We describe a new family and genus of stoloniferous octocorals (Alcyonacea) and a new genus of Clavulariidae from material collected in South Africa in 2008. Arulidae, fam. nov., is characterised by polyps whose tentacles are fused proximally to form an expanded oral membrane, and sclerites of a type (‘table-radiates’) that has not been recorded previously in Octocorallia. One species, Arula petunia, gen. nov., sp. nov., is described, and the possible existence of congeners elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific is discussed. Inconstantia, gen. nov., is erected for three new species of Clavulariidae that have no or only weak anthocodial armature. I. pannucea, sp. nov., and I. procera, sp. nov., both have tall, cylindrical calyces, while I. exigua, sp. nov., has low, retractile calyces. Despite these morphological differences that would normally place them in different subfamilies, all three species are nearly identical genetically. We also describe Cornularia pabloi, sp. nov., a new species of Cornulariidae from South Africa, and discuss an unidentified species of Carijoa with an unusual colony growth form. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of 130 octocoral taxa, including 15 genera of stoloniferans, supports the distinctions of these new taxa from existing families and genera, and highlights the polyphyletic distribution of the taxa attributed to family Clavulariidae.

Many smooth-barked Eucalyptus spp.in south-eastern Australia bear distinctive scribbles caused by the larva of some Ogmograptis spp. However, although these scribbles are conspicuous, the systematics and biology of the genus is poorly known. This has been addressed through detailed field and laboratory studies of the biology of three species (O. racemosa Horak, sp. nov., O. fraxinoides Horak, sp. nov., O. scribula Meyrick) in conjunction with a comprehensive taxonomic revision supported by a molecular phylogeny utilising the mitochondrial Cox1 and nuclear 18S genes. In brief, eggs are laid in bark depressions and the first-instar larvae bore into the bark to the level where the future cork cambium forms (the phellogen). Early-instar larvae bore wide, arcing tracks in this layer before forming a tighter zig-zag-shaped pattern. The second-last instar turns and bores either closely parallel to the initial mine or doubles its width, along the zig-zag-shaped mine. The final instar possesses legs and a spinneret (unlike the earlier instars) and feeds exclusively on callus tissue that forms within the zig-zag-shaped mine formed by the previous instar, before emerging from the bark to pupate at the base of the tree. The scars of mines then become visible scribbles following the shedding of the outer bark. Sequence data confirm the placement of Ogmograptis within the Bucculatricidae, suggest that the larvae responsible for the ‘ghost scribbles’ (raised scars found on smooth-barked eucalypts) are members of the related genus Tritymba Meyrick, and support the morphology-based species groups proposed for Ogmograptis. The formerly monotypic genus Ogmograptis Meyrick is revised and divided into three species groups. Eleven new species are described: Ogmograptis fraxinoides Horak, sp. nov., Ogmograptis racemosa Horak, sp. nov., and Ogmograptis pilularis Horak, sp. nov., forming the scribula group with Ogmograptis scribula Meyrick; Ogmograptis maxdayi Horak, sp. nov., Ogmograptis barloworum Horak, sp. nov., Ogmograptis paucidentatus Horak, sp. nov., Ogmograptis rodens Horak, sp. nov., Ogmograptis bignathifer Horak, sp. nov., and Ogmograptis inornatus Horak, sp. nov., as the maxdayi group; Ogmograptis bipunctatus Horak, sp. nov., Ogmograptis pulcher Horak, sp. nov., Ogmograptis triradiata (Turner), comb. nov., and Ogmograptis centrospila (Turner), comb. nov., as the triradiata group. Ogmograptis notosema (Meyrick) cannot be assigned to a species group as the holotype has not been located. Three unique synapomorphies, all derived from immatures, redefine the family Bucculatricidae, uniting Ogmograptis, Tritymba (both Australian) and Leucoedemia Scoble & Scholtz (African) with Bucculatrix Zeller, which is the sister group of the Southern Hemisphere genera. The systematic history of Ogmograptis and the Bucculatricidae is discussed.

We revise the Neotropical snail-feeding Charadrella and add two new species to it, one from Bolivia and one from Brazil. Additionally, we perform a cladistic analysis of the genus, based on morphological characters. Parsimony analyses were carried out under equal and implied weights. Our matrix included 25 species from nine Neotropical and three Afrotropical genera, including the snail-feeding Cariocamyia Snyder (Neotropical), Aethiopomyia Malloch, Alluaudinella Giglio-Tos and Ochromusca Bigot (Afrotropical). The following relationships between the species of Charadrella were recovered: (C. albuquerquei (C. macrosoma (C. malacophaga (C. boliviana, sp. nov., C. nambikwara, sp. nov.)))). In our chosen topology, the clade that includes Charadrella has the following topology (Dichaetomyia (Alluaudinella (Ochromusca (Itatingamyia (Cariocamyia, Charadrella))))), supporting the placement of the genus in the Dichaetomyiinae.

The wheat curl mite (WCM), Aceria tosichella (Keifer, 1969), is one of the primary pests of wheat and other cereals throughout the world. Traditional taxonomy recognises WCM as a single eriophyoid species; however, a recent study suggested that two genetic lineages of WCM in Australia might represent putative species. Here, we investigate WCM populations from different host plants in Australia, South America and Europe and test the hypothesis that WCM is, in fact, a complex of cryptic species. We used morphological data in combination with nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear D2 region of 28S rDNA and internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1, ITS2) sequences. The molecular analyses did not support the monophyly of A. tosichella because the outgroup A. tulipae (Keifer, 1938) is grouped within WCM. The molecular datasets indicated the existence of distinct lineages within WCM, with the distances between lineages corresponding to interspecific divergence. Morphological analyses failed to clearly separate WCM populations and lineages, but completely separated A. tulipae from A. tosichella. The results suggest that what has been recognised historically as a single species is, in fact, a complex of several genetically isolated evolutionary lineages that demonstrate potential as cryptic species. Hence, their discrimination using solely morphological criteria may be misleading. These findings are particularly significant because of the economic importance of WCM as a direct pest and vector of plant viruses.

(Vol. 26, No. 1, 2012, pp. 83-114, doi:10.1071/IS11043)

p. 90. The last couplet in the key to species of Mcateella was inadvertently omitted. It should read: