1867 adult beetles representing six supertribes, 51 genera and 114 morphospecies; 7% of the genera and 92% of the species were undescribed. Forest types differed significantly in species richness, abundance, diversity and evenness. Primary forest had greater numbers of species and individuals, and higher diversity indices (H′). Teak plantation and secondary forest had substantially fewer individuals and species of pselaphine beetles. Species composition differed between primary and degraded forests. Canopy cover, soil moisture, and leaf litter mass positively correlated with beetle species richness and abundance. Leaf litter mass and soil moisture were the two most important factors affecting the diversity of pselaphine beetle assemblages. Among the 114 morphospecies collected, 43 morphospecies were specific to two or three habitats and 64 morphospecies were found only in a single habitat. Thus pselaphine beetles appear to have rather narrow habitat requirements and their presence/absence was correlated with environmental differences. These traits make pselaphine beetles a suitable bioindicator taxon for assessing forest litter diversity and monitoring habitat change

On the myrmecophilous genus Systellus Kleine (Coleoptera: Brentidae), with systematic and biological notes on S. mentaweicus (Senna)

Maruyama, Munetoshi, Morimoto, Katsura, Bartolozzi, Luca, Sakchoowong, Watana, Hashim, Rosli (2014): On the myrmecophilous genus Systellus Kleine (Coleoptera: Brentidae), with systematic and biological notes on S. mentaweicus (Senna). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 62: 805-811, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.535639

Lomechusini Fleming 1821

Tribe Lomechusini Fleming Lomechusidae Fleming, 1821: 49 (type genus: Lomechusa Gravenhorst, 1806).Published as part of Maruyama, Munetoshi, Komatsu, Takashi, Katayama, Yuji, Song, Xiao-Bin & Sakchoowong, Watana, 2014, Myrmecophilous rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) associated with Aenictus hodgsoni (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Thailand, with description of two new genera and three new species, pp. 361-373 in Zootaxa 3796 (2) on page 364, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3796.2.8, http://zenodo.org/record/491524

Aenictoteratini Kistner 1993

Tribe Aenictoteratini Kistner, 1993 Aenictoteratini Kistner, 1993: 242 (original description; type genus: Aenictoteras Wheeler, 1932).Published as part of Maruyama, Munetoshi, Komatsu, Takashi, Katayama, Yuji, Song, Xiao-Bin & Sakchoowong, Watana, 2014, Myrmecophilous rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) associated with Aenictus hodgsoni (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Thailand, with description of two new genera and three new species, pp. 361-373 in Zootaxa 3796 (2) on page 362, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3796.2.8, http://zenodo.org/record/491524

Aenictobia Seevers 1953

Aenictobia Seevers, 1953 Aenictobia Seevers, 1953: 127 (original description; type species: Aenictobia longicornis Seevers 1952, by original designation); Kistner & Jacobson, 1975: 42 (redescription, description of one additional species); Kistner et al., 1997: 175 (redescription, description of one additional species, species key, placed in subtribe Aenictobiina of tribe Lomechusini); Hlaváč et al., 2011: 8 (transferred to Aenictoteratini); Maruyama et al., 2011: 9 (diagnosis of A. thoi and A. fergusoni). Comments. Four species, including the new species, are known: A. longicornis Seevers, 1952, A. thoi Kistner & Jacobson, 1975, A. ferugsoni Kistner, 1997, and A. thaiensis Maruyama, sp. n.Published as part of Maruyama, Munetoshi, Komatsu, Takashi, Katayama, Yuji, Song, Xiao-Bin & Sakchoowong, Watana, 2014, Myrmecophilous rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) associated with Aenictus hodgsoni (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Thailand, with description of two new genera and three new species, pp. 361-373 in Zootaxa 3796 (2) on page 362, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3796.2.8, http://zenodo.org/record/491524

Aenictoxenides Maruyama 2014, gen. n.

