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1. Another puzzle piece in the systematics of the chewing louse genus Myrsidea, with a description of a new genus Apomyrsidea

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.748.1339  

   Kolencik, Stanislav; Sychra, Oldřich; Allen, Julie M. (May 2021, European Journal of Taxonomy)

   null (Ed.)

   A new avian chewing louse genus Apomyrsidea gen. nov. is described based on species parasitizing birds in the family Formicariidae. Diagnostic characteristics and phylogenetic analyses were used to evaluate and confirm the generic status and merit its recognition as unique and different from Myrsidea Waterston, 1915. Three species previously belonging to the genus Myrsidea are placed in the new genus Apomyrsidea gen. nov. and are discussed: Apomyrsidea circumsternata (Valim & Weckstein, 2013) gen. et comb. nov., Apomyrsidea isacantha (Valim & Weckstein, 2013) gen. et comb. nov. and Apomyrsidea klimesi (Sychra in Sychra et al., 2006) gen. et comb. nov. 

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2. Phylogeny and biogeography of the pantropical whip spider family Charinidae (Arachnida: Amblypygi)

   https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa101  

   De Miranda, Gustavo Silva; Giupponi, Alessandro P; Scharff, Nikolaj; Prendini, Lorenzo (August 2021, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society)

   Abstract The present contribution addresses the phylogeny and biogeography of the pantropical whip spider family Charinidae Quintero, 1986, the most species-rich in the arachnid order Amblypygi Thorell, 1883, based on morphology and multilocus DNA sequences, analysed simultaneously using parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. The morphological matrix comprises 138 characters, scored for four outgroup taxa and 103 ingroup terminals representing all genera and 64% of the species of Charinidae. The multilocus dataset comprises sequences from two nuclear and three mitochondrial gene loci for four outgroup taxa and 48 ingroup representing 30 (23%) taxa of Charinidae. Charinidae are monophyletic, with Weygoldtia Miranda et al., 2018 sister to a monophyletic group comprising Charinus Simon, 1892 and Sarax Simon, 1892, neither of which are reciprocally monophyletic. Charinidae diverged from other amblypygid families in the Late Carboniferous, c. 318 Mya, on the supercontinent Pangaea. Weygoldtia diverged from the common ancestor of Charinus and Sarax during the Late Permian, c. 257 Mya, when changes in climate reduced tropical forests. The divergence of Charinus and Sarax coincides with the fragmentation of Pangaea, c. 216 Mya. Sarax colonized South-East Asia via Australia. The charinid fauna of New Caledonia originated before the Oligocene, when the island separated from Australia, c. 80 Mya. 

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3. One must imagine Sisyphus happy: Integrative taxonomic characterization of 22 new Ceroptres species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Ceroptresini)

   https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5508.1.1  

   NASTASI, LOUIS F; SMITH, CECIL N; DAVIS, CHARLES K; WARD, ANNA KG; BROWN, GUERIN; ZHANG, Y MILES; ROLLINS, SHANNON; FRIESEN, CHRIS; TRIBULL, CARLY M; FORBES, ANDREW A; et al (September 2024, Zootaxa)

   We describe new species in the genus Ceroptres Hartig, 1840 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Ceroptresini) represented by voucher material sequenced by Ward et al. (2024). We describe 22 new species, all authored by Nastasi, Smith, & Davis: C. anansii sp. nov., C. anzui sp. nov., C. bruti sp. nov., C. curupira sp. nov., C. daleki sp. nov., C. dandoi sp. nov., C. demerzelae sp. nov., C. iktomii sp. nov., C. jabbai sp. nov., C. jarethi sp. nov., C. lokii sp. nov., C. lupini sp. nov., C. mallowi sp. nov., C. promethei sp. nov., C. sandiegoae sp. nov., C. selinae sp. nov., C. soloi sp. nov., C. songae sp. nov., C. swiperi sp. nov., C. thrymi sp. nov., C. tikoloshei sp. nov., and C. zorroi sp. nov. After our taxonomic treatment, the genus Ceroptres includes 43 species, all but three of which are known from North America. Among our new species are two reared from cecidomyiid midge galls, an association previously recorded but without valid taxonomic association. We provide new records for two additional previously described species; we record C. ensiger (Walsh, 1864) from Pennsylvania and confirm characters for the male, and we record C. lanigerae Ashmead, 1885 from Texas. We also examined several putative species corresponding to either C. cornigera Melika & Buss, 2002 and/or C. frondosae Ashmead, 1896, which we regard as a species complex that requires elucidation in future studies. To enable further studies on Ceroptres, we provide an updated key to North American females. Overall, we find that species of Ceroptres are host specialists associated with a single host gall species or several galls that are phylogenetically or ecologically related. We suggest that there are many North American species of Ceroptres, possibly hundreds, still awaiting collection and characterization.  

