The holomorphology of ll life stages of 20 western Nearctic Isoperla and one Cascadoperla was studied over the 3-year period 1975-1978. One monotypicgenus new to science, Cascadoperla, is described, and Cascadoperla tricture (Hoppe) designated as the type species. The nymph, adult male and female, and ova are described and illustrated.

The family Syrphidae (Diptera) has around 6000 species worldwide, including many species commonly seen hovering over flowers where they feed and seek possible mates. Many of the genera mimic bees or wasps, thus sharing a similar habitus, and their identification can prove difficult without a proper identification key. To aid in the identification of Syrphidae, the first chapter of the thesis presents an online interactive photographic key to the nearctic genera of Syrphidae, richly illustrated with field and laboratory images. One of the most speciose genera of the family is Ocyptamus Macquart, 1834, with around 300 species described. Recent studies suggest that Ocyptamus is paraphyletic with regards to the genera Eosalpingogaster Hull, 1949 and Toxomerus Macquart, 1855. The second chapter addresses this paraphyly through a phylogenetic analysis, based on morphological and molecular data, of 63 species currently or previously placed in the genus Ocyptamus. A monophyletic Ocyptamus was defined on the basis of cladistic principles, six new genera (Fragosa, Hypocritanus, Maiana, Nuntianus, Relictanum and Victoriana) were proposed and 10 names (Atylobaccha, Calostigma, Hermesomyia, Hybobathus, Mimocalla, Orphnabaccha, Pelecinobaccha, Pipunculosyrphus, Pseudoscaeva and Styxia) were ressurected. The third chapter considers the clade made up of Pelecinobaccha, Relictanum and Atylobaccha, revising the genera Pelecinobaccha and Relictanum, including 24 new species, 28 synonimized names, an identification key and distribution maps.

Submitted by PPG Zoologia (zoologia-pg@pucrs.br) on 2017-12-14T11:13:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 tese - Poeta, Maria Rita.pdf: 18758850 bytes, checksum: c323e258454977575e4347398ddfdc62 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-12-19T18:01:13Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 tese - Poeta, Maria Rita.pdf: 18758850 bytes, checksum: c323e258454977575e4347398ddfdc62 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-19T18:23:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese - Poeta, Maria Rita.pdf: 18758850 bytes, checksum: c323e258454977575e4347398ddfdc62 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-22 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / O g?nero de aranhas Eustala Simon, 1895, ? composto por 86 esp?cies, com distribui??o nas Regi?es Ne?rtica e Neotropical. Membros deste g?nero s?o frequentemente coletados e reconhecidos pelas f?meas com escapo dirigido anteriormente e machos pela ap?fise m?dia branca vontada para o centro do bulbo. Al?m disso, esp?cies do g?nero usualmente apresentam um padr?o de colorido do abd?me, chamado f?lio, o qual se assemelha aos l?quens e musgos presentes no substrato aonde elas ocorrem (e.g. arbustos, troncos). Este ? o ?nico g?nero Neotropical de Araneidae sem revis?o taxon?mica e as rela??es filogen?ticas entre as esp?cies de Eustala ? desconhecida. Dessa forma, o trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as rela??es filogen?ticas entre as esp?cies de Eustala e revisar sua taxonomia. A hip?tese filogen?tica foi obtida atrav?s da an?lise de evid?ncias morfol?gicas, atrav?s da parcim?nia, e os caracteres tratados com pesagem igual e impl?cita. Como resultado, a an?lise filogen?tica, baseada em uma matriz de dados com 179 caracteres discretos e 12 cont?nuos, codificados para 108 terminais, resgatou Eustala como grupo monofil?tico, tendo Metazygia F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904 como grupo-irm?o. Com base na observa??o