A new spined loach, Cobitis gracilis sp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces, China. Morphological and molecular data showed that C. gracilis sp. nov. is closely related to C. granoei Rendahl and C. melanoleuca Nichols. The new species differs from its sister species in lamina circularis, suborbital spine, and pigmentation at the base of caudal fin. In addition, both morphological and molecular analyses revealed that specimens of C. lutheri Rendahl from China differs from those from Korea. Korean specimens are appropriately placed in a separate species. Molecular analyses revealed that C. choii Kim & Son is a new record in China.

Morphometrics has been pursued by graphical and computational means since the European Renaissance, drawing on core geometric principles first discovered in China and Classical Greece. Through the late 1800s, two distinct approaches to such analyses were pursued: a deformationist approach, epitomized by D’Arcy Thompson’s graphical trans-formation grids and the statistical approach popularized by Francis Galton, Karl Pearson, and Julian Huxley in which Cartesian spaces were employed to summarize patterns of variation in size and/or shape variables. Unification of these approaches was an oft-stated goal throughout the 20th century, but proved elusive until the mid-1980s when David Kendall, Fred Bookstein, and Colin Goodall proposed a radically new way of understanding form — as the locations of configurations of landmarks on the surfaces of a nested series of hyperdimensional manifolds. Once this new mathematics of form was understood development of basic concepts, procedures, graphical tools, and statistical tests followed quickly such that the core of the long-hoped for synthesis took less than a decade to achieve. The result — geometric morphometrics — continues to develop into an ever-more extensive toolkit that can be used by researchers to describe and understand a wide range of problems involving the characterization of morphological similarities and differences in all of their many and varied contexts. In particular, the new approaches involving the direct analysis of image pixels and new tools such as machine learning and artificial intelligence are set to reinvigorate (and possibly to revolutionize) the field once again.

The largest superfamily Entomobryoidea is one of the key groups in Collembola. However, incorrect recognition of chaetotaxic homology within Entomobryoidea severely impedes the accurate species comparison of adults and phylogenetic reconstruction. Traditional classification of the superfamily at suprageneric level is disputable in the light of recent advances. Transformational homology of tergal chaetotaxy was traced and revised based on 38 species of first instar and partial early instars. Morphological phylogenetic reconstructions were reconstructed mainly relying on first instar characters using both parsimony and likelihood-based algorithms. Outgroup selection and several rogue taxa impacted on resolution and support of otherwise well-supported clades. Integrating published molecular phylogeny, a revised classification of three families and nine subfamilies was presented: Orchesellidae, Entomobryidae and Paronellidae. Orchesellidae includes all basal taxa having a short fourth abdominal segment. Cyphoderidae and Microfalculidae taxa were sunk into Paronellidae. New Paronellidae was divided into two subfamilies: Paronellinae (Paronellini + Cyphoderini + Bromacanthini) and Salininae (Cremastocephalini + Callyntrurini). Microfalculidae (Microfalcula) was closer to Salina and Akabosia and thus transferred into Cremastocephalini. This study erected a new classification framework for Entomobryoidea based upon comprehensive phylogenies. Chaetotaxic homologization across a wide range provided a standardized, comparable, powerful tool for taxonomy.

Reconstructing the timescale of the Tree of Life is one of the principal aims of evolutionary biology. This has been greatly aided by the development of the molecular clock, which enables evolutionary timescales to be estimated from genetic data. In recent years, high-throughput sequencing technology has led to an increase in the feasibility and availability of genome-scale data sets. These represent a rich source of biological information, but they also bring a set of analytical challenges. In this review, we provide an overview of phylogenomic dating and describe the challenges associated with analysing genome-scale data. We also report on recent phylogenomic estimates of the evolutionary timescales of mammals, birds, and insects.

