From micropterism to hyperpterism: recognition strategy and standardized homology-driven terminology of the forewing venation patterns in planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha)

Following recent advances in the morphological interpretations of the tegmen basal cell margins in the Paraneoptera, a standardized and homology-driven groundplan terminology for tegmina types, structures and vein patterns in Hemiptera Fulgoromorpha, including fossils, is proposed. Each term is listed with a morphological definition, compared and linked to the main systems of planthopper forewing description that have been reviewed. The importance of a standardized and homology-driven terminology is stressed to enhance the quality of data in taxonomic descriptions and to strengthen phylogenetic morphological analysis results. When the interpretation of the origin of vein branches is render difficult, a three-step strategy for pattern recognition of the vein is proposed based on two principles: (1) vein forks are more informative than topology of the vein branches: a search for homologous areas, the nodal cells in particular, must first guide the recognition rather the number of branches of a vein, and (2) minimum of ad hoc evolutionary events should be invoked in the understanding of a modified vein pattern. Examples of some conflicting interpretations of venation patterns in planthoppers are discussed within different families for both extant and extinct taxa. For the first time, the concept of brachypterism is defined in a non-relative way independently from other structures, and the new one of hyperpterism is proposed; a reporting system is proposed for each of them

New Species in the Old World: Europe as a Frontier in Biodiversity Exploration, a Test Bed for 21st Century Taxonomy

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late

On the evolution of the tymbalian tymbal organ: Comment on “Planthopper bugs use a fast, cyclic elastic recoil mechanism for effective vibrational communication at small body size” by Davranoglou et al. 2019

In ihrer kürzlich erschienenen Arbeit (Davranoglou et al. 2019) untersuchten die Autoren an lebenden Exemplaren von Agalmatium bilobium (Issidae) mit modernsten Methoden (microCT) die Interaktionen zwischen Muskulatur und bestimmten Anteilen des Exoskeletts zur Vibrationserzeugung und beschreiben deren biomechanische Grundlage. Auf der Basis des morphologischen Vergleichs mit Museumsmaterial von Vertretern der meisten Taxa der Fulgoromorpha (Spitzkopfzikaden) im Familienrang postulieren Davranoglou et al. (2019), ein „neues und bisher übersehenes“ Organ entdeckt zu haben, das sie als „snapping organ“ bezeichnen und als charakteristisch für die Fulgoromorpha (mit Ausnahme der Delphacidae) interpretieren. Wir sehen diese Ergebnisse aus folgenden Gründen kritisch: 1. In ihrer umfassenden Übersicht zu den vibrationserzeugenden Organen der Hemiptera stellten Wessel et al. (2014) die Hypothese auf, dass sich alle bisher bekannten Strukturen zur Schall- und Vibrationserzeugung auf ein Organ zurückführen lassen, das mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit bei der Stammart aller Hemipteren oberhalb der Sternorrhyncha vorhanden war, und eine Synapomorphie dieses Taxons, der sog. Tymbalia (Wessel et al. 2014), darstellt. Da aufgrund der morphologischen Disparität des Organs in den einzelnen Taxa die Homologieverhältnisse schwierig zu beurteilen sind, stellten Wessel et al. (2014) Kriterien für das „Tymbal der Tymbalia“ auf. Das sogenannte „snapping organ“ erfüllt alle Kriterien dieses Tymbal-Organes. Die Einführung eines neuen Begriffes für eine bestimmte Struktur in einer langen und komplexen Kette evolutionärer Transformationen ist daher unnötig, wenn nicht sogar irreführend. Wir empfehlen daher dringend, in zukünftigen Arbeiten den Begriff „tymbalian tymbal organ with a snapping mechanism“ zu verwenden. 2. Die Grundannahme von Davranoglou et al. (2019), dass – im Gegensatz zum neu entdeckten „snapping organ“ der Fulgoromorpha – allen Cicadomorpha ein „tymbal-ähnliches Or-gan“ gemeinsam sei, ist zu stark vereinfacht und vernachlässigt die enorme Vielfalt der Ausprägungen des Tymbals bei Nicht-Singzikaden innerhalb der Cicadomorpha. In Anbetracht der verfügbaren Studien scheint es daher zweifelhaft, dass sich die vibrationserzeugenden Strukturen dreimal unabhängig voneinander entwickelt haben sollen, wie es die phylogenetische Interpretation bei Davranoglou et al. (2019: Abb. 3) suggeriert