de mais de 2500 exemplares e bibliografia, sete esp?ciesforam declaradas como nomina dubia: E. tridentata (C. L. Koch, 1838), E. tristis (Blackwall, 1862), E. essequibensis (Hingston, 1932), E. uncicurva Franganillo, 1936, E. nigerrima Mello-Leit?o, 1940, E. albicans Caporiacco, 1954 e E. andina Chamberlin, 1916. Al?m disso, as seguintes sinon?mias s?o propostas: Eustala conchlea (McCook, 1888) foi considerada sin?nimo s?nior de E. emertoni (Banks, 1904); E. guianensis (Taczanowski, 1873) sin?nimo s?nior de E. monticola Chamberlin, 1916 e E. bacelarae Caporiacco, 1955; E. bifida F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904 sin?nimo s?nior de E. wiedenmeyeri Schenkel, 1953 e E. maxima Chickering, 1955; E. unimaculata Franganillo, 1930 sin?nimo s?nior de E. bisetosa Bryant, 1945; Metazygia isabelae Levi, 1995 sin?nimo s?nior de M. chenevo Levi, 1995. Ainda, Eustala E. venusta Chickering, 1955 foi revalidada. Adicionalmente, 54 esp?cies foram redescritas e ilustradas: E. fuscovittata (Keyserling, 1864), E.oblonga Chickering, 1955, E. saga (Keyserling, 1893), E. sagana (Keyserling, 1893), E. latebricola (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889), E. unimaculata, E. cazieri Levi, 1977 E. innoxia Chickering, 1955, E. tantula Chickering, 1955, E. exigua Chickering, 1955, E. devia (Gertsch & Mulaik, 1936), E. perdita Bryant, 1945, E. fragilis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889), E. rubroguttulata (Keyserling, 1879), E. californiensis (Keyserling, 1885), E. minuscula (Keyserling, 1892), E. guianensis, E. guttata F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904, E. ingenua Chickering, 1955, E. redundans Chickering, 1955, E. rustica Chickering, 1955, E. brevispina Gertsch & Davis, 1936, E. scitula Chickering, 1955, E. bifida, E. lata Chickering, 1955, E. conformans Chamberlin, 1925, E. cepina (Walckenaer, 1841), E. conchlea, E. anastera (Walckenaer, 1841), E. rosae Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935, E. delecta Chickering, 1955, E. banksi Chickering, 1955, E. mimica Chickering, 1955, E. trinitatis (Hogg, 1918), E. bucolica Chickering, 1955, E. montivaga Chamberlin, 1916, E. cameronensis Gertsch & Davis, 1936, E. scutigera (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898), E. eleuthera Levi, 1977, E. venusta Chickering, 1955, E. histrio Mello-Leit?o, 1948, E. gonygaster (C.L. Koch, 1838), E. lunulifera Mello-Leit?o, 1939, E. pallida Mello-Leit?o, 1940, E. smaragdinea Mello-Leit?o, 1939, E. clavispina (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889), E. viridipedata (Roewer, 1942), E. vegeta (Keyserling, 1865), E. tribrachiata Badcock, 1932, E. novemmamillata Mello-Leit?o, 1941, E. nasuta Mello-Leit?o, 1939, E. sedula Chickering, 1955, E. semifoliata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899), e E. inconstans Chickering, 1955. Os registros de distribui??o foram ampliados para 12 esp?cies: E. nasuta para a Costa Rica, E. guttata para a Guiana, E. lata para a Jamaica, E. montivaga para a Guatemala e Rep?blica Dominicana, E. mimica para a Venezuela, E. rustica para o M?xico, E. scutigera, E. conformans, E. tribrachiata e E. lunulifera para o Brasil, E. minuscula para a Argentina, e E. smaragdinea para o Paraguai. / A phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic review of the orb-weaver genus Eustala (Araneae: Araneidae) The spider genus Eustala Simon, 1895 is composed of 86 species with Nearctic and Neotropical distribution. Members of this genus are frequently collected and are recognized by the females with scapus directed anteriorly and males with a white median apophysis hanging down laterally in the bulb. Additionally, species of the genus usually show a color-pattern on the abdomen dorsum, called folium, which seems to match with the lichens and mosses of the substrate that they occur (e.g. shrub, trunks). This