Geometric morphometrics (GM) is an important method of shape analysis and increasingly used in a wide range of scientific disciplines. Presently, a single character comparison system of geometric morphometric data is used in almost all empirical studies, and this approach is sufficient for many scientific problems. However, the estimation of overall similarity among taxa or objects based on multiple characters is crucial in a variety of contexts (e.g. (semi-)automated identification, phenetic relationships, tracing of character evolution, phylogenetic reconstruction). Here we propose a new web-based tool for merging several geometric morphometrics data files from multiple characters into a single data file. Using this approach information from multiple characters can be compared in combination and an overall similarity estimate can be obtained in a convenient and geometrically rigorous manner. To illustrate our method, we provide an example analysis of 25 dung beetle species with seven Procrustes superimposed landmark data files representing the morphological variation of body features: the epipharynx, right mandible, pronotum, elytra, hindwing, and the metendosternite in dorsal and lateral view. All seven files were merged into a single one containing information on 649 landmark locations. The possible applications of such merged data files in different fields of science are discussed.

Burmite (Burmese amber) from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar is a remarkable valuable and obviously the most important amber for studying terrestrial diversity in the mid-Cretaceous. The diversity of Burmite inclusions is very high and many new taxa were found, including new order, new family/subfamily, and new genus. Till the end of 2016, 14 phyla, 21 classes, 65 orders, 279 families, 515 genera and 643 species of organisms are recorded, which are summized and complied in this catalogue. Among them, 587 species are arthropods. In addtion, the specimens which can not be identified into species are also listed in the paper. The information on type specimens, other materials, host and deposition of types are provided.

A new species of white-toothed shrew, Crocidura anhuiensis Zhang, Zhang & Li, sp. nov. is described from Mount Huang, China. Genetic sequence (mtDNA Cyt b gene) and morphological (external and skull) data are used to distinguish this newly discovered species. The phylogenetic analysis shows that the materials of this work are monophyletic and allied to C. attenuata by the uncorrected genetic distance 4.9–5.1%, which suggests a species-level divergence. Morphologically, the materials are different from C. attenuata by presenting a greater proportion of tail-to-body ratio and the presence of an obvious tooth root in the mandible. Based on those data, the unnamed species is described as a new species which is currently known only from the Wild Monkey Valley, Mount Huang, Anhui Province, China.

Four loaches, Niwaella brevipinna Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. fimbriata Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. nigrolinea Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. qujiangensis Chen & Chen, sp. nov., are described based on specimens collected from Zhejiang and Anhui Provinces, East China. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of 28 individuals of seven species from seven locations collected from Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi Provinces were amplified and analyzed. Morphological and molecular data showed that N. fimbriata Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. nigrolinea Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. brevipinna Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. laterimaculata (Yan & Zheng), N. qujiangensis Chen & Chen, sp. nov. and N. longibarba Chen & Chen are closely related. The seven Chinese Niwaella species, N. brevipinna Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. fimbriata Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. laterimaculata, N. longibarba, N. nigrolinea Chen & Chen, sp. nov., N. qujiangensis Chen & Chen, sp. nov., and N. xinjiangensis are clearly distinguished by the combination of the color patter, mental lobes, suborbital spine, caudal peduncle, body shape, and subdorsal scales.

To distinguish species or populations using morphometric data is generally processed through multivariate analyses, in particular the discriminant analysis. We explored another approach based on the maximum likelihood method. Simple statistics based on the assumption of normal distribution at a single variable allows to compute the chance of observing a particular data (or sample) in a given reference group. When data are described by more than one variable, the maximum likelihood (MLi) approach allows to combine these chances to find the best fit for the data. Such approach assumes independence between variables. The assumptions of normal distribution of variables and independence between them are frequently not met in morphometrics, but improvements may be obtained after some mathematical transformations. Provided there is strict anatomical correspondence of variables between unknown and reference data, the MLi classification produces consistent classification. We explored this approach using various input data, and compared validated classification scores with the ones obtained after the Mahalanobis distance-based classification. The simplicity of the method, its fast computation, performance and versatility, make it an interesting complement to other classification techniques.

