Meloe Linnaeus, 1758 is limited in knowledge from China except for the nominate subgenus. Presently, three newly recorded species are reported from China: M. (Eurymeloe) aeneus Tauscher, 1812, M. (Eurymeloe) baudii glazunovi Pliginskij, 1910, and M. (Meloegonius) rufiventris rufiventris Germar, 1832. Meanwhile, two new synonyms are proposed on the basis of the examination of the type specimens: M. (Desertimeloe) alashana Kaszab, 1964 syn. nov. = M. (Desertimeloe) centripubens Reitter, 1897 and M. asperatus Tan, 1981 syn. nov. = M. (Eurymeloe) schmidi Kaszab, 1978. These five species are briefly described and illustrated.
The rich biodiversity of the Southern-Western Ghats includes a large number of insect-induced plant galls. The present paper reports 60 new insect-induced galls on flowering plants belonging to 27 plant families, 35 genera and 39 species. Of the reported 60 galls, 52 are induced by the Cecidomyiidae (Diptera), six by the Hemiptera and two by the Hymenoptera. Forty-two species of gall-inducing insects were parasitised by parasitic Hymenoptera, assignable to 10 families. This study reports unique 'hairy-caterpillar-like' and 'flower-like' galls on the leaves of Trichilia connaroides (Meliaceae), Memecylon flavescens (Melastomataceae) and Tectona grandis (Lamiaceae), and fruit-like galls on Lannea coromandelica (Anacardiaceae), Phyllanthus emblica (Euphorbiaceae). Furthermore, we also report galls on Acacia caesia (Fabaceae: Mimosoid Clade), Boehmeria depauperata (Urticaceae), Cinnamomum perrottetii (Lauraceae), Centotheca lappacea (Poaceae) and Grewia serrulata (Malvaceae) of insect-induced galls of similar morphology, previously known in East-Asian, Southeast-Asian and Euro-Siberian regions.
Our study aimed to describe a new underground species, Tetragonula nagalandensis Viraktamath sp. nov. from Medziphema, Nagaland, based on male and female morphology, including genitalia and the previously unknown male of T. srikantanathi Viraktamath along with the documentation of their nesting biology. Male holotype measures 5.00 mm in body length, 1.75 mm in head width while the females measure on average 4.19 mm in body length and 1.81 mm in head width. Gonostyli arise laterally, while robust penis valves have a characteristic shape. The new species resembles T. kyrdemkulaiensis in body colouration. However, it differs in the size, structure of metasomal sterna and genitalia. The species nests about 80 cm below the ground with the brood cells arranged in compact clusters. The male of T. srikantanathi measures 4.11 mm in body length and 1.67 mm in head width and differs from T. iridipennis in morphometry, metasomal sterna and genitalia. This species has a unique brood structure consisting of a single cell thick layer of brood combs suspended horizontally or obliquely. The holotype and paratypes of the new species and the males of. T. srikantanathi are deposited in the insect repository of the Department of Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, India.
In this study, we describe Neopsephus umiamensis Mandal & Chandran sp. nov. from Umiam, Meghalaya and redescribe the female of N. assamensis, a species previously documented from India. In addition, we provide a comprehensive worldwide checklist of Neopsephus species. High-quality photographs of the habitus, abdominal structures, and genitalia of the documented species are also presented.
In the present paper we redescribe the male and describe the female of Macromia miniata Fraser, 1924 for the first time based on the recently collected specimens from Pune, Maharashtra; and Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The paper also reports northernmost distributional record of Macromia miniata in the Western Ghats of India.