is the only Neotropical araneid genus lacking a taxonomic review and, also, the phylogenetic relationships among its species is unknow. Thus, this work aimed to study the phylogenetic relations among Eustala species, and provide a taxonomic review of the genus. The morphological data was analysed using parcimony, and the characters were treat with equal and implied weight. As a result, the phylogenetic analysis, based on a dataset of 179 discrete and 12 continuous characters scored for 108 terminals revealed Eustala as monophyletic genus having Metazygia F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904 as sister-group. Based on observation of more than 2500 specimens and bibliography, seven species were declared nomina dubia: E. tridentata (C. L. Koch, 1838), E. tristis (Blackwall, 1862), E. essequibensis (Hingston, 1932), E. uncicurva Franganillo, 1936, E. nigerrima Mello-Leit?o, 1940, E. albicans Caporiacco, 1954 and E. andina Chamberlin, 1916. Also, the following synonimies are proposed: Eustala conchlea (McCook, 1888) is considered senior synonym of E. emertoni (Banks, 1904); E. guianensis (Taczanowski, 1873) as senior synonym of E. monticola Chamberlin, 1916 and E. bacelarae Caporiacco, 1955; E. bifida F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904 as senior synonym of E. wiedenmeyeri Schenkel, 1953 and E. maxima Chickering, 1955; E. unimaculata Franganillo, 1930 as senior synonym of E. bisetosa Bryant, 1945;and Metazygia isabelae Levi, 1995 as senior synonym of M. chenevo Levi, 1995. Yet, E. venusta Chickering, 1955 was revalided. Additionally, 54 species are redescribed: E. fuscovittata (Keyserling, 1864), E. oblonga Chickering, 1955, E. saga (Keyserling, 1893), E. sagana (Keyserling, 1893), E. latebricola (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889), E. unimaculata, E. cazieri Levi, 1977, E. innoxia Chickering, 1955, E. tantula Chickering, 1955, E. exigua Chickering, 1955, E. devia (Gertsch & Mulaik, 1936), E. perdita Bryant, 1945, E. fragilis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889), E. rubroguttulata (Keyserling, 1879), E. californiensis (Keyserling, 1885), E. minuscula (Keyserling, 1892), E. guianensis, E. guttata F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1904, E. ingenua Chickering, 1955, E. redundans Chickering, 1955, E. rustica Chickering, 1955, E. brevispina Gertsch & Davis, 1936, E. scitula Chickering, 1955, E. bifida, E. lata Chickering, 1955, E. conformans Chamberlin, 1925, E. cepina (Walckenaer, 1841), E. conchlea, E. anastera (Walckenaer, 1841), E. rosae Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935, E. delecta Chickering, 1955, E. banksi Chickering, 1955, E. mimica Chickering, 1955, E. trinitatis (Hogg, 1918), E. bucolica Chickering, 1955, E. montivaga Chamberlin, 1916, E. cameronensis Gertsch & Davis, 1936, E. scutigera (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1898), E. eleuthera Levi, 1977, E. venusta Chickering, 1955, E. histrio Mello-Leit?o, 1948, E. gonygaster (C.L. Koch, 1838), E. lunulifera Mello-Leit?o, 1939, E. pallida Mello-Leit?o, 1940, E. smaragdinea Mello-Leit?o, 1939, E. clavispina (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889), E. viridipedata (Roewer, 1942), E. vegeta (Keyserling, 1865), E. tribrachiata Badcock, 1932, E. novemmamillata Mello-Leit?o, 1941, E. nasuta Mello-Leit?o, 1939, E. sedula Chickering, 1955, E. semifoliata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899), and E. inconstans Chickering, 1955. New records expanded the distribution of 12 species: E. nasuta from Costa Rica, E. guttata from Guyana, E. lata from Jamaica, E. montivaga from Guatemala and Dominican Republic, E. mimica from Venezuela, E. rustica from Mexico, E. scutigera, E. conformans, E. tribrachiata and E lunulifera from Brazil, E. minuscula from Argentina, and E. smaragdinea from Paraguay.