Insect mitochondrial (mt) genomes are of great interest in researching on molecular evolution, phylogenetics and population genetics. Aphidoidea have about more than 5 000 known species including some agricultural, forestry and horticultural pests. However, only nine complete mt genomes have been previously released in this insect group since the first one, Schizaphis graminum (Hemiptera: Aphididae: Aphidinae) in 2004. Herein, we present the complete mitochondrial genome of Eriosoma lanigerum, the first species from the subfamily Eriosomatinae. This study takes this species as an example, combing the research during past 12 years, and concludes the general methods to obtain, analyze and annotate the complete mitochondrial genome of aphid species.

Twenty-four new spider species of the family Dictynidae from caves of Guangxi and Guizhou in southern China are described, accompanied by line drawings and photomicroscopy images. Fifteen of them belong to Brommella Tullgren, 1948: B. baiseensis Li, sp. nov., B. casseabri Li, sp. nov., B. chongzuoensis Li, sp. nov., B. dolabrata Li, sp. nov., B. funaria Li, sp. nov., B. josephkohi Li, sp. nov., B. linyuchengi Li, sp. nov., B. renguodongi Li, sp. nov., B. resima Li, sp. nov., B. sejuncta Li, sp. nov., B. spirula Li, sp. nov., B. tongyanfengi Li, sp. nov., B. wangfengcheni Li, sp. nov., B. xinganensis Li, sp. nov. and B. yizhouensis Li, sp. nov.; eight to Cicurina Menge, 1871: C. avicularia Li, sp. nov., C. damaoensis Li, sp. nov., C. dong Li, sp. nov., C. kailiensis Li, sp. nov., C. majiangensis Li, sp. nov., C. parallela Li, sp. nov., C. wusanani Li, sp. nov., and C. zhazuweii Li, sp. nov.; one to Lathys Simon, 1884: L. inaffecta Li, sp. nov. Types of all new species are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing (IZCAS).

Two spined loaches, Cobitis oxycephala Chen YX & Chen YF, sp. nov. and C. brachysoma Chen YX & Chen YF, sp. nov., are described based on specimens collected from Guangdong and Hainan Provinces, South China. Morphology features and sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of these two new species were analyzed. Morphological and molecular data show that C. oxycephala Chen YX & Chen YF, sp. nov. is closely related to C. dolichorhynchus Nichols, and C. brachysoma Chen YX & Chen YF, sp. nov. is closely related to C. microcephala Chen & Chen. These two new species can be distinguished from their congeners by the combination of characteristics of body shape, color pattern, lamina circularis, mental lobes, suborbital spine, subdorsal scales, and caudal peduncle.

Prosopocoilus gracilis (Saunders, 1854) and its seven allied species from China are revised. Lectotype, paralectotypes of P. gracilis (Saunders, 1854) and P. denticulatus (Boileau, 1901) are designated. The doubtful species, P. piceipennis (Westwood, 1855) is evidently confirmed as a valid species with verification of its type depository. Two highly similar species, P. crenulidens(Fairmaire, 1895) and P. denticulatus (Boileau, 1901) are compared in detail for correcting longstanding wrong diagnoses of them. P. similis Schenk, 2009 is illustrated with male genitalia firstly. Two recently-published species, P. andreasi Schenk, 2009 and P. katsurai Fujita, 2010 are treated as new junior synonyms. All the five valid species in this paper are redescribed, with illustrations of adult (including type) habitus, male and female genitalia if they are available. A key to large males is provided for identifying them briefly.

The genus Eysarcoris can be easily distinguished from other genera through the two spots in the basal angle of the scutellum. Nevertheless, Eysarcoris species show complex variances. Geometric morphometric methods have been increasingly applied to distinguish species and to define the boundary of genera among insects. In the present study, geometric morphometric approach was firstly employed to evaluate the shape variation of three characters (fore wing, hind wing and pygophore) of E. guttiger, E. annamita and E. ventralis using E. aeneus as outgroup to ascertain whether this approach is a reliable method for the taxonomy of Eysarcoris. Analysis was conducted on the landmarks of the three characters of these species. Multivariate regression of procrustes coordinates against centroid size was conducted to test the presence of allometry. Principal component analysis (PCA), canonical variate analysis (CVA) and cluster analysis were utilized to describe variations in shapes among the studied species. For all of the three characters, though PCA analysis showed some overlap among species, p-values for procrustes distance and mahalanobis distance were all less than 0.0001. The distribution of the three studied species corresponds with their species status. This study demonstrates that the geometric morphometrics of both the fore wing and the hind wing might represent a possible tool for the identification of species within this genus.

A generic diagnosis of family Eucodoniidae is revised, with the monotype genus Eucodonium. Three new species, Eucodonium bitentaculatum Xu, Huang & Guo, sp. nov., E. brevistyle Xu, Huang & Lin, sp. nov. and E. longitentaculatum Xu, Huang & Wang, sp. nov. from South China Sea are described and illustrated. A key to all species of Eucodonium is provided. The type specimens are deposited in the Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration.

A new freshwater turbellarian species, Dugesia sinensis Chen & Wang, sp. nov., is described, which was collected from Caoxi rivulet, Shaoguan, Guandong Province, China. The morphology, reproduction, histochemical localization of AChE and phylogenetics based on COI gene of the new species was observed and analysed. The new species differs from its sister species in the developed diagram of the male atrium, the bursal canal to the left of the copulatory apparatus and distance (1 mm) between copulatory bursa and the mouth. In addition, the results indicated that morphological differences of AChE+ nerve structure can be used as a distinguishable character for species identification of genera Dugesiidae.

Freshwater planorbid mollusks belonging to the genus Biomphalaria act as intermediate hosts for Schistosoma mansoni, the etiological agent of human intestinal schistosomiasis, in the Neotropical Region. Identification of Biomphalaria spp. are carried out based on morphological characters, and the Schistosoma infection are determined by the presence of cercariae (verified through microscope preparation and mounting). Recently, the geometric morphometrics has proven to be a useful tool for determining shape differences in disease vectors arthropods. Due to this, we used geometric morphometrics to determine Biomphalaria glabrata shell differences (shape and size) between uninfected and infected specimens. We digitalized 12 anatomical points over the shell left side (from umbilicus to the last whorl) by combining type I and II landmarks and sliding semilandmarks; the coordinates were aligned by generalized Procrustes analysis. Principal component analyses were implemented for examining main variation axes, and discriminant analysis for testing group membership significance. We found significant separation between infected and uninfected shell conformation. All specimens were 100% correctly classified. The main differences occur in the peristome. The Kruskal-Wallis test finds significant differences in shell isometric size among infected and uninfected specimens. These findings correspond to other studies of traditional morphometrics, that infected snails showed the reduction in shell size in contrast to those uninfected specimens.

Five new genera of the spider family Ochyroceratidae with remarkable palpal and epigynal characters are described: Luzonacera Li & Li, gen. nov., Qiongocera Li & Li, gen. nov., Relictocera Li & Li, gen. nov., Sinoderces Li & Li, gen. nov., and Thaiderces Li & Li,gen. nov. Six new species are described based on specimens collected in China, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand: Luzonacera chang Li & Li, sp. nov., Luzonacera duanLi & Li, sp. nov.,Qiongocera hongjunensisLi & Li, sp. nov., Relictocera qiyiLi & Li, sp. nov., Sinoderces nawanensisLi & Li, sp. nov., and Thaiderces jianLi & Li, sp. nov. In addition, two Psiloderces species are transferred to other genera: Sinoderces exilis (Wang & Li, 2013) comb. nov. and Thaiderces vulgaris (Deeleman-Reinhold, 1995) comb. nov. All type specimens are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing.

