Axel P. Retana-Salazar

Two new species of Pergalumna (Acari, Oribatida, Galumnidae) from Costa Rica, including a key to all species of the genus from the Neotropical region.

Abstract Two new species of oribatid mites of the genus Pergalumna (Oribatida, Galumnidae), P. elongatiporosa sp. n. and P. striatiprodorsum sp. n., are described from leaf litter of a secondary forest in Costa Rica. Pergalumna elongatiporosa sp. n. is most similar morphologically to P. horvathorum P. Balogh, 1997 and P. sura P. Balogh, 1997, however, it differs from both by the body size, body surface ornamentation and morphology of notogastral porose areas A1 and A3. Pergalumna striatiprodorsum sp. n. is most similar morphologically to P. hawaiiensis hawaiiensis (Jacot, 1934) and P. strigulata Mahunka, 1978, however, it differs from P. hawaiiensis by the length of interlamellar setae and surface ornamentation of the prodorsum; from P. strigulata by the surface of ornamentation of the notogaster, length of interlamellar setae and morphology of bothridial setae. An identification key to known species of Pergalumna from the Neotropical region is given.

Contribution to the knowledge of Costa Rican oribatid mite fauna, with supplementary descriptions of Pergalumna silvatica and P. sura (Acari: Oribatida: Galumnidae)

Abstract An annotated checklist of oribatid mites collected from Costa Rica in 2012 is provided. We have registered 10 species in 8 genera and 6 families. Archegozetes magnus, Kokoppia euramosa, Neoamerioppia cocuyana, Xenillus venezuelanus, Lamellobates molecula, Trachyoribates glaber, Pergalumna silvatica are recorded for the first time from Costa Rica. Two species of the family Galumnidae, Pergalumna silvatica and P. sura, are redescribed, on the basis of Costa Rican specimens.

Redefining the Thripida (Insecta: Paraneoptera)

The Thysanoptera (Paraneoptera) constitute a very diverse order of minute insects, characterized mainly by a ‘punch-and-suck’ mode of feeding due to a specialized asymmetrical gnathal apparatus with two maxillary stylets plus only one functional mandible. We have studied their fossil relatives from the Thripida family sensu Vishniakova (1981) and Zherikhin (2002), as revised by Nel et al. (2012a), in order to identify new morphological characters and help to polarize some of the characters present in the Thysanoptera. Here we present perfectly preserved specimens from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou beds of China, approximately 165 million years old, belonging to three new species and one new genus of Lophioneurida (Thripida): Lophiosina lini gen. et sp. nov., Undacypha bournieri sp. nov. and Undacypha kreiteri sp. nov. Precise analysis of the fossil heads revealed two ancestral mandibular sclerites that can still be found modified in the Recent thrips mouthcone, although in different ways in the two suborders of Thysanoptera, Terebrantia and Tubulifera. Their absence from the left side of the mouthcone of Terebrantia is a morphological apomorphy for this suborder. Studying fossils also allows us to inform the evolution of Thysanoptera in the deep past. Here we show that some of the characters usually thought to be apomorphies for Thysanoptera are instead apomorphies for all Thripida; this is the case for the typical gnathal apparatus but also for the eversible arolium and the fringe hairs. This leads us to redefine the Thysanoptera within the Thripida. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:72C95534-72D4-46CC-9861-337FE030CF17

New Records of Thrips from Mesoamerica and Comments Regarding Specific Characters (Tubulifera: Phlaeothripidae)

Several genera in the Tubulifera are mono typic, and in some cases species were described based on a sole original holotype (Mound, 1976). This scenario complicates the study of morpholog ical variation in species, and in several cases, in traspecific variation may be greater than varia tion between species (Retana-Salazar & Mound 1994). Reports of taxa from new localities and de scriptions of specific character variation are fun damental in the study of these groups. Modest publications of this sort advance the construction of a more complete landscape of morphological variation on an interspecific and intraspecific level.

