Stafford Andrews (inchteeth1)

Two new species of the genus Scaphidium Olivier from Xizang (Tibet Autonomous Region), China are described 1) S. rhopaliparamerosum sp. nov. [], distinguished by four dark red big fasciae on apical 1/3 and basal 1/3 parts of elytra; and 2) S. russipenne sp. nov. [], distinguished by the unified brownish red colour on elytra. For both new species, we provide descriptions and colour plates of normal light photos for the diagnostic characters habitus in both dorsal and ventral views, an antenna, a prefemur, and the detailed structures of the aedeagus (if male available). Additionally, a new spot pattern of S. formosanum Pic is reported from Yunnan.A new skink of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950, from Binh Phuoc Province, southern Vietnam is described based on morphological data, including hemipenial characters, and nucleotide sequences from COI. The following morphological characters diagnose Scincella baraensis sp. nov. relatively small size in adults (snout-vent length up to 49.2 mm); when limbs adpressed, toes do not or just reach fingers; 30 smooth midbody scale rows and dorsal scales not enlarged; 66-70 paravertebral scales; 64-66 ventral scale rows; 7 supralabials, the fifth and sixth below the center of the eye; enlarged temporal scales 1+2; nuchals present; ear with small auricular lobules; 18-20 smooth lamellae beneath toe IV; hemipenis smooth, short, and unforked; dorsum with faint black dots. The new species differs from its congeners by an uncorrected p-distance in COI sequences of at least 16.2%.All four species of the soft scale insect genus Pulvinaria Targioni Tozzetti (Hemiptera Coccomorpha Coccidae) known from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, are reviewed. For each species, the detailed morphology of the adult female is redescribed from specimens recently collected in the Ryukyu Islands and is compared with previous descriptions. A key to the species of Pulvinaria in the Ryukyu Islands is provided. A table of diagnostic morphological character states of the reviewed species and the type species of the genus, P. vitis (Linnaeus, 1758), is provided for use in future taxonomic revision of the genus; this comparison indicates that all four species of Pulvinaria in this region and the type species of the genus, P. vitis can be distinguished clearly from each other by several diagnostic morphological character states.Biting midges, nematoceran flies family Ceratopogonidae, is represented by more than 6200 valid species. This group is still poorly known and not easy in identification. Structural coloration of insect wings (WIP, or Wing Interference Pattern) is an example of an optical phenomenon called iridescence, which is based on the formation of pigment-free, rainbow colours caused by the interference of white light reflected from transparent or semi-transparent structures. Preliminary results indicate that the structural colouring of the wings of these insects may be helpful in the delimitation of closely related and cryptic species.Neotropical toads from the Rhinella margaritifera species group have been considered a taxonomic puzzle for a long time. Because of the high morphological similarity and an unknown number of undescribed taxa among the species of this group, we did an extensive search for character distribution within all nominal taxa. Herein we describe Rhinella parecis sp. nov. a new species from Southern Brazilian Amazon. We provide a morphological diagnosis, morphometric comparisons with similar species, and a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis on the relationships of the new species. Rhinella parecis sp. nov. is assigned to the R. margaritifera group and differs from others species by snout-vent length ranging 40.7-53.5 mm in males (n=12) and 44.9-54.8 mm in females (n=4), snout rounded in dorsal view, acute with fleshy ridge extending to tip of snout in lateral view, canthal and pre-orbital crests absent, supra-orbital, parietal and supra-tympanic crests present and low, dorsolateral row of tubercles