Fruit flies in Bactrocera tau complex are important pests, but their morphological taxonomy is still unsettled. In this paper, specimens from gac fruits (Momordica cochinchinensis) are attempted to classify by geometric morphometric and genetic analyses. Geometric morphometric study of wing venation and aculeus shape among samples suggested a new species in this taxon. Sequences in the cytochrome oxidase I region were compared with reference material in this complex, as well as other taxa within the same subgenus. Phylogenetic analysis based on COI revealed a new species of the B. tau complex, B. tau form J. Therefore, the criteria of body color patterns proved to be taxonomically valid for species classification and identification in this species complex.

Although there were many ancient Chinese mathematicians contributed a lot on geometry, Geometric morphometrics (GM) in modern concept was not firstly proposed by Chinese. The super capability of geometric morphometrics in scientific computing and problem solving has gained a lot of attentions in the world. Until early of 21 centuries, geometric morphometrics was introduced into China. Since then, GM was rapidly applied in many research fields. However, it is a pity that GM is still not well-known in China as many works are published out of China. Thus, the special issue "Geometric morphometrics: Current shape and future directions" is organized. The present issue presents a series of contributions in this scientific field. In future, there will be many considerable new developing fields on GM needed to pay more attentions, for instances, 3D geometric morphometrics, 4D analysis, visualization of amber, new machine developing, new software developing, automatic identification system, etc. Once these technical bottle-necks on 3D data collecting and merging geometric morphometric data from multiple characters could be solved, the automatic identification system and other fields based on Big Data would come true.

The extinct new species, Chresmoda chikuni Zhang & Ge, sp. nov. is described from the Mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. This amber insect exhibits a very peculiar combination of derived characters like strongly elongated, free coxae, non-clawed pretarsus. The type specimens are deposited in the Three Gorges Entomological Museum, Chongqing, China.

Modern grylloblattids are one of the least diverse insect orders. The single extant family is contrasted with 46 families described from the fossil records, which extend to the Late Carboniferous. The most ancient grylloblattid nymphs are known from the Lower Permian. Till now, there is no report on grylloblattid from Burmese amber, which is a very old amber locality. Herein, we describe Sylvalitoralis cheni Zhang, Bai & Yang, sp. nov. from Grylloblattina based on a nymph specimen from the mid-Cretaceous Myanmar (Burmese) amber.

The soil animal Mongoloniscus sinensis (Dollfus, 1901) is distributed in Northern China together with three other congeneric species only found in Asia. Compared to European and North American Oniscidea, little phylogeographic information about this Asian genus has been reported. Herein, we infer the genetic structure and demographic history of M. sinensis based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCoI). The total dataset included 193 individuals from 26 locations in four provinces (Shanxi, Henan, Hebei and Shandong) of China. Most of the 87 haplotypes were unique to a sampling location, but seven haplotypes were shared among the populations. The results showed that high genetic differentiation exists both within populations and among the groups and populations of M. sinensis. According to the distribution of phylogenic clades and geographic analyses, it is suggested that mountain ranges play an important role in population separation and that the possible evolutionary trajectory of this species is from north to south. The most likely place of origin is the Northeast Plain of China with an estimated time of isolation separating populations around 8 Mya.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Gasteruption parvicollarium Enderlein (GenBank accession number: KR270643) was sequenced in the study. Totally 17 009 bp sequence was determined with an A+T content of 83.81%, including full set of typical animal mitochondrial genes. Two protein-coding and 10 tRNA genes as well as the A+T-rich region were rearranged compared with the putative ancestral arrangement of insects. Most of the rearranged genes were located in the ancestral region of trnI-trnQ-trnM-nad2-trnW-trnC-trnY- cox1-trnL2. The other rearranged genes are trnN and trnS1 located in the tRNA cluster trnA- trnR-trnN-trnS1-trnE-trnF and trnS2 located between cob and nad1. Remote inversion is dominant rearrangement event in G. parvicollarium mitochondrial genome, involving two protein-coding and 8 tRNA genes. Compared with the other mitochondrial genome reported in the same genus of Gasteruption, the inverted trnN was translocated to the tRNA cluster between cox1 and nad2 in G. parvicollarium. This is the first report of mitochondrial gene rearrangement occurred within genus of Hymenoptera. Our study points to a recently occurred gene rearrangement event in the Gasteruption species.