The European union’s 2010 target: Putting rare species in focus

P. 167-185The European Union has adopted the ambitious target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Several indicators have been proposed to assess progress towards the 2010 target, two of them addressing directly the issue of species decline. In Europe, the Fauna Europaea database gives an insight into the patterns of distribution of a total dataset of 130,000 terrestrial and freshwater species without taxonomic bias, and provide a unique opportunity to assess the feasibility of the 2010 target. It shows that the vast majority of European species are rare, in the sense that they have a restricted range. Considering this, the paper discusses whether the 2010 target indicators really cover the species most at risk of extinction. The analysis of a list of 62 globally extinct European taxa shows that most contemporary extinctions have affected narrow-range taxa or taxa with strict ecological requirements. Indeed, most European species listed as threatened in the IUCN Red List are narrow-range species. Conversely, there are as many wide-range species as narrow-range endemics in the list of protected species in Europe (Bird and Habitat Directives). The subset of biodiversity captured by the 2010 target indicators should be representative of the whole biodiversity in terms of patterns of distribution and abundance. Indicators should not overlook a core characteristic of biodiversity, i.e. the large number of narrow-range species and their intrinsic vulnerability. With ill-selected indicator species, the extinction of narrowrange endemics would go unnoticedS

Investigating orphan cytochromes P450 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis : the search for potential drug targets

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease that the World Health Organisation (WHO) regards as a global pandemic. There is a great need for new drugs to combat this threat. Drug resistant strains of the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), have increased the urgency of this quest for novel anti-mycobacterial medicines. Publication of the Mtb genome sequence revealed a large number of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes [Cole, S. T. et al. 1998]. These mono-oxygenase enzymes have been studied for many years and are responsible for metabolic functions in every kingdom of life. Research on the Mtb P450s to date has highlighted several of them as having critcal roles within the organism. CYP121 and CYP128 have been implicated as essential through gene knockout studies. It has been demonstrated that CYP125 is not essential for viability. However, it is part of a gene cluster highly important for Mtb infectivity and virulence. Due to the prospective importance of P450s to Mtb, this group of enzymes is under investigation as a source of novel drug targets. CYP142 was discovered as a potential drug target after it was located to a gene cluster involved in cholesterol catabolism during Mtb dormancy. As part of this PhD project, it was demonstrated that CYP142 performs an almost identical role to that reported for CYP125. These enzymes both perform C27 hydroxylation and carboxylation of the cholesterol side chain. However, variations in the level of oxidation have been identified, dependent upon the redox system with which these P450s are associated. A crystal structure of CYP142 showing high similarity in active site architecture to CYP125 supports the physiological role of CYP142 in cholesterol catabolism. Combining this with in vitro data which demonstrates that CYP142 possesses high affinity for a range of azole anti-fungal agents [Ahmad, Z. et al. 2005, 2006] supports the suggestion that it is a candidate target for the next generation of anti-mycobacterial drugs. CYP144 was highlighted as being important during the latent phase of Mtb growth, a phase that is not targeted by any of the current antimycobacterials. Work performed as part of this PhD has shown that many characteristics of CYP144 are highly comparable to those reported for other MtbP450s. CYP144 shows high affinity and specificity towards many azole molecules. Econazole, clotrimazole and miconazole have repeatedly been shown to bind to MtbP450s, including CYP144 and CYP142, with high affinity and are excellent potential candidates as novel anti-mycobacterial agents. An N-terminally truncated form of CYP144, CYP144-T, has been investigated in the pursuit of a CYP144 crystal structure. It is hoped that this will enable the elucidation of a physiological role for CYP144. Both CYP142 and CYP144 have demonstrated biochemical and biophysical characteristics that contribute to our knowledge of P450 enzymes. This PhD has established that CYP142 exhibits an equilibrium between P450 and P420 species in its CO-bound, ferrous form. A conversion from P420, and stabilisation of P450, upon substrate binding was also demonstrated. CYP144 displays unusual azole coordination characteristics when examined by EPR and removal of the CYP144 gene from Mtb increased sensitivity of the strain to clotrimazole. Studies of these enzymes has advanced knowledge of P450 and Mtb redox chemistry, established roles for the MtbP450 cohort and identified the potential of anti-mycobacterial drugs and associated targets.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A Review of the Systematics of Hawaiian Planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea)

