Finkstarr1718

Water striders of the genus Rhagovelia Mayr, 1865 (Insecta Hemiptera Veliidae) have colonized the water surface mainly in lotic freshwater systems, but also in coastal marine environments. They are characterized by the swimming fan in the distal tarsomere of the middle leg that allows them to quickly maneuver. In the Americas, it was subdivided into four monophyletic complexes (angustipes, collaris, obesa and robusta), one paraphyletic grade (abrupta), each with several groups of species, and one additional group (varipes). However, the taxonomy of this genus still has inconsistencies due to its morphological complexity and to the misinterpretation of characters. For this reason, we present a revision of the species of the angustipes complex occurring in Colombia. Material deposited in nine biological collections was examined, including several types. A total of 3,674 specimens were studied, belonging to 26 valid species, of which R. boyacensis sp. nov., R. graziae sp. nov. and R. molanoi sp. nov., are described as new; and R. angustipes Uhler, 1894 is recorded from the country for the first time. Furthermore, eleven species are redescribed and twelve are considered synonyms. Finally, a key to the species of the angustipes complex occurring in Colombia is presented, as well as updated distribution maps.Microvelia joceliae Magalhães Moreira, sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on material from Parque Natural Municipal das Andorinhas, Minas Gerais State, in southeastern Brazil. The new species can be distinguished from congeners occurring in the region by the pronotum of the apterous form covering almost the entire thorax dorsally, proepisternum with black denticles, male abdominal segments V-VII ventrally depressed, shape of the asymmetrical parameres, and female abdominal laterotergites reflected over the mediotergites and almost touching over segments V-VII.A survey of the semiaquatic bugs (Hemiptera Heteroptera Gerromorpha) from Alagoas and Sergipe, Northeast Brazil, is presented. Specimens have been obtained mainly during three expeditions carried out in 2018 and 2019. Individuals of 40 species, representing the following 18 genera and five families have been recorded Brachymetra Mayr, 1865, Cylindrostethus Mayr, 1865, Limnogonus Stål, 1868, Neogerris Matsumura, 1913, Tachygerris Drake, 1957, Rheumatobates Bergroth, 1892, Halobatopsis Bianchi, 1896, Ovatametra Kenaga, 1942 (Gerridae); Lipogomphus Berg, 1879, Merragata White, 1877 (Hebridae); Hydrometra Latreille, 1797 (Hydrometridae); Mesovelia Mulsant Rey, 1852 (Mesoveliidae); Husseyella Herring, 1955, Microvelia Westwood, 1834, Rhagovelia Mayr, 1865, Paravelia Breddin, 1898, Platyvelia Polhemus Polhemus, 1993 and Stridulivelia Hungerford, 1929 (Veliidae). Alagoas and Sergipe have 35 and 31 new records, respectively. Rheumatobates trinitatis (China, 1943) and Rhagovelia plumbea Uhler, 1894 are recorded for the first time from Brazil.The genus Belostoma comprises about 70 species classified in sixteen species groups. Here, the remarkable Belostoma triangulum group sensu Lauck, 1964, is revised. Belostoma bicavum Lauck, 1964 is proposed as a junior synonym of B. bachmanni De Carlo, 1957, which is added to this group. Thus, the rearranged group is now composed of two species Belostoma bachmanni and B. V-9302 triangulum Lauck, 1964. Redescriptions of these species are presented including a discussion about comparative morphology with other species of the genus. The geographic distributions of the species in the B. triangulum group are also updated.The genus Cryphocricos Signoret, 1850 was recently determined in a molecular phylogeny to be distantly related to other taxa of the subfamily Cryphocricinae to the extent that it is now once again the sole member of the subfamily. This exclusively New World group of aquatic bugs lives in fast and usually turbulent current and respires by means of a plastron. Efforts to identify morphological features to distinguish among the species have largely fallen short, and some species have been established based on features that exhibit a high degree of intraspecific variation overlapping those of other species. Presented here is a review of the 13 described species with discussions of their features and photos of type specimens, and three new species from Venezuela and Colombia are described. Also presented is a diagnostic attribute unique to the enigmatic Cryphocricos barozzii Signoret, 1850.The Chilean fauna of water bugs comprises seven species of semi-aquatic bugs (Heteroptera Gerromorpha), representing five genera, three tribes, four subfamilies and four families; and 27 species and one subspecies of aquatic bugs (Heteroptera Nepomorpha), representing four subgenera, eight genera, three tribes, seven subfamilies, and five families. We compare the fauna with neighboring countries and find that several otherwise widespread and abundant taxa are missing in Chile, but that Chepuvelia usingeri China, 1963 (Macroveliidae), Microvelia chilena Drake Hussey, 1955 (Veliidae), Limnocoris dubiosus Montandon, 1898 (Naucoridae), Nerthra (Nerthra) parvula (Signoret, 1863), N. (N.) undosa Nieser Chen, 1992, N. (Rhinodermacoris) praecipua Todd, 1957 (Gelastocoridae), and Sigara (Tropocorixa) termasensis (Hungerford, 1928a) (Corixidae) are endemic to the country. To this list, we add †Nerthra (Nerthra) subantarctica Faúndez Ashworth, 2015, even though the species is only known from a subfossil. We can also inform that while water bugs are found in the archipelagoes of southern Chile, no species has been reported from the Juan Fernandez Islands, Easter Island and other off-shore islands. Several of the Chilean species are without any close extant relatives, such as C. usingeri and Aquarius chilensis (Berg, 1881) (Gerridae), or with relatives in Oceania (N. praecipua), suggesting that historical events such as dispersal and extinction have had a major influence on the composition of the Chilean fauna.Two new species of Ocyochterus are described, O. graziae from Ecuador, and O. gilloglyi from Panama, and compared to the other two Andean species previously known in the genus. Dorsal habitus and anterior head photos are provided for all described species of Ocyochterus, and photomicrographs are provided for the male genitalic structures of O. graziae and O. gilloglyi. A distribution map is provided for all species in the genus.Here we present a descriptive analysis of the bibliographic production of the world-renowned heteropterist Dr. Jocélia Grazia and comments on her taxonomic reach based on extracted taxonomic treatments. We analyzed a total of 219 published documents, including scientific papers, scientific notes, and book chapters. Additionally, we applied the Plazi workflow to extract taxonomic treatments, images, tables, treatment citations and materials citations, and references from 75 different documents in accordance with the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse) principles and made them available on the Biodiversity Literature Repository (BLR), hosted on Zenodo, and on TreatmentBank. We found that Dr. Grazia published 200 new names, including species (183) and genera (17), and 1,444 taxonomic treatments in total. From these, 104 and 581, respectively, were extracted after applying the Plazi Workflow. A total of 544 figures, 50 tables, 2,242 references, 2,107 materials citations, and 1,101 treatment citations were also extracted. In order to make her publications properly citable and accessible, we assigned DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) for all publications that lacked this persistent identifier, including those that were not processed (88 in total), therefore enhancing the open-access share of her publications.This special issue of Zootaxa is published in honor of Dr. Jocélia Grazia (Fig. 1) from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, one of the world's most respected and influential active taxonomists in Heteroptera. Though she retired from her long-time position as a Full Professor, away from undergraduate classes and administrative duties, Jocélia is still an active researcher and passionate about studying true bugs. An intense conviction she passes to her many students and becomes evident in her publications. If there is one word to define Jocélia Grazia, it is energy. Even the most novice and inexperienced student perceives the enthusiasm and dedication Jocélia faces from the small bureaucratic problems through the most challenging scientific questions.Most recently, Coimbra et al. (2020) published an article in this journal (Zootaxa, 4729 (2) 177-194) questioning the taxonomic position of the genus Copytus Skogsberg, 1939 (Crustacea, Ostracoda) along with proposing it as the type genus of their new family (Copytidae Coimbra et al., 2020), and erecting two new species that were listed by previous authors as Copytus sp. 1 and Copytus sp. 2. The main diagnostic characteristics of their new proposed family (and the genus Copytus) are the hinge type and muscle scars on the carapace and/or valves (see lines 6-8 from the bottom, p. 179 in Coimbra et al. 2020). They also underlined that (p. 179) "...this study is based exclusively on the morphology of the animals' hard parts". While the authors considered another genus (Neocopytus) proposed by Külköylüoğlu, Colin Kılıç (2007) of the family Neocytherididae as invalid, they interestingly transferred some species of Neocopytus to Copytus as species of their new family (Coimbra et al. 2020). Herein, my point with the comments listed below is to clarify that, when possible, both soft and hard parts should be considered in taxonomy, and such an integrated approach clearly indicates that Neocopytus is a valid and taxonomically useful genus.The family Theraphosidae is the most speciose in the infraorder Mygalomorphae Pocock, 1892 with over one thousand described species (World Spider Catalog 2021). The taxonomy of the group has been subjected to considerable attention in modern times, with a focus on delineation based predominantly on genital organ and stridulatory organ morphology which has shown promise, both alongside molecular methods (where possible) and as a stand-alone line of evidence, in stabilising the group (e.g. Hamilton et al. 2016; Fabiano-da-Silva et al. 2020; see also Sherwood 2020). The predominant reference to the family is as Theraphosidae Thorell, 1870 with almost as many references to Theraphosidae Thorell, 1869. This non-congruence of dates is because Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell (1830-1901) had his important work On European Spiders published in two parts during its publication by the Royal Society of Upsala in its journal Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis. The first half (pages 1-108 and the supplement I-XIII) was published in 1869 whereas pages 109-242 (despite being dated on the cover page as 1869) were published in 1870 (see Roewer 1942; Bonnet 1945; World Spider Catalog 2021). In the second part, the secretary of the society notes "L'auteur avait proposé comme titre du présent mémoire Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; mais, la partie, insérée dans le Tome VII, étant seule présentée à la Société des Sciences le 13 Fevr. 1869, il a été nécessaii'e d'y conformer le titre." [= The author proposed as the title of this memoir Remarks on Synonyms of European Spiders, preceded by some observations on Zoological Nomenclature and a Review of the European Genera of Spiders; but, the part, inserted in Volume VII, being the only one presented to the Société des Sciences on 13 Feb. 1869, it was necessary to conform the title to it.].