Three dimensional morphology of Melanopopillia hainanensis Lin, 1980 is reported firstly by using Micro CT technology, including internal and external structures. The male of M. hainanensis is described for the first time. A key to the species of Melanopopillia is given. This study shows an example of the potential application on the 3D morphology in invertebrate taxonomy, especially in the comparison of important structures with complicated 3D morphology, e.g. aedeagus, muscles.

The weevil genus Proscleropterus Korotyaev, 2008 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Ceutorhynchinae: Scleropterini) has been recorded endemic from China and is comprised of three species, including two new species: P. shennongjianus Qin & Huang, sp. nov. and P. rudis Colonnelli, Qin & Huang, sp. nov. A key to the three species and illustrations are provided. In addition, Rubus eucalyptus Focke (Rosaceae) is recorded as the host plant of P. shennongjianus Qin & Huang, sp. nov.

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of Parnassius actius (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae: Parnassinae) was reported. Meanwhile, the phylogenetic position of this Apollo species was inferred from this sequence combined with other available related sequence data. The results showed that the whole mitogenome is 15,386 bp in length, containing 13 typical protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and a noncoding control region (A+T-rich region). The mitogenomic gene orientation and arrangement are the same with other sequenced Parnassius species. Thirteen protein coding genes is 11,195 bp in size, encoding 3,720 amino acids totally; the lrRNA and srRNA genes are 1,351 bp and 779 bp, respectively. Eleven intergenic spacers ranging from 1 to 40 bp (129 bp in total), 10 overlapping regions from 1 to 8 bp (26 bp in total), and a 504 bp A+T-rich region harboring some Parnassius-specific sequences are scattered throughout the whole mitogenome. The maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses showed that the genus Parnassius of this study contained five major clades which can be categorized into the eight subgenera reported by the previous molecular studies; additionally, the P. actius was shown to be more closely related to P. nomion than other Parnassius species, suggesting that the P. actius stands as an effective species with its phylogenetic position awaiting further studies.

The family Dipteromantispidae, previously with only two genera and three species, is one of the enigmatic groups of the Cretaceous Neuroptera by the mantispid-like appearance combined with strongly reduced hind wings specialized into a haltere-like structure. A new genus and species of Dipteromantispidae, namely Halteriomantispa grimaldii gen. et sp. nov., is herein described based on an exquisitely preserved specimen from the mid-Cretaceous amber of northern Myanmar. It represents the first record of Dipteromantispidae from the amber deposit of mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) of Myanmar. A brief discussion on the homology of forewing venations and female genital sclerites of Dipteromantispidae is given.

Species of the genus Dichopygina Vilkamaa, Hippa & Komarova, 2004 has been morphologically cryptic. In this paper, eight species of the genus were clearly defined by DNA barcodes. Based on both molecular and morphological evidences, D. bernhardi Vilkamaa, Hippa & Komarova, 2004, stat. rev. is separated from D. perfecta (Pettey, 1918); a closely allied new species, D. tibetana Leng, Heller & Huang, sp. nov., is described from Tibet, China. Detailed descriptions and figures of the two species are presented.