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4. Cicada fossils (Cicadoidea: Tettigarctidae and Cicadidae) with a review of the named fossilised Cicadidae

   https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4438.3.2  

   MOULDS, M. S. (June 2018, Zootaxa)

   The Cicadoidea comprise two families, the Cicadidae and the Tettigarctidae. This paper evaluates the status and taxonomy of all named Cicadoidea fossils belonging to the Cicadidae. Shcherbakov (2009) has previously revised the Tettigarctidae. Two new genera are described, Camuracicada gen. n. and Paleopsalta gen. n., for Camuracicada aichhorni (Heer, 1853) comb. n. and Paleopsalta ungeri (Heer, 1853) comb. n. A lectotype is designated for Cicada emathion Heer, 1853.          Cicada grandiosa Scudder, 1892 is transferred to Hadoa Moulds, 2015 as Hadoa grandiosa comb. n.; Oncotympana lapidescens J. Zhang, 1989 is transferred to Hyalessa China, 1925 as Hyalessa lapidescens comb. n.; Meimuna incasa J. Zhang, Sun & X. Zhang, 1994 and Meimuna miocenica J. Zhang & X. Zhang, 1990 are transferred to Cryptotympana Stål, 1861 as Cryptotympana incasa comb. n. and Cryptotympana miocenica comb. n.; Tibicen sp. aff. japonicus Kato, 1925 is transferred to Auritibicen as Auritibicen sp. aff. japonicus comb. n., and Terpnosia sp. aff. vacua Olivier, 1790 is transferred to Yezoterpnosia Matsumura, 1917 as Yezoterpnosia sp. aff. vacua comb. n. The generic placement of two other fossils is changed to reflect current classification, those species now being Auritibicen bihamatus (Motschulsky, 1861) and Yezoterpnosia nigricosta (Motschulsky, 1866).         Two species, Davispia bearcreekensis Cooper, 1941 and Lithocicada perita Cockerell, 1906, are transferred from the subfamily Cicadinae to the Tibicininae, tribe Tibicinini. Cicadatra serresi (Meunier, 1915) is also transferred from the Cicadinae to the Cicadettinae because the Cicadatrini have recently been transferred from the Cicadinae to the Cicadettinae (Marshall et al. 2018).         Miocenoprasia grasseti Boulard and Riou, 1999 is transferred from the tribe Prasiini to the Lamotialnini. Tymocicada gorbunovi Becker-Migdisova, 1954 is transferred from the Dundubiini to the Cryptotympanini; Paracicadetta oligocenica Boulard & Nel, 1990 is transferred from the Cicadettini to the Pagiphorini and Minyscapheus dominicanus Poinar et al., 2011 is assigned to the Taphurini. Names of species once considered to belong in Cicadidae, but now excluded, are listed with explanation. 

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5. Nomenclatural changes and two new species in the leafhopper genus Usanus DeLong (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) with notes on conservation status

   https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4822.4.6  

   PINEDO-ESCATEL, J. ADILSON; DIETRICH, CHRISTOPHER H. (August 2020, Zootaxa)

   null (Ed.)

   The Mexican leafhopper genus and species Devolana hemicycla DeLong, 1967 syn. nov., is recognized as a junior synonym of Usanus stonei DeLong, 1947. Three previously described species, U. tuxcacuensis (Pinedo-Escatel & Aguilar-Pérez, 2019) comb. nov., U. youajla (Pinedo-Escatel, 2019) comb. nov., and U. xajxayakamej (Pinedo-Escatel, 2019) comb. nov. are transferred to Usanus. Two new species, U. xochipalensis sp. nov. and U. igualaensis sp. nov. from Guerrero, are described and illustrated. An updated key to all known species of Usanus is provided. 

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