Vol 98, No 7 (2018)

A new genus Tachingousagen. n. with the type species Tachingousa trjapitzinisp. n. is described from the Russian Far East. The new genus is similar to Lyubana Bouček, 1991, from which it may be distinguished by a large antennal clava, equal in length to the last 4 funicular segments and with a large micropilosity area, propodeum with convex nucha without distal (arcuate) costula connected with plicae.

The study addresses changes in the abundance of the frit fly Oscinella frit and its distribution across vegetation layers and biotopes on Wrangel Island. Samples were taken in the same areas in 2006 and 2015, during the period of pronounced climate warming at the beginning of the century. In 2015, O. frit substantially increased in numbers and widened the range of occupied habitats in the landscapes of the warmest, central part of the island, whereas no increase in its activity could be observed in the cooler coastal part. Possible causes of the observed phenomena are discussed.

The spatial distribution of species and subspecies of the genus Calliptamus Aud-Serv., 1831 in Turkmenistan was investigated. The population dynamics of abundant and economically significant locust species was analyzed. Data on the biology and ecology of Calliptamus species under the conditions of climate change are reported. Areas of co-existence of the dominant and rare Calliptamus species in Turkmenistan are detected for the first time.

Steatococcus hystrixsp. n. (Margarodidae s. l.), collected in Mali on the stem of Combretum glutinosum Perrottet, 1828, is described and illustrated. A widely distributed Afrotropical soft scale (Coccidae) species, Udinia catori (Green, 1915), is recorded for Mali for the first time. Additional locality data are provided for another Afrotropical soft scale, Pulvinaria tenuivalvata (Newstead, 1911).

Re-examination of the late Permian Tunguskagyrus planus Yan, Beutel et Lawrence, 2018 has shown that it does not belong to the family Gyrinidae (Adephaga) but should be placed in the family Triaplidae sensu n. (Archostemata) as a congener to “Triaplus” sibiricus Volkov, 2013 (Tunguskagyrus sibiricus (Volkov, 2013), comb. n.). Both these Palaeozoic species, in contrast to the Triassic members of Triaplus Ponomarenko, 1977, have no large metacoxal femoral plates and, therefore, would be better placed apart from the Mesozoic representatives of Triaplus (in a different genus). The synonymy of the family names Triaplidae Ponomarenko, 1977 (= Catiniidae Ponomarenko, 1968, syn. n., nom. praeocc., non Catiniidae Bocquet et Stock, 1957 (Crustacaea, Copepoda), = Coleocatiniidae Ponomarenko et Prokin, 2015, syn. n.) is established. Thus, the family now comprises Avocatinus Ponomarenko, 1969, Catinius Ponomarenko, 1968, Catinoides Ponomarenko, 1969, Macrocatinius Ponomarenko, 1969, Triaplus Ponomarenko, 1977, Triassocatinius Ponomarenko, 1969 and Tunguskagyrus Yan, Beutel et Lawrence, 2018.

A new tenebrionid species, Toxicum elviraesp. n. (Tenebrioninae: Toxicini), is described from Primorskii Territory of Russia. The new species belongs to the subgenus Mutiloxicumsubgen. n. and differs from the congeners in the absence of horns on the male head (only supra-orbital swellings and a small epistomal tubercle are present), in the erect pubescence on the outer surface of the mandible, and in the strongly projecting, acute anterior angles of the pronotum. The new species feeds on epiphytic foliose physcioid lichens, in contrast to the other Toxicum species which feed on bracket fungi (Polyporales). The taxonomic significance of the head armature in the subtribe Toxicina is discussed. A key to the genera of the subtribe Toxicini is given.

In the summer and autumn of 2017, two mostly Southeastern European weevils Otiorhynchus albidus Stierlin, 1861 and O. asphaltinus Germar, 1824, and also O. rotundus Marseul, 1872, previously unknown from Russia, were found in numbers on Syringa vulgaris L. and S. josikaea Jack. in St. Petersburg. New data on the distribution of O. smreczynskii and a key for differentiation of O. rotundus, O. smreczynskii and closely allied to the latter O. ukrainicus Korotyaev, 1984 from southeastern Ukraine and eastern Crimea are reported.

Two new species of the genus Eurytoma: Eu. vatrjapitzini Zerova et Klymenko, sp. n. and Eu. lirae Zerova et Klymenko, sp. n. are described. The first belongs to the robusta group, the second to the compressa group. Eurytoma vatrjapitzini sp. n. was collected using a Malaise trap in Israel; Eu. lirae sp. n. was reared from galls on stems of Artemisia campestris L. (Asteraceae) in Spain. The holotypes and all the paratypes of the new species are deposited in the collection of the Institute of Zoology, National Academy of Science of Ukraine (Kyiv).

New material of the aphidiid-wasp subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera, Aphidiidae) from the North- Western region of Russia is reported. Aphidius eglanteriae Haliday, 1834 is recorded from this region for the first time. The following corrections to the preceding publication of 2017 have been made: 2 correctly identified specimens of Pauesia abietis (Marshall, 1896) were erroneously given also among the material of P. pini (Haliday, 1834), and 4 specimens of P. similis Starý, 1966 were misidentified as P. pini.