To explore the evolutionary relationships of Noctuoidea, the complete mitochondrial genome of Lemyra melli (Daniel) was sequenced and annotated. It was 15 418 bp in size, including 37 genes and one AT-rich region. The nucleotide composition was biased towards A+T (78.67%). Most of the protein-coding genes are initiated by typical ATN codons, except for coxI, which uses a CGA. Nine are terminated with TAA or TAG, whereas four genes, coxI, coxII, nad4 and nad6, harbor incomplete termination codons of a single T. All of the tRNA genes have the typical clover-leaf structure, except trnS (AGN). The A+T-rich region is 338 bp, with a 93.38% AT content and several conserved structures, including a ATAGA + poly T stretch, ATTTA + (AT)n, a poly(A), stem-and-loop structure with 5' flanking “TATA” and 3' flanking “GAAT” motifs and tandem-repeated elements. The phylogenetic relationship among the superfamily Noctuoidea is [Notodontidae + (Erebidae + (Nolidae + (Euteliidae + Noctuidae)))], and inside family Erebidae is [Arctiinae + (Aganainae + Lymantriidae)].

A new record species of genus Aegosoma Serville, 1832 is reported from China. The male genitalia of seven species from the genus Aegosoma are described and compared. The result shows that 16 genital characters, such as narrow position of the apex of parameres, ratio of length and width of parameres, curvature of tegmen, ratio of spiculum gastrale and spiculum relictum, ratio of penis and tegmen, ratio of median structs and median lobe, curvature of penis, ratio of tegmen and parameres etc., can be used to identify species of Aegosoma. A key to Chinese species of Aegosoma is presented.

This paper summarizes the advances and challenges in spider taxonomy of China. A table comparing the number of valid genera and species in China, Europe and the world is provided. To date, the Chinese spider fauna is represented by 5,084 species, under 809 genera in 69 spider families. An “All Species Inventory” of spiders in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden provides an example of China’s spider species richness, with more than 782 species recorded within a small area. Intensified research in recent years has grown the national catalog of Chinese spiders from 1,050 species in 1983 to 5,084 species today. There are reasons to believe that spider species richness in China will far exceed this grand total. With enhanced support and investment in spider taxonomic research, many more new species will be discovered and described in China

The well-known ciliate, Mesodinium Stein, 1863, is of great importance to marinemicrobial food webs and is related to the "red tides". However, it is possibly one of the mostconfusing ciliate taxa in terms of its systematic position: either the morphologicalor the molecular data excluded it from all the other known assemblages or groups.In the current work, the sequences of small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) genesfor all isolates available are analysed and an examination of the secondary structurepatterns of related groups is carried out. The results indicate that (1) Mesodinium invariably represents a completely separated and isolated clade positionedbetween two subphyla of ciliates with very deep branching, which indicates thatthey should be a primitive or ancestral group for the subphylum Intramacronucleata;(2) the secondary structure of the SSU rRNA of Mesodinium species is unusual in that, while the secondary structureof V4 in Mesodinium sp. has the deletionscommon to all litostome ciliates, it has more extensive deletions in helix E23_8and a longer helix E23_1; (3) combiningthe phylogenetic and morphological information, we suggest establishing Mesodiniea cl. nov. , including the order MesodiniidaGrain, 1994, belonging to the subphylum Intramacronucleata.

The first stag beetle found in Cretaceous Myanmar amber, Electraesalopsis beuteli Bai, Zhang & Qiu gen. & sp. nov., is described and illustrated on the basis of one well-preserved specimen. This specimen provides more detailed morphological characters compared with compression fossils, e.g. the highly setose antennae and the punctured elytra. However, the systematic position of the new genus is still questionable and we provisionally place it as Lucanidae incertae sedis. In addition, the discovery of Electraesalopsis Bai, Zhang & Qiu gen. nov. also indicates that there is very high biodiversity in Burmese amber. The new discoveries in future studies on Burmese amber will provide more information and improve our knowledge of biogeography and early evolution of the Lucanidae.

