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1. A New Family of Stoneflies (Insecta: Plecoptera), Kathroperlidae, fam. n., with a Phylogenomic Analysis of the Paraperlinae (Plecoptera: Chloroperlidae)

   https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixab014  

   South, Eric J; Skinner, Rachel K; Edward DeWalt, R; Davis, Mark A; Johnson, Kevin P; Teslenko, Valentina A; Lee, Jonathan J; Malison, Rachel L; Hwang, Jeong Mi; Bae, Yeon Jae; et al (July 2021, Insect Systematics and Diversity)

   Ware, Jessica (Ed.)

   Abstract Recent molecular analyses of transcriptome data from 94 species across 92 genera of North American Plecoptera identified the genus Kathroperla Banks, 1920 as sister group to Chloroperlidae + Perlodidae. Given that the genus Kathroperla has historically been included as a member of the family Chloroperlidae, this discovery indicated further investigation of the genus and the subfamily Paraperlinae was needed. Both transcriptome and genome sequencing datasets were generated from 32 species of the infraorder Systellognatha, including all described species of the Paraperlinae, to test the phylogenetic placement of these taxa. From these datasets, a large phylogenomic data matrix of 800 orthologous genes was produced, and multiple analyses were conducted, including both concatenated and coalescent analyses. Morphological comparisons were made among all Paraperlinae using light microscopy. All molecular results support a monophyletic Kathroperla, which is supported as sister taxon to the remaining Perloidea by five of six molecular analyses. Postocular head length is determined to be a distinct morphological character of this genus. Combined molecular and morphological evidence support the designation of Kathroperlidae, fam. n., as the seventeenth family of extant Plecoptera. 

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2. TaxonWorks: a Use Case in Documenting of Etymology of Generic Names in Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera)

   https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25724  

   Dmitriev, Dmitry (May 2018, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards)

   The 3i World Auchenorrhyncha database (http://dmitriev.speciesfile.org) is being migrated into TaxonWorks (http://taxonworks.org) and comprises nomenclatural data for all known Auchenorrhyncha taxa (leafhoppers, planthoppers, treehoppers, cicadas, spittle bugs). Of all those scientific names, 8,700 are unique genus-group names (which include valid genera and subgenera as well as their synonyms). According to the Rules of Zoological Nomenclature, a properly formed species-group name when combined with a genus-group name must agree with the latter in gender if the species-group name is or ends with a Latin or Latinized adjective or participle. This provides a double challenge for researchers describing new or citing existing taxa. For each species, the knowledge about the part of speech is essential information (nouns do not change their form when associated with different generic names). For the genus, the knowledge of the gender is essential information. Every time the species is transferred from one genus to another, its ending may need to be transformed to make a proper new scientific name (a binominal name). In modern day practice, it is important, when establishing a new name, to provide information about etymology of this name and the ways it should be used in the future publications: the grammatical gender for a genus, and the part of speech for a species. The older names often do not provide enough information about their etymology to make proper construction of scientific names. That is why in the literature, we can find numerous cases where a scientific name is not formed in conformity to the Rules of Nomenclature. An attempt was made to resolve the etymology of the generic names in Auchenorrhyncha to unify and clarify nomenclatural issues in this group of insects. In TaxonWorks, the rules of nomenclature are defined using the NOMEN onthology (https://github.com/SpeciesFileGroup/nomen). 

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3. Phylogeny, migration and geographic range size evolution of Anax dragonflies (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae)

   https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab046  

   Clement, Rebecca A; Saxton, Natalie A; Standring, Samantha; Arnold, Preston R; Johnson, K Kaihileipihamekeola; Bybee, David R; Bybee, Seth M (August 2021, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society)

   Abstract The genus Anax is a group of cosmopolitan dragonflies noted for its conspicuous migratory behaviours and large size. Here we present the first dated, species-level, multigene, molecular phylogeny for the group to test generic and species-limits, as well as the evolution of migration and range size. Using five mitochondrial and nuclear gene regions (COI, COI/COII, CYTB/ND1, ITS1 and PRMT) from 20 species, we reconstructed a phylogeny of Anax using both a Bayesian and maximum likelihood approach. We found that Anax (including its hypothesized sister group Hemianax) forms a monophyletic group, and that 12 out of 20 species tested positive for monophyly were also monophyletic. The monophyly of several species of Anax is less clear. Migratory behaviour, which is known to occur in at least nine species, is recovered as the ancestral behaviour, which was lost and subsequently gained at least three times. Geographic range size seems to be tightly associated with migratory behaviour. 

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4. A revision of the minor species group in the millipede genus Nannaria Chamberlin, 1918 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae)

   https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1030.62544  

   Means, Jackson C.; Hennen, Derek A.; Marek, Paul E. (April 2021, ZooKeys)

   null (Ed.)

   Millipedes in the family Xystodesmidae (Polydesmida) are often referred to as “colorful, flat-backed millipedes” for their bright aposematic coloration and tendency to form Müllerian mimicry rings in the Appalachian region. However, there are many species of Xystodesmidae that do not display colorful warning patterns, and instead have more cryptic appearances. Perhaps for this reason, groups such as the genus Nannaria have remained understudied, despite containing a large number of undescribed species. Before his death in 2012, R. L. Hoffman worked on a revision of the genus Nannaria , and synthesized material and drawings since 1949. Here the work is continued, inferring a molecular phylogeny of the Nannariini ( Nannaria + Oenomaea pulchella ), and revealing two clades within the genus. One clade is named the minor species group, and the second is the wilsoni species group. This revision, using a molecular phylogenetic framework, is the basis for descriptions of 35 new species in the minor species group. A multi-gene molecular phylogeny is used to make taxonomic changes in the taxon. Eleven putative species of Nannaria are also illustrated and discussed. Additionally, detailed collection, natural history and habitat notes, distribution maps, and a key to species of the Nannaria minor species group are provided. These items are synthesized as a basis for a revision of the genus, which hopefully will aid conservation and evolutionary investigations of this cryptic and understudied group. 

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5. A revision of the wilsoni species group in the millipede genus Nannaria Chamberlin, 1918 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Xystodesmidae)

   https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1096.73485  

   Hennen, Derek A.; Means, Jackson C.; Marek, Paul E. (April 2022, ZooKeys)

   Although many new species of the millipede genus Nannaria Chamberlin, 1918 have been known from museum collections for over half a century, a systematic revision has not been undertaken until recently. There are two species groups in the genus: the minor species group and the wilsoni species group. In this study, the wilsoni species group was investigated. Specimens were collected from throughout its distribution in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States and used for a multi-gene molecular phylogeny. The phylogenetic tree recovered Nannaria and the two species groups as monophyletic, with Oenomaea pulchella as its sister group. Seventeen new species were described, bringing the composition of the wilsoni species group to 24 species, more than tripling its known diversity, and increasing the total number of described Nannaria species to 78. The genus now has the greatest number of species in the family Xystodesmidae. Museum holdings of Nannaria were catalogued, and a total of 1,835 records used to produce a distribution map of the species group. Live photographs, illustrations of diagnostic characters, ecological notes, and conservation statuses are given. The wilsoni species group is restricted to the Appalachian region, unlike the widely-distributed minor species group (known throughout eastern North America), and has a distinct gap in its distribution in northeastern Tennessee and adjacent northwestern North Carolina. The wilsoni species group seems to be adapted to mesic microhabitats in middle to high elevation forests in eastern North America. New species are expected to be discovered in the southern Appalachian Mountains. 

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