Zootaxa

**A review of Caenohalictus species from southern Brazil (Apoidea, Caenohalictini)**

VICTOR CAPPOLA, RODRIGO B. GONÇALVES — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

The genus Caenohalictus ranges from Mexico to southern South America and currently includes 65 valid names. Some species had their biology studied, indicating that Caenohalictus build nests in the soil and are solitary. A total of 10 species occur in Brazil, but the fauna has never been systematically studied. The objective of this work is to review the species present in southern Brazil, reevaluating known species and describing new species. We examined 627 specimens and recognized twelve species for the region: Caenohalictus curticeps (Vachal, 1903); C. implexus Moure, 1950; C. incertus (Schrottky, 1902); C. palumbes (Vachal, 1903); C. schulthessi (Vachal, 1903); C. tesselatus (Moure, 1940); and six new species: C. arcuatus sp. nov., C. cyanolucens sp. nov., C. leticiae sp. nov., C. longipalpis sp. nov., C. parviformis sp. nov., and C. sesquipalpis sp. nov. Caenohalictus mourei Almeida & Laroca, 2005 is considered to be a junior synonym of C. curticeps; Halictus (Paragapostemon) cicindulus Vachal, 1903 is considered to be a junior synonym of C. incertus. Males of C. implexus and C. palumbes were described for the first time. Identification key, 29 image plates, and distribution maps are presented.

New species and new records of the family Ectopsocidae (Psocodea: ‘Psocoptera’) from India

GURUSAMY RAMESH, RAJAPPA BABU, KUMARAPURAM A. SUBRAMANIAN — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

Three new species of the genus Ectopsocus, namely E. bispinosus sp. nov., E. cluniatoides sp. nov., and E. sengaltheri sp. nov., are described and illustrated. In addition, four species of Ectopsocus, (E. ewarti Vaughan, Thornton & New, 1989; E. himalayanus New, 1971; E. hypandrus Thornton, 1984; and E. meridionalis Ribaga, 1904), and one species of Ectopsocopsis (E. mozambica (Badonnel, 1931)), are reported for the first time from India. Moreover, the female of E. himalayanus New, 1971, is described for the first time. This study is the first record of the genus Ectopsocopsis from India. We also provide an updated key to the species of the family Ectopsocidae from India.

**New species of Casinaria and a key to the genera of Campopleginae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) in New Zealand**

DARREN WARD — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

The genus Casinaria Holmgren, 1859 (Ichneumonidae, Campopleginae) from New Zealand is revised, and ten new species are described: Casinaria asessilis Ward sp. nov., C. aucklandensis Ward sp. nov., C. dublinbaya Ward sp. nov., C. floccosae Ward sp. nov., C. fulviventris Ward sp. nov. C. hartnetti sp. nov., C. kendalli sp. nov., C. maculipes sp. nov., C. mercurialis sp. nov., and C. saundersi sp. nov. Several species have host records. A key to the genera of Campopleginae and a key to the species of Casinaria in New Zealand are provided.

**Three new species of Laonice (Annelida: Spionidae) from the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea**

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

The study of newly available specimens belonging to genus Laonice (Annelida: Spionidae) from six different localities in the NE Atlantic Ocean and E Mediterranean Sea allowed the description of three new species, L. gadirensis sp. nov., L. kithirensis sp. nov., and L. moroccensis sp. nov., all three belonging to subgenus Sarsiana. Based on the new data the status of one morphological species group formerly included in subgenus Sarsiana is raised to the subgeneric rank as Wubaolingia Sikorski subgen. nov., allowing a clearer defined diagnosis of subgenus Sarsiana. Moreover, it is suggested that within subgenus Sarsiana the degree of fusion between prostomium and peristomium may vary from a barely noticeable membrane hidden in the fold between the two to a complete fusion along the anterior edges, while a similar variation in the fusion of prostomium and peristomium is also to be expected within subgenus Laonice, according to the discussion concerning the species L. praecirrata. Subgenus Appelloefia needs also to be redefined due to the possible heterogeneity within the group.

**A review of the East Palaearctic Pseudokiefferiella Zavřel, 1941 (Diptera: Chironomidae: Diamesinae), with description of new species and DNA barcoding of known species**

EUGENYI A. MAKARCHENKO, ALEXANDER A. SEMENCHENKO — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

Chironomids of the genus Pseudokiefferiella Zavřel from the East Palaearctic are revised using both morphological characters of adult males and molecular data. Four new species, P. inopinata sp. nov., P. kolchak sp. nov., P. krasheninnikovi sp. nov., and P. transarctica sp. nov. are described and figured. The adult males of P. matafonovi Makarchenko et Semenchenko and P. silinka Makarchenko et Semenchenko from the Amur River basin are briefly redescribed and annotated. A key to the known adult males of Pseudokiefferiella from the East Palaearctic is provided. The species delimitation, ASAP analysis, using COI DNA barcodes, assigned new species to unique mOTUs. Molecular data were also used for the reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships within the genus Pseudokiefferiella.