Two new turbellarian species, Gieysztoria shantouensis Zhang, Li & Wang, sp. nov. and G. huizhouensis Zhang, Wu & Wang, sp. nov. are described, which were collected from ditches in Shantou and Dongjiang River, Huizhou of Guangdong Province, respectively. G. macrovariata (Weise, 1942) was firstly recorded in China. All specimens examined were deposited in National Zoological Museum, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Scarabaeinae is a globally distributed coprophagous coleopteran group with southeast Asia and Africa as the key areas of distribution. Located in the southern part of China, Hong Kong has subtropical climate and diverse habitats supporting a high diversity of scarabaeines. This paper gives a detailed review on Scarabaeinae from Hong Kong, including the new records to Hong Kong, photographic records of type specimens from Hong Kong, and identification keys to genera and species. A total of 13 genera and 51 species of scarabaeines were recorded in Hong Kong. Among them, 14 species were new records to Hong Kong found in the authors’ recent surveys, viz. Caccobius (Caccophilus) brevis Waterhouse, 1875, Copris (s. str.) punctatus Gillet, 1910, C. (s. str.) szechouanicus Balthasar, 1958, Microcopris propinquus Felsche, 1910, Onitis excavatus Arrow, 1931, Oni. intermedius Frivaldszky, 1892, Oni. subopacus Arrow, 1931, Onthophagus brutus Arrow, 1931, Ont. tricolor Boucomont, 1914, Ont. (Matashia) lenzi Harold, 1874, Ont. (s. str.) roubali Balthasar, 1935, Ont. (Parascatonomus) horni Balthasar, 1935, Scarabaeus (Kheper) erichsoni Harold, 1867 and Sisyphus (s. str.) indicus Hope, 1831. Onthophagus (Paraphanaeomorphus) trituber jacobsoni Kabakov, 2006 was found to be a new synonym of the nominate subspecies. Catharsius davidis Deyrolle & Fairmaire, 1878 and Copris davidis (Deyrolle & Fairmaire, 1878) were found to be the new synonyms of Catharsius molossus (Linnaeus, 1758). Hong Kong was also the only locality where Liatongus pugionatus and Onthophagus convexicollis were recorded over the world.

Based on molecular phylogeny of the Chinese white cross-band krait, Bungarus multicinctus, several individuals from southwestern and southern China were found to be nested within putative species B. candidus (Linnaeus, 1758) with high support values. Morphological examination also indicated these specimens were identical to B. candidus. We concluded that the Chinese white cross-band krait, previously identified as B. multicinctus in southwest and south China, should be recognized as B. candidus, a new record in China, and B. m. wanghaoti should be invalid. B. multicinctus is recurrently limited to southern China within China.

Two new species of the genus Eotmethis Bey-Bienko, 1948 are described in this paper, namely E.daqingshanensis sp. nov. and E. gansuensis sp. nov. from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province, respectively. Thetype specimens of the new species are deposited in College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding,China.

Thirty-two new species of the spider genus Speocera Berland, 1914 from the spider family Ochyroceratidae Fage, 1912 are described from China, Madagascar, and Southeast Asia, namely S. amber Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. ankalana Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. bachma Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. balikpapan Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. ballarini Li & Li sp. nov. (♂), S. batang Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. bawangling Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. bontoc Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. bukittinggi Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. cattien Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. cucphuong Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. cuyapo Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. dongjing Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. gexuejuni Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. griswoldi Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. heilan Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. huifengi Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. huisun Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. lahrak Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. longyan Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. manhao Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. melinh Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. nuichua Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. payakumbuh Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. suea Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. tabuk Li & Li sp. nov. (♀), S. trapezialis Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. trusmadi Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. tubularis Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. xiaoxiaoae Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. xuanson Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀), S. zhigangi Li & Li sp. nov. (♂♀). Types of all new species are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing, China and the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) in San Francisco, USA.

This study reviews the Ptilocodiidae from South China Sea, including three species. The diagnoses of the family and each genus are provided. A new genus, Tregouboviopsis Guo, Xu & Huang, gen. nov. is erected, based on the monotypy, Tregouboviopsis perradialis (Xu, Huang & Du, 2012) comb. nov., which is transferred from the genus Tregoubovia. A free eumedusoid of Hydrichthella ocellata Xu, Huang & Wang, sp. nov. is described in the present paper. A key to known genera of family Ptilocodiidae is presented. All type specimens are deposited in the South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science.