In this study, I used two independent perciform lineages (Neotropical Cichlidae and Nearctic Centrarchidae) to examine patterns of species richness and species coexistence a two spatial scales (e.g., macrohabitat and mesohabitat) and to examine inter-faunal patterns of ecomorphological convergence. The study was conducted during the low-water periods in four lowland rivers: the Cinaruco in Venezuela, the Tambopata in Peru, and the Neches and the Brazos rivers in Texas (USA). These rivers were chosen because of their similar characteristics, in terms of geomorphology, sediments, and water quality. The Cinaruco River and the Neches River have clear slightly-stained waters, whereas the Tambopata and the Brazos River have turbid waters with high loads of suspended sediments. I used morphological approaches as a surrogate to investigate patterns of species distribution in niche space, and predict patterns of species richness at different spatial scales. Despite high variation in the number of species in these two perciform assemblages, morphological analysis based on the means and standard deviations of nearest neighbor distance (NND) and mean distance to centroid (CD) revealed similar trends of morphological similarity in relation to species richness. Comparison of observed versus randomized data mesohabitat scale for all four rivers generally supported the niche expansion model of response to increase in species richness. At the scale of mesohabitats within rivers, most species assemblages appear to be organized by competitive interactions in accordance with the niche expansion model. The tropical species-rich Cinaruco River revealed particularly strong support for the niche expansion model. Intercontinental comparison of functional morphology and diets based on analysis of stomach contents and stable isotope ratios indicated broad morphological and dietary overlap between cichlid and centrarchid assemblages. For the most part, morphological ordinations showed that the two groups have diversified in a parallel manner within the confines of ram-suction modes of prey ingestion. This study concludes that even though differences are observed in historical and stochastic factors structuring fish assemblages in different geographic regions, consistent patterns of convergence at the species and assemblage levels results from natural selection under similar environmental conditions.

Rhadine is a Nearctic lineage of flightless ground beetles in the tribe Platynini notable for the slender and elongate habitus of the adults and, in the Southwest, the habitat preferences of many species, with several mountaintop endemics as well as microphthalmous species known from caves in central Texas. The genus is in need of a modern taxonomic revision as species identifications remain challenging, and a phylogenetic hypothesis for the overall structure of the group is needed in order to better understand the group's evolutionary history and test whether subterranean Rhadine are a monophyletic clade or not. To this end, a multigene phylogeny of Rhadine was inferred based on ~2.4-kb of aligned nucleotide sites from 3 molecular markers: cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), 28S ribosomal DNA (28S), and carbamoylphosphate synthetase domain of the rudimentary gene (CAD). These gene fragments were obtained for 30 species or putative species of Rhadine as well as from members of their putative sister group, Tanystoma. Rhadine as currently circumscribed is reconstructed as paraphyletic with two species of subterranean beetles from caves in northern Mexico being resolved outside of Rhadine + Tanystoma. Rhadine sensu stricto (s. str.) is resolved with high support across analyses and is composed of two reciprocally monophyletic clades, clade I and II, the second of which is generally recovered in most analyses. Clade I includes those Rhadine with adult morphological characters defining the dissecta-, larvalis-, and subterranea-groups as well as a clade of macropthalmous subterranean perlevis-group species. Clade II, although not as robust as clade I, contains several surface-dwelling species from the western United States in the jejuna-, nivalis-, and perlevis-groups in addition to lineages of exclusively macropthalmous subterranean Rhadine. The troglobitic, cave-restricted, Rhadine classified in the subterranea-group are reconstructed in two different clades, and the clade contained within clade I also includes several species of large-eyed cavernicolous