Geometric morphometrics of macro- and meiofaunal priapulid pharyngeal teeth provides a proxy for studying Cambrian “tooth taxa”

Priapulids are marine, benthic ecdysozoan worms that feed using a distinctive toothed pharynx. While only a handful of lineages have survived to the present day, the Cambrian priapulid stem group left behind a rich record of articulated body fossils and characteristic trace fossils in the form of burrows. Recently, the fossil record of isolated priapulid cuticular elements including pharyngeal teeth has gained increased attention as a means of revealing cryptic priapulid taxa otherwise unknown among macrofossils. In this study, we focus on the ecological implications of shape variation in the teeth of extant and extinct priapulids, which display substantial morphological differences between taxa and life stages. We define a landmarking scheme to capture shape variation in priapulid teeth and apply it to our dataset, which includes a breadth of tooth specimens from extant macrofaunal and meiofaunal lineages alongside numerous Cambrian priapulid teeth preserved as isolated small carbonaceous fossils. Through ordination of the principal components of shape, we explore the priapulid tooth morphospace and find evidence that its occupancy has expanded since Cambrian times, indicating a corresponding expansion of the group’s ecological niche. We also employ our geometric morphometric approach to make linear discriminant analysis-based taxon assignments based on tooth morphology, which can be helpful for classifying enigmatic “tooth taxa” known solely from fossil teeth. Finally, we use discriminant analysis to study tooth shapes from a functional perspective, considering known ecologies to characterize the ecological functions of unclassified isolated teeth

A molecular-based identification resource for the arthropods of Finland

To associate specimens identified by molecular characters to other biological knowledge, we need reference sequences annotated by Linnaean taxonomy. In this study, we (1) report the creation of a comprehensive reference library of DNA barcodes for the arthropods of an entire country (Finland), (2) publish this library, and (3) deliver a new identification tool for insects and spiders, as based on this resource. The reference library contains mtDNA COI barcodes for 11,275 (43%) of 26,437 arthropod species known from Finland, including 10,811 (45%) of 23,956 insect species. To quantify the improvement in identification accuracy enabled by the current reference library, we ran 1000 Finnish insect and spider species through the Barcode of Life Data system (BOLD) identification engine. Of these, 91% were correctly assigned to a unique species when compared to the new reference library alone, 85% were correctly identified when compared to BOLD with the new material included, and 75% with the new material excluded. To capitalize on this resource, we used the new reference material to train a probabilistic taxonomic assignment tool, FinPROTAX, scoring high success. For the full-length barcode region, the accuracy of taxonomic assignments at the level of classes, orders, families, subfamilies, tribes, genera, and species reached 99.9%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.7%, 99.4%, 96.8%, and 88.5%, respectively. The FinBOL arthropod reference library and FinPROTAX are available through the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (www.laji.fi) at https://laji.fi/en/theme/protax. Overall, the FinBOL investment represents a massive capacity-transfer from the taxonomic community of Finland to all sectors of society.</p

Palaearctic willow-catkin sawflies:a revision of the amentorum species group of Euura (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae)

Abstract The Euura amentorum species group is Holarctic, and in Europe it is most species-rich in the North. Their larvae develop entirely within the female catkins of Salix species: some species bore in the central stalk, whereas others live outside this and feed mainly on the developing seeds. Eight Palaearctic species are treated here as valid, and a key to these is provided. Males of five species are known. Two new species are described from northern Europe: Euura pohjola sp. n. and E. ursaminor sp. n. First records of E. itelmena (Malaise, 1931) from the West Palaearctic are presented. We propose seven new synonymies: Pontopristia montana Lindqvist, 1961 (junior secondary homonym in Euura) with Euura freyja (Liston, Taeger &amp; Blank, 2009); Pontopristia brevilabris Malaise, 1921, Amauronematus fennicus Lindqvist, 1944, Pontopristia boreoalpina Lindqvist, 1961, Pontopristia punctulata Lindqvist, 1961, and Amauronematus pyrenaeus Lacourt, 1995 with Euura microphyes (Förster, 1854); and Pteronidea holmgreni Lindqvist, 1968 with Nematus umbratus Thomson, 1871. Lectotypes are designated for: Amauronematus fennicus Lindqvist, 1944, Nematus amentorum Förster, 1854, Nematus suavis Ruthe, 1859, Pontopristia brevilabris Malaise, 1921, Pontopristia itelmena Malaise, 1931, Pontopristia kamtchatica Malaise, 1931, Pontopristia lapponica Malaise, 1921, Pontopristia latiserra Malaise, 1921, Pontopristia romani Malaise, 1921, and Pristiphora amentorum var. nigripleuris Enslin, 1916. Many new host plant associations are recorded

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

Abstract 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

Resource Quality and Spatial Variation in Sex-Ratios of a Free-Living Solitary Sawfly, Dineura-Virididorsata (hym, Tenthredinidae)

The sex ratio in final-instar larvae of a birch-feeding, free-living solitary sawfly, Dineura virididorsata, was investigated in Finnish Lapland. The prepupal proportion of females, pooled over ten sites, was 56%, and at four individual sites the sex ratio was significantly female-biased. Larval survival from egg to prepupae did not differ between the sexes. This suggests a femalebiased primary sex ratio in the field. The sex ratio varied among the sites but not among host trees within sites. Contrary to previous results with hymenopterans, we did not find that differences in the sex ratio depended on forage quality: site-specific or tree-specific sex ratios did not correlate with the average prepupal weight. A literature search indicated that female-biased sex ratios are also common in other free-living sawflies. We are unable to explain sex ratios of Dineura virididorsata or other free-living sawflies with existing general models