With 206 endemic species, the phytophagous Fulgoroidea, or planthoppers, are among the most important elements of the native Hawaiian fauna. These principally monophagous or oligophagous insects occur in nearly all Hawaiian terrestrial ecosystems. Species of two of the 18 planthopper families occurring worldwide have successfully colonized and subsequently radiated in Hawai'i. Based on collections made mainly by Perkins, Kirkaldy, Muir, Giffard, and Swezey, more than 95% of these species were described in the first three decades of this century. The systematics of the Hawaiian planthoppers has changed little in the past 60 yr and is not based on any phylogenetic analyses. This paper attempts a preliminary phylogenetic evaluation of the native Hawaiian p1anthoppers on the basis of comparative morphology to recognize monophyletic taxa and major evolutionary lines. The following taxa are each descendants of single colonizing species: in Cixiidae, the Hawaiian Oliarus and Iolania species; in De1phacidae, Aloha partim, Dictyophorodelphax, Emoloana, Leialoha + Nesothoe, Nesodryas, and at least four groups within Nesosydne. Polyphyletic taxa are the tribe "Alohini," Aloha s.l., Nesorestias, Nesosydne s.l., and Nothorestias. Non-Hawaiian species currently placed in Iolania, Oliarus, Aloha, Leialoha, and Nesosydne are not closely allied to the Hawaiian taxa. The origin of the Hawaiian planthoppers is obscure. The Hawaiian Oliarus appear to have affinities to (North) American taxa

New State Records of Immigrant Planthoppers in Hawaii (Homoptera: Fulgoroidea)

Scientific note.Three planthopper species are recorded from the Hawaiian Islands for the first time: Syndelphax disonymus (Kirkaldy) of the family Delphacidae from Kauai, Oahu, Lanai, and Hawaii Island, Kallitaxila granulata (Stål) of the family Tropiduchidae from Oahu, and Cedusa sp. of the family Derbidae from Oahu, the latter yet to be identified to species level

Emoloana, a New Genus for the Endemic Grass-Feeding Hawaiian Delphacidae (Homoptera Fulgoroidea)

The endemic Hawaiian grass-feeding species of Delphacidae previously regarded as congeners of Kelisia Fieber are transferred to Emoloana n.gen. in the tribe Delphacini: E. emoloa (Muir) n. comb., E. eragrosticola (Muir) n. comb., E. swezeyi (Kirkaldy) n. comb., and E. sporobolicola (Kirkaldy) n. comb. with the subspecies E. sporobolicola immaculata (Muir) n. comb.; 2 new species are described: E. menehune n. sp. from Kauai, and E. pohakua n. sp. from Hawaii Island. The new genus is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and comprises 3 morphological groups: the E. emoloa-group with E. emoloa on Oahu, E. eragrosticola on Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island, and E. pohakua on Hawaii Island; the E. swezeyi-group with E. swezeyi on Oahu and E. menehune on Kauai; the E. sporobolicola s.l.-group distributed on all major Hawaiian Islands. The origin of Emoloana and relationships among species cannot be determined because of lack of knowledge about the morphology of potentially related taxa. A baseline for future genetic and biosystematic research on this group is discussed

The three taro planthoppers: species recognition in<i>Tarophagus</i>(Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

AbstractThe taro-feeding delphacid genusTarophagusis revised. Three species are recognized:T. colocasiae(Matsumura) stat. rev. &amp; comb. n. with whichT. proserpina taiwanensisWilson is synonymized;T. persephone(Kirkaldy) with whichT. proserpinoides(Muir) andT. proserpina australisFennah are synonymized; andT. prosperpina(Kirkaldy). The three species are separated by characters of the male and female genitalia, and each has a different distribution in Asia and the Pacific. Only in Papua New Guinea are all three species sympatric. Earlier studies on biology and pest status are reviewed in the light of these investigations.</jats:p