Journal of Insect Biodiversity

**Molecular and morphological studies on the genus Pseudococcus Westwood (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) in Turkey**

2023-01-24T04:29:12+13:00

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) include economically important insect pests worldwide. Pseudococcus Westwood is the second biggest genus in Pseudococcidae, with several pest species. Pseudococcus adult females were collected and identified from wild and cultivated plants in Turkey. Molecular and morphological characters were analyzed to investigate the relationship among species. It was recognized that Pseudoccoccus species are shown in three distinctive groups concerning to both morphological and molecular aspects.

**Two new species of Sciapus Zeller, 1842 (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from Iran**

2023-02-16T01:42:54+13:00

Two new long-legged fly species, Sciapus basavandae sp. nov. and S. khuzestanicus sp. nov. from Sistan and Baluchestan and Khuzestan provinces of Iran are described and illustrated. The two new species appear to be very close to S. sylvaticus Becker, 1907, known from Algeria, differing from the latter in body size, mostly yellow antenna; wider face, abdomen partly yellow, bilobed surstylus, cercus with ventral projection. S. sylvaticus has black antenna, narrow face, entirely dark abdomen, simple and thick surstylus, cercus without ventral projection. A check list and key to 24 Sciapus species of Iran and neighbouring countries are compiled for the first time.

Moss-inhabiting beetles of the West Indies (Insecta: Coleoptera)

2023-03-11T18:58:38+13:00

This study is the first attempt to assess the diversity of beetles (Coleoptera) in terrestrial moss cushions on three West Indian islands (Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico) based on 10 years of moss sampling in 18 localities. In total 1711 adult beetles were collected. They belong to 234 species from 30 families. The most species and specimen rich families are Staphylinidae (86 morphospecies and 1195 specimens), Curculionidae (61 morphospecies and 131 specimens), and Chrysomelidae (16 morphospecies and 185 specimens). In addition to basic bryobionts feeding on moss tissues, moss cushions host a diverse fauna of mycophagous and saprophagous Coleoptera together with predaceous species of beetles. Our results suggest that community composition in moss inhabiting beetles is determined both by geographical isolation processes and, to a lesser degree, by environmental variation across altitudinal gradients. This confirms that the greater relevance of geographical isolation is a common pattern in organisms with limited dispersal ability. Beetle abundance was not significantly related to either the volume of moss or the substrate. Despite being not significant (but close to), the observed trend was to higher beetle abundance in moss cushions collected on trees than in those collected on soil/rock. This may be resulting from the greater diversity of fungi and higher number of beetle fungivores associated with tree growing moss communities.