Rhadine. Those with a slender habitus (e.g., R. exilis, R. subterranea, R. austinica) evolved independently at least three times. Major biogeographic and evolutionary patterns based on these molecular results include: subterranea-group Rhadine north of the Colorado River in Texas (which all lack lateral pronotal setae) are found to comprise a monophyletic group, beetles in caves south of the Colorado River likely form another monophyletic group, and the "species pairs" of troglobitic Rhadine known to occur in the same caves that were sampled in our study are not resolved as each other's closest relatives suggesting that these caves were colonized independently by more than one lineage of Rhadine. The fine-scale attention given to populations of Rhadine isolated on mountain tops in the Madrean Sky Island region suggests that there is a great deal of genetic diversity among these lineages. In addition, these populations are resolved as reciprocally monophyletic with high support across all analyses. Haplotype networks constructed for these populations and compared with those of other described species for the same gene fragments reveal similar genetic distances between separate Sky Island Rhadine as compared to distances between described species from throughout the tree. Preliminary divergence time estimates of the Rhadine-Tanystoma lineage based on relaxed molecular clock analyses support a Miocene age for Rhadine and the Rhadine-Tanystoma lineage, with the crown ages of clade I and II being similar though not identical. All subterranean clade I Rhadine are dated to have begun diversifying within approximately the past 5 million years (Pliocene), an age that is compatible with the stratigraphy of the caves in the Balcones Escarpment. In addition, divergence estimates for the members of this clade support the climactic relict hypothesis, as they diversified during rapid temperature fluctuations during the Quaternary. However, the ages of the high altitude Sky Island Rhadine are estimated to be older than the most recent glacial maximum, suggesting that these distinct clades are considerably older than initially thought. We also performed character correlation tests using our phylogeny to test for patterns in form associated with cave habit and did not find statistical significance between subterranean habit and microphthalmy nor habit and development of the foveae of the mentum.Morphological characters that have been traditionally used to classify the genus into species groups were shown to be convergent in many cases. Despite these well-supported molecular clades, few morphological characters are consistent across all members, posing a challenge to the construction of identification tools. Nevertheless, a tentative update to the classification based on our findings is presented, and the future goals for reconstructing the phylogeny of Rhadine are discussed.

Phylogenetic relationships of 13 genera of Schoenobiinae (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) are postulated based on traditional characters of genitalia and wing venation and new characters of the descaled whole body. The phylogenetic analysis yielded one most-parsimonius tree (length 287 steps, CI= .36, RI= .62) that resulted in a monophyletic clade of all genera of Schoenobiinae examined. The monophyly of the Schoenobiinae is supported by a Bremer support value of five. Donacaula is not congeneric with the type-species of Schoenobius, S. gigantellus. The analysis confirms Lewvanich‘s hypothesis that Scirpophaga, Donacaula, Schoenobius, Catagela, and Helonastes are closely related. Based on this analysis, the New World genera appear to have originated in the Neotropical region with four independent dispersals to the Nearctic Region. The revision of Donacala resulted in recognition of 20 species that were previously described and descriptions of ten new species. Neotypes were designated for D. sordidella, D. unipunctella, D. tripunctella, D. dispersella, D. aquilella. Lectoypes were designated for D. albicostella, D. pallulella, D. immanis, D. pulverealis. Donacaula bicolorella was synonymized with D. roscidella, D. uniformella with D. albicostella, D. lanceolella with D. immanis, and D. amblyptepennis with D. longirostrella. Adults, wing venation, and genitalia of New World species of Donacaula are illustrated for the first time, and new distributional records are reported. A key to species, diagnoses, and photographs of imagoes and male and female genitalia are provided.