Two new species of free-living marine nematodes, Corononema dhriti sp. nov. (Monhysterida: Xyalidae) and Epacanthion indica sp. nov. (Enoplida: Thoracostomopsidae), from the Tamil Nadu coast, India

RITIKA DATTA, ANJUM NASREEN RIZVI — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

Two new species of free-living marine nematodes, Corononema dhriti sp. nov. and Epacanthion indica sp. nov. are described from the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, India. Corononema dhriti sp. nov. differs from the three known species of this genus by a buccal cavity with square anterior portion, spacious and broad, gradually tapering into a conical posterior part; amphideal fovea beneath the buccal cavity and gubernaculum with a distinct knob-like structure. Epacanthion indica sp. nov. is characterised by the presence of a cervical circle consisting of ten bundles, each composed of approximately ten short setae, located posterior to nerve ring; short spicules (less than 2 cloacal body diameters) and a precloacal supplement. At present, 28 valid species of the genus Epacanthion Wieser, 1953 are classified into four groups based on the male morphology. E. indica sp. nov. is most closely related to the group comprising six species, characterized by a cervical circle of short and dense setae and spicules less than 2 cloacal body diameters.

**AI-assisted taxonomic publishing: a human-supervised workflow and engineered prompt for Zootaxa authors**

ZI-WEI YIN — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

The accelerating crisis of global biodiversity loss demands a commensurate increase in the efficiency, accuracy, and rigor of taxonomic publishing. For over a decade, the recommendations presented by Dubois et al. (2011) have served as an important reference for authors publishing in Zootaxa, establishing a baseline for compliance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (the Code). The recent emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), presents a new opportunity to automate the verification of these complex nomenclatural standards. However, the integration of AI into this highly specialized field is fraught with significant risks, ranging from the hallucination of non-existent citations to the inability to parse undigitized historical literature. This paper presents a framework for AI-assisted taxonomic publishing, explicitly bifurcating the technology’s utility into two distinct domains: (1) structural, syntactic, and internal consistency compliance, where AI demonstrates proficiency as a “compliance assistant,” and (2) semantic, historical, and geospatial interpretation, where AI exhibits limitations that require human expertise. These boundaries are delineated, citing recent evidence regarding AI fabrication, geospatial reasoning deficits, and the structural barriers of the “taxonomic impediment”. A “human-supervised hybrid workflow” is proposed that leverages non-AI database queries for comprehensive search tasks while exploiting LLMs for text analysis and formatting. Finally, an engineered prompt designed to function as a robust, pre-submission validation tool is provided, mitigating the risk of introducing unavailable nomina while acknowledging the irreplaceable role of the expert taxonomist.

The taxonomy of the cricket subfamily Phaloriinae (Orthoptera: Grylloidea) in the Philippines

ANDREI V. GOROCHOV, JIANDY DAGUPLO, MING KAI TAN — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

Presently, the Philippines has 17 species of crickets from the subfamily Phaloriinae. Based on new material collected recently, five species are found to be new and are described here: Phaloria (Phaloria) mindanao sp. nov., Ph. (Ph.) hamata sp. nov., Ph. (Ph.) luzoni sp. nov., Ph. (Ph.) propinqua sp. nov., and Pseudotrellius paraiso gen. et sp. nov. New data on distribution of Ph. (Ph.) amplipennis Stål, 1877, Tremellia fratercula (Chopard, 1937), Trellius (Protrellius) dulcis Gorochov, 1996, and Vescelia variegata (Chopard, 1937) in the Philippines are also given.

**A new species of Gegeneophis Peters, 1879 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Grandisoniidae) from the Western Ghats of northern Kerala, India**

RAMACHANDRAN KOTHARAMBATH, RANJITH VENGOT, DAVID J. GOWER — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

A new species of grandisoniid caecilian amphibian, Gegeneophis bavali sp. nov., is described based on two specimens from northern Kerala state in the southern part of the Western Ghats region of peninsular India. This species is distinguished from all other Gegeneophis by the combination of lacking an unsegmented terminal shield, having secondary annular grooves, and having more than 132 primary annuli. A new key to the identification of the species of the genus is presented.

New species and distributional records of Sericini from groundnut ecosystem in South India (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericinae)

SELVARAJ JAYASHREE, KOLLA SREEDEVI, DIRK AHRENS — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

The present paper presents the results of surveys of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivations in India with respect to Sericinae of Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera). Two new species of Sericini are described: Neoserica telangana Jayashree, Sreedevi & Ahrens, sp. nov. and Maladera rampurensis Jayashree, Sreedevi & Ahrens, sp. nov. Additionally, new records of known species are given including first state records for eight species of Sericini from Telangana and three species from Andhra Pradesh. The habitus and genitalia of the new species are furnished with detailed illustrations.

**Description of the larva of Epigomphus pechumani Belle (Odonata: Gomphidae)**

VANESSA AMAYA-VALLEJO, CORNELIO ANDRÉS BOTA-SIERRA, RODOLFO NOVELO-GUTIÉRREZ — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300

The larva of Epigomphus pechumani Belle, an endemic species of the Colombian Western Andes, is described, illustrated, and compared with other known Colombian congeners. The larva is characterized by the following combination of characters: third antennomere spindle-shaped, approximately 2.5× longer than its widest part; ligula with a ventral row of 9–12 short, truncate median teeth; lateral abdominal spines on S7–9 slightly divergent and upturned; mid-dorsal third of S8 light brown, S9 reddish brown, and S10 uniformly dark brown.

Chlaenius (Trichochlaenius) shimbarensis (Eshraghi Mofrad & Muilwijk, 2025) syn. nov. = Anchomenus (Anchomenus) virescens (Motschulsky, 1865)

FARHAD ESHRAGHI MOFRAD, JAN MUILWIJK — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1300