Aenictoxenides Maruyama, gen. n. (Figs. 33–52) Type species: Aenictoxenides mirabilis Maruyama, sp. n. Description. Body (Figs. 33–35) foliaceous, flattened, glossy. Head (Figs. 33–36) semicircular, strongly flattened above; frons protruded anteriad and laterad to form “arcade” which conceals eyes, mouthparts, bases of antennae underside of head; temples projected laterad, pointed at apex; eyes rather large, located laterally, underside of head; antennae (Figs. 33–35, 37) 7-segmented, inserted near mouthparts; segment I large, thin, concealed in antennal cavity; segments II–VII connected closely, fusiform overall. Mouthparts: Labrum (Fig. 38) rather generalized, with some pseudopores, and a row of 3 campaniform sensilla around antero-lateral corner (Fig, 38: arrow). Mandibles (Fig. 39) almost symmetric, with 2 setae around middle of outer margin. Mentum (Fig. 40) sub-trapezoidal, but lateral margin rounded, truncate on anterior margin, sparsely with pseudopores, some setae around antero-lateral area. Labium (Fig. 41): apodeme with lateral lobe short, narrowed toward pointed apex, with apically truncate medial projection; prementum with 2 real pores and 1 setal pore antero-laterally; palpus with segment I long, 3 times as long as II; segment III narrow, elongate; maxilla (Fig. 42) with cardo elongate; lacinia with 4 spines near apex, densely with pubescence; galea short, with tuft of long pubescence at apex; palpus sparsely with pseudopores; segment IV narrowed. Pronotum (Figs. 33–35, 43) transverse, with a row of thick setae on lateral margin; hypomera laterally not visible, with several macrosetae; prosternite (Fig. 20) trapezoidal, carinate at midline. Mesoventrite (Fig. 44) with process not differentiated from that of metaventrite; mesocoxal cavity well margined, clearly separated. Elytra (Fig. 45) transverse, slightly convex above, with a row of thick setae on lateral margin; hypomera laterally not visible, with several macrosetae along lateral margins; hind wings developed. Legs (Figs. 34–35, 46–48) short, compressed, with inner margins of femora sulcate to hold tibia; tarsal formula 4–4–5; fore leg (Fig. 46) with tibia slender widest at middle; tarsal segments I–III subequal in length; mid leg (Fig. 47) with coxa oval; tibia thick, widest around basal 1/3; tarsal segments I–III subequal in length; hind leg (Fig. 48) with coxa transverse, with thick setae around lateral area; tibia thick, widest around basal 1/3; tarsal segments I–III subequal in length; segment IV smallest. Abdomen (Figs. 33–35) widest at segment IV, gently narrowed toward apex; tergite VIII (Fig. 49) narrowed apicad, sub-parallel near apex, rounded on apical margin; sternite (Fig. 50) gently narrowed apicad, rounded at apex; tergites IX and X (Fig. 51) cylindrical; tergite IX narrowed around base; sclerite at base of tergite IX well developed, transverse (Fig. 51: arrow); tergite X emarginate on anterior margin in dorsal view. Male: median lobe of aedeagus (Fig. 52) bulbous at base; apical lobe elongate, pointed at apex; paramere (Fig. 53) with apical lobe elongate. Female: spermatheca (Fig. 32) coiled around base, with apical part spherical. Differential diagnosis. This genus is closely related to Aenictoxenus Seevers, 1953 in numerous character states, especially those of the mouthparts and thorax, but distinguished from it by the temples which widen behind the eyes, forming acute posterior head angles (although Aenictoxenus has an “arcade” formed by a fronto-lateral expansion of the head, the temples are not expanded, and instead narrow smoothly and roundly to the head base), the antennae which are 7-segmented (in Aenictoxenus, 8-segmented), the sub-trapezoidal mentum (in Aenictoxenus, the anterior margin is rounded), and tergite X more shallowly emarginate on the anterior margin in dorsal view (in Aenictoxenus, it is deeply emarginate, deeper than 1/2 of the length of tergite X). Etymology. A combination of the related genus name Aenictoxenus, and the Latin suffix oides (meaning "similar"), indicating a similar genus of Aenictoxenus. Gender masculine. Distribution. Central Thailand. Systematic notes. Tribal affiliations of Aenictoxenus are controversial. Jacobson & Kistner (1975) stated the genus does not belong to Pygostenini. However, the related genus Aenictoxenides shares a sclerite at the base of the tergite IX which is one of autapomorphies of Pygostenini (Maruyama et al., in prep.), and the well-sclerotized, cylindrical abdominal segments IX + X are also characteristic in Pygostenini. Although Aenictoxenus does not share the sclerite at base of tergite X, it could be a secondary loss of the state due to extreme miniaturization of the body. This sclerite is ill-defined also in some other minute-sized pygostenines. We propose that both Aenictoxenus and Aenictoxenides are members of Pygostenini.Published as part of Maruyama, Munetoshi, Komatsu, Takashi, Katayama, Yuji, Song, Xiao-Bin & Sakchoowong, Watana, 2014, Myrmecophilous rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) associated with Aenictus hodgsoni (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from Thailand, with description of two new genera and three new species, pp. 361-373 in Zootaxa 3796 (2) on pages 369-372, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3796.2.8, http://zenodo.org/record/491524