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1. Catalogue of Rose Gall, Herb Gall, and Inquiline Gall Wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) of the United States, Canada and Mexico

   https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e68558  

   Nastasi, Louis; Deans, Andrew (August 2021, Biodiversity Data Journal)

   Cynipidae (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea) is a diverse group of wasps, many of which are capable of inducing plants to make galls, novel structures that protect and nourish the wasps' larvae. Other cynipids, especially those species in Ceroptresini and Synergini, are understood to be usurpers of galls made by other cynipids. The North American cynipid fauna has not been fully catalogued since 1979, but there is renewed interest in revising the taxonomy and in doing research that sheds light on the mechanisms of gall induction, the evolution of this life history, and their ecological interactions more broadly. Significant taxonomic changes have impacted the group since 1979, thereby warranting a new catalogue. The current state of knowledge of species classified in Aulacideini, Ceroptresini, Diastrophini, Diplolepidini, Phanacidini and Synergini in the United States, Canada, and Mexico is summarised in catalogue format. We report 323 names, including 170 valid species of rose gall wasps, herb gall wasps, and inquiline gall wasps, classified in 12 genera, from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Current taxonomic status, distribution, host associations, and vernacular names are listed for each species. The catalogue also includes the original description of galls for many species of gall-inducer, as well as atomised characterisations of different gall traits as key-value pairs. For most galling species without existing vernacular names, new vernacular names are proposed. 

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2. The affinities of the Late Triassic Cryptovaranoides and the age of crown squamates

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230968  

   Brownstein, Chase D.; Simões, Tiago R.; Caldwell, Michael W.; Lee, Michael S.; Meyer, Dalton L.; Scarpetta, Simon G. (October 2023, Royal Society Open Science)

   Most living reptile diversity is concentrated in Squamata (lizards, including snakes), which have poorly known origins in space and time. Recently, †Cryptovaranoides microlaniusfrom the Late Triassic of the United Kingdom was described as the oldest crown squamate. If true, this result would push back the origin of all major lizard clades by 30–65 Myr and suggest that divergence times for reptile clades estimated using genomic and morphological data are grossly inaccurate. Here, we use computed tomography scans and expanded phylogenetic datasets to re-evaluate the phylogenetic affinities of †Cryptovaranoidesand other putative early squamates. We robustly reject the crown squamate affinities of †Cryptovaranoides, and instead resolve †Cryptovaranoidesas a potential member of the bird and crocodylian total clade, Archosauromorpha. Bayesian total evidence dating supports a Jurassic origin of crown squamates, not Triassic as recently suggested. We highlight how features traditionally linked to lepidosaurs are in fact widespread across Triassic reptiles. Our study reaffirms the importance of critically choosing and constructing morphological datasets and appropriate taxon sampling to test the phylogenetic affinities of problematic fossils and calibrate the Tree of Life. 

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3. Sociality and disease: behavioral perspectives in ecological and evolutionary immunology.

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-022-03203-8  

   Rosengaus, R.B. (January 2022, Behavioral ecology and sociobiology)
4. Arthropod communities associated with gall-inducing Aciurina bigeloviae and Aciurina trixa (Diptera: Tephritidae) in New Mexico

   https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saad037  

   Baine, Quinlyn; Casares, Emily E; Hughes, Daniel_W W; Martinson, Vincent G; Martinson, Ellen O (December 2023, Annals of the Entomological Society of America)

   Sime, Karen (Ed.)

   Abstract Insect-induced galls are novel structures that serve as habitat to whole communities of associate arthropods that include predators, parasitoids, and inquilines. Galling insects are generally under-described, but their associate communities, which can include many specialist organisms, are virtually unknown, particularly in the southwest United States. Aciurina bigeloviae (Cockerell 1890) and Aciurina trixa Curran 1932 (Diptera: Tephritidae) are unusually common and abundant galling flies in New Mexico. The 2 species are sister and occur in sympatric areas but have distinct gall morphologies. We reared all arthropods from 3,800 galls from 14 sites in the northern and central regions of the state and as a result characterized the complete communities of both species, including barcode sequences and eclosion phenology. We also investigate interactions of A. trixa galls with the abundant inquiline weevil Anthonomus cycliferus Fall 1913 (Coleoptera: Circulionidae) and find no measurable effect of inquiline abundance on the size of the emerged adult fly or gall. The total species count is 24 and includes 6 guilds; both A. bigeloviae and A. trixa communities are richer and more complex than other documented Tephritidae–Asteraceae galling systems. This study highlights the potential of galling insects as ecosystem engineers to maintain large, rich, and multi-trophic communities. 

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5. Whole-genome sequence of the Cooley spruce gall adelgid, Adelges cooleyi (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Adelgidae)

   https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkad224  

   Dial, Dustin T; Weglarz, Kathryn M; Brunet, Bryan_M T; Havill, Nathan P; von_Dohlen, Carol D; Burke, Gaelen R (September 2023, G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics)

   McIntyre, L (Ed.)

   Abstract The adelgids (Adelgidae) are a small family of sap-feeding insects, which, together with true aphids (Aphididae) and phylloxerans (Phylloxeridae), make up the infraorder Aphidomorpha. Some adelgid species are highly destructive to forest ecosystems such as Adelges tsugae, Adelges piceae, Adelges laricis, Pineus pini, and Pineus boerneri. Despite this, there are no high-quality genomic resources for adelgids, hindering advanced genomic analyses within Adelgidae and among Aphidomorpha. Here, we used PacBio continuous long-read and Illumina RNA-sequencing to construct a high-quality draft genome assembly for the Cooley spruce gall adelgid, Adelges cooleyi (Gillette), a gall-forming species endemic to North America. The assembled genome is 270.2 Mb in total size and has scaffold and contig N50 statistics of 14.87 and 7.18 Mb, respectively. There are 24,967 predicted coding sequences, and the assembly completeness is estimated at 98.1 and 99.6% with core BUSCO gene sets of Arthropoda and Hemiptera, respectively. Phylogenomic analysis using the A. cooleyi genome, 3 publicly available adelgid transcriptomes, 4 phylloxera transcriptomes, the Daktulosphaira vitifoliae (grape phylloxera) genome, 4 aphid genomes, and 2 outgroup coccoid genomes fully resolves adelgids and phylloxerans as sister taxa. The mitochondrial genome is 24 kb, among the largest in insects sampled to date, with 39.4% composed of noncoding regions. This genome assembly is currently the only genome-scale, annotated assembly for adelgids and will be a valuable resource for understanding the ecology and evolution of Aphidomorpha. 

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