A Contribution to Thrips-Plant Associations Records (Insecta: Thysanoptera) in Costa Rica and Central America

ABSTRACT Thrips are small, cosmopolitan insects directly or indirectly associated with plants. Records of these associations in the neotropics add greatly to better understanding of Thysanoptera, not the least because some thrips species are economically important in agriculture and amenity plantings. In this paper we report new plant associations of Franklinothrips vespiformis (Crawford), Gastrothrips sp. Hood, Haplothrips gowdeyi Franklin, Leptothrips astutus Johansen, Leptothrips obesus Johansen, Liothrips spp. Uzel, Torvothrips martinezi Johansen, Arorathrips mexicanus Crawford, Caliothrips fasciapennis (Hinds), Caliothrips nanus (Hood), Caliothrips punctipennis (Hood), Echinothrips caribbeanus Hood, Echinothrips selaginellae Mound, Frankliniella cephalica Crawford, Frankliniella standleyana Hood, Hoodothripiella ignacio Retana-Salazar, Microcephalothrips abdominalis (Crawford) and Retanathrips silvestris (Hood). Some records of the presence of thrips species are new for Costa Rica and Central America.

New Records of Aphid-Plant Associations (Hemiptera: Aphididae) from Eastern Costa Rica

ABSTRACT Aphids cause damage to numerous crops and ornamentals. Most of them are relatively host specific, but some species are polyphagous and feed on several different hosts. In this paper we present new records for Aphis gossypii Glover, Aphis spiraecola Patch, Myzus ornatus Laing, Myzus persicae Sulzer, Hysteroneura setariae Thomas and Schizaphis rotundiventris Signoret, on several hosts belonging to a wide variety of plant families.

A new species of Aeolothrips (Thysanoptera: Aeolothripidae) from mango crops in Oaxaca, Mexico.

ABSTRACT We describe Aeolothrips romanruizi sp. nova that has been recently discovered in mango orchards in the Isthmus region of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Aeolothrips romanruizi sp. nova exhibits an ornamentation of the mesonotum and metanotum very different from others in this genus, except A. microstriatus, which is similarly ornamented; but these 2 species differ in forewing color pattern, body size and some other characters of chaetotaxy. A key to the Aeolothrips species of Central America and Mexico is provided.

Ultrastructural Morphology of Larva II of Taeniothrips inconsequens (Terebrantia: Thripidae)

Abstract Thysanoptera comprises both economically neutral species and economically important pests of crops. The immature stages of many pest species are not well known and, ironically, those are the most harmful stages for crops. Taeniothrips inconsequens (Uzel) has been reported on at least 35 different host plant species and it is found almost worldwide, but the knowledge of this species is still incomplete. Herein we present SEM images of the larva II of T. inconsequens with comments and remarks on specific features for the accurate identification of this species.

NEW RECORDS OF THRIPS (THYSANOPTERA) FROM CENTRAL AMERICA WITH COMMENTS ON SPECIFIC CHARACTERS

The increase in Thysanoptera research has led to the description of new species, especially in the Neotropic region (Mound 2002). Similarly, new location records for species considered endemic are common in the current literature, as in the case of Ameranathrips herediae Mound & Marullo and Neohydatothrips hadrosetae Mound & Marullo both described for Costa Rica and found recently in Cuba (Gonzalez & Suris 2005; Gonzalez & Castillo 2009). Neohydatothrips hadrosetae was described in Costa Rica from a single specimen in poor condition. A similar case is that of Ethirothrips firmus Hood, which was known only from 5 specimens collected in Brazil and was recently collected in the State of Nayarit in Mexico (ValenzuelaGarcia et al. 2011). With the development of new technologies to study the geographical distribution of species occurrence, the acquisition of new records is important in order to establish new distribution points of various species. These types of data become an essential tool for modern ecology because they lead to an accurate portrayal of species’ distribution and behavior and thereby allow us to predict new locations as potential sites for colonization (Broennimann & Guisan 2008). New localities in Central America for 2 known species are reported in this paper, and comments on variations of their morphological characters are included.

Two new species of Scheloribatidae (Acari, Oribatida) from Costa Rica

Abstract Two new species of oribatid mites of the family Scheloribatidae, Scheloribates costaricensis sp. nov. and Perscheloribates paraluminosus sp. nov., are described from leaf litter of secondary forest in Costa Rica. Scheloribates costaricensis sp. nov. is most similar morphologically to Scheloribates brasilosphericus Badejo, Woas & Beck, 2002, however, it differs from the latter by morphology of bothridial and adoral setae, length of prodorsal setae, body surface, structure of antero-ventral part of leg femora, and the presence of large tubercle on posterior margin of notogaster and well visible dorsal notogastral setae. Perscheloribates paraluminosus sp. nov. is most similar morphologically to Perscheloribates luminosus (Hammer, 1961), however, it differs from the latter by body length and color, structure of rostrum, length of rudimentary parts of translamellar line, and the presence of two longitudinal furrows in anogenital region.