Phylogenetic relationships of 25 genera of Holarctic Teleiodini (Gelechiidae) are postulated based on morphology and molecular characters, including CO?I, CO?II, and 28S genes. The phylogenetic analysis of the morphology matrix yielded six equal most parsimonious trees (length 329 steps, CI = 0.38, RI = 0.53) and a strict consensus tree (length 342 steps, CI = 0.36, RI = 0.50) with two polytomies and two trichotomies. The phylogenetic analysis of the combined morphology matrix and the CO?I + CO?II + 28S matrix yielded two equally most parsimonious trees (length 1184 steps, CI = 0.50, RI = 0.41) and a strict consensus tree (length 1187 steps, CI = 0.50, RI = 0.40) that reinforced results from the morphological analysis and resolved the two polytomies and one of the two trichotomies present in the morphology consensus tree. Teleiodini are defined as a monophyletic clade with a Bremer support value greater than 5 in the consensus tree based on morphology and molecular data. Twenty?three clades of genera are defined with Bremer support values provided. An analyses of larval host plant preferences based on the consensus tree for combined data indicates derivation of feeding on woody hosts from genera feeding on herbaceous hosts and a single origin of feeding on coniferous hosts. An area cladogram indicates five independent origins of Nearctic genera from Holarctic ancestors and one origin from a Palearctic genus. The review of genera includes descriptions of imagos, genitalia, larvae, and pupae with illustrations of selected species. A new genus and a new species from Alabama and Mississippi, United States are described with illustrations of imago, wing venation, and male and female genitalia.

Drumming was recorded for 11 of 13 Nearctic stonefly species, representing 4 families. Both male and female signals were obtained from 5 species, and were either 2-way or 3-way communications. Signals were species-specific; those of males and females varied from 3-39 and 1-14 beats/ signal, respectively. Duration of male signals varied from 105-8,016 ms; those of females, except Perlinella drymo (1 beat), varied from 402-1318 ms. Signals among related taxa showed greatest similarities. Duration of male signals of Perlinella drymo became progressively shorter at each of 4 temperatures from 7-29 0C. Females of Perlinella drymo would only repeatedly answer male signals recorded at near their own temperature, and would not repeatedly answer recorded male signals of 8 other species.

One of the largest inventories of tardigrades ever conducted occurred from 2000 2010 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Over 16,000 specimens were catalogued, 85 species were identified, 11 species new to science were described, and 16 other possible new species await further study. More than 20 papers have resulted from the GSMNP tardigrade inventory, making the Smokies the most thoroughly studied area in North America for tardigrades. Several species lists have been published over this 20-year period, but many taxonomic revisions and new identifications have led to significant changes to the list. Biogeographical studies citing species records from earlier studies could yield serious errors. Here we update the species list from the Smokies to accommodate the many recent changes in tardigrade taxonomy, we re-Analyze some species in light of delineations of cryptic species groups that have occurred recently via integrative taxonomy, and we provide a table of all synonyms that have been used in previous publications. We also make available, for the first time, the Smokies tardigrade database, complete with all locations, elevations, and substrates.

There are two predominant sources of taxonomically useful morphological variability in the diverse tardigrade family Echiniscidae: the internal structure and surface sculpture of the cuticular plates covering the dorsum (sculpturing) and the arrangement and morphology of the trunk appendages (chaetotaxy). However, since the appendages often exhibit intraspecific variation (they can be reduced or can develop asymmetrically), sculpturing has been considered more stable at the species level and descriptions of new echiniscid species based solely on morphology are still being published. Here, we present a case study in which a detailed analysis of the morphology and multiple genetic markers of several species of the genus Viridiscus shows that cuticular sculpture may also exhibit considerable intraspecific variation and lead to false taxonomic conclusions. In a population collected from the eastern Nearctic, in the type locality of the recently described species V. miraviridis, individuals with transitional morphotypes between those reported for V. viridissimus and V. miraviridis were found. Importantly, all morphotypes within the viridissimus-miraviridis spectrum were grouped in a single monospecific clade according to rapidly evolving markers (ITS-1, ITS-2 and COI). Given the morphological and genetic evidence, we establish V. miraviridis as a junior synonym of V. viridissimus. This study explicitly demonstrates that a lack of DNA data associated with morphological descriptions of new taxa jeopardizes the efforts to unclutter tardigrade systematics. Additionally, V. perviridis and V. viridissimus are reported from Lâm Đồng Province in southern Vietnam, which considerably broadens their known geographic ranges.