A Systematic Review Of The Ectemnius Hymenoptera

This study is the first revision in 35 years of the native Hawaiian sphecid wasps of the genus Ectemnius. The author provides an original key to species, diagnoses, descriptions, distributions, and illustrations along with a compilation of all known biological information for each species.

This study is the first revision in 35 years of the native Hawaiian sphecid wasps of the genus Ectemnius. The author provides an original key to species, diagnoses, descriptions, distributions, and illustrations along with a compilation of all known biological information for each species.

The subfamily Rileyinae (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae) is redefined to contain 6 genera and 69 species for which keys are provided. Two morphological data sets, analyzed via maximum parsimony with PAUP*, yield hypotheses on the placement of Rileyinae within Eurytomidae and internal relationships of Rileyinae. Tables detailing host utilization for Eurytomidae (genera), Rileyinae (species), and confirmed/suspected plant associations for Rileyinae are included.

California has one of the world's most diverse chrysidid wasp faunas. These are large, brightly metallic-colored parasitoids of sphecoid wasps and bees. This study reviews the species and genera of Chrysididae in California, maps their overall distributions, and gives keys to California genera and species. In addition, three species described by Linsenmaier in 1994 are synonymized.

This work provides a hypothesis of evolutionary relationships within the Neotropical genus Sparganothina and between this genus and other lineages of Sparganothini (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Nineteen species are considered to belong to Sparganothina. Ten additional species are placed in "Sparganothina" and five in "Coelostathma" pending a better phylogenetic understanding of Coelostathma and related genera. Thirty species are described as new.

Ants belonging to the genus Gnamptogenys are important and diverse predators in the forests of the tropics of the Americas, Southeast Asia and Australasia. The recent rapid accumulation of these ants in collections rendered the last revision obsolete, raising the number of known species from about 80 to over a 120 species worldwide. The present study recognizes 49 Old World species, almost half of them new, distributed among 5 species groups. They are present in many entomological collections as the large size of some species and their conspicuousness has caught the attention of even general collectors. They figure increasingly in studies of diversity and ecology due to aspects of their biology such as predatory specialization or their reproduction which includes proper queens in some species and worker reproduction in other species. While most species are ground nesters in forests, some are arboreal and others are subterranean. This revision covers all the Old World species and proposes phylogenetic relations among the different species groups. The identification of the species is possible with aid of well-illustrated keys for workers and queens. The results of working with the keys can be rapidly confirmed by consulting the diagnosis that accompanies each species account, or the full description if need be. The phylogenetic analysis uses a valuable series of internal morphological characters previously unconsidered in ant systematics. Detailed distribution data is also included for each species. This work will be valuable for those studying insect diversity and ecology of forests in Southeast Asia and Australasia. Their diverse biology and relative large size of many species make these ants attractive subjects for comparative studies and this reference should open the door for further studies.

The purpose of this volume is to encourage and facilitate focused research and provide a forum for scholarly exchange about the status of Mayfly and Stonefly science. Professor John Brittain, whose research is focused on freshwater entomology, especially egg development and life cycle strategies of Ephemeroptera and Plecoptera, presents a chapter reflecting on the quality of mayflies as good indicators of global warming and the quality of streams and lakes. Professor Emeritus Andrew Sheldon, whose interests have encompassed community and population ecology of aquatic animals over a span of more than 40 years, especially insects and fishes, explores topics of Scale and Hierarchy and the Ecology of Plecoptera, discussing how studies emphasizing scale and perspective reveal importance of stoneflies to ecosystems. Other topics cover a broad base of disciplines including morphology, physiology, phylogeny, taxonomy, ecology and conservation. The chapters have been compiled into three sections for this volume: Ecology, Zoogeography and Systematics.

Heliodinids are tiny, brightly colored dayflying moths. Phylogenetic relationships among genera of Heliodinidae are proposed using parsimony and character compatibility. We describe and illustrate 45 North and Central species (25 newly named) assigned to five genera (two new, two exhumed from synonymy). Larval host plants are recorded for 33 species (14 newly discovered), about 45% of the known fauna; 90% of these are specialists on Caryophyllales, primarliy Nyctaginaceae.