Rhytiphora Audinet-Serville, 1835 is the most speciose longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae Latreille, 1802) genus in Australia, with ~200 species (from nearly 40 former genera, now synonymised into one) distributed across the entire continent. We used mitochondrial genome data from whole genome shotgun sequencing and COI barcoding of museum specimens to reconstruct the phylogeny of 68 Rhytiphora species, and analysed the morphological diversity and biogeographic history. We recovered a monophyletic Rhytiphora containing two distinct clades, within which all of the former genera (except Achriotypa Pascoe, 1875) are paraphyletic. Nine morphological traits (including body size and the male setose ‘sex patches’) show strong phylogenetic signal and can be used to differentiate between the two clades. One clade is mainly restricted to Australia’s tropical north, whereas the other, larger clade has many species along the mesic east coast. Both clades have experienced multiple biome shifts, displaying a remarkable flexibility in habitat occupancy.

Figuladra is a poorly understood genus of camaenid land snail endemic to subtropical eastern Australia, comprising species that inhabit either dry rainforests in the coastal hinterland or dry sclerophyll forests further inland. Given that the genus occurs in areas that have seen extensive land clearing, such as the inland brigalow scrub (savannah) and coastal vine thickets (dry rainforest), resolution of this genus is required to inform conservation efforts within these critical landscapes. Here we use an integrative approach based on comparative analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences and key morphological features to review the systematic relationships within the group. Specifically, we performed Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses of concatenated DNA sequences of two partial mitochondrial genes (16S and COI) to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of Figuladra. We subsequently examined features of the reproductive system that are considered to be useful in diagnosing genera (whole genitalia) and species (penial architecture) within the Camaenidae. Based on patterns of molecular differentiation and an assessment of the anatomy, we propose a more restrictive definition of Figuladra and describe two new monotypic genera for species that were previously assigned to Figuladra; Euryladra gen. nov. for Varohadra incei mattea Iredale, 1933 and Brigaladra gen. nov. for Varohadra volgiola Iredale, 1933. These two new genera differ from Figuladra sensu stricto in exhibiting distinctive epiphallic coiling patterns and anatomical differences of the penis–epiphallus configuration. The study shows that these three genera, and allied taxa, reveal contrasting patterns of diversity and distribution in two neighbouring habitat types: high levels of diversity and endemism in fire-sensitive seasonal subtropical forests juxtaposed against low diversity in large intervening areas of regularly burnt savannah and open woodlands.

The Chilean land planarian genus Gusana (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Geoplaninae) currently comprises three species that were described in the 19th century. Four new species of the genus are described herein, namely G. hualpensis Carbayo, sp. nov., G. lujanae Almeida & Carbayo, sp. nov., G. melipeucensis Almeida & Carbayo, sp. nov. and G. purensis Bolonhezi, Almeida & Carbayo, sp. nov. An integrative taxonomy approach was adopted by combining morphological (anatomy, histology) and molecular (COI and 28S genes) information. Additionally, the monophyletic status of Gusana is investigated and the species are delimited by a recently introduced molecular delimitation method based on pairwise genetic distances. All Gusana species are very similar in attributes such as body shape, dorsal colour pattern and internal organs, namely the pharynx and copulatory apparatus and only differ in the details. Gusana is retrieved as monophyletic and the molecular delimitation method recovered the same species recognised morphologically. A re-diagnosis of the genus and replacement of G. lata into Pseudogeoplana are also proposed. A new role of the penis papilla is also suggested based on the spermatophore found in Gusana lujanae.

Many tropical insect species remain formally undescribed, and the validity of some rarely collected and poorly studied taxa is uncertain. Overbeckia Viehmeyer, 1916 is a monotypic ant genus and a rare member of the arboreal ant communities of tropical South East Asia and Australasia. Overbeckia subclavata Viehmeyer, 1916 was collected and described from Singapore more than a century ago and there have been few other records of these ants since. Here we compare the existing Overbeckia records with recent collections in Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia. We revise the taxonomic diagnosis of the genus Overbeckia in comparison with other genera of the diverse tribe Camponotini, redescribe O. subclavata and describe two new species, Overbeckia papuana sp. nov., and Overbeckia jambiensis, sp. nov. We also summarise all available ecological and distributional information of the genus, indicating that Overbeckia occurs in a variety of lowland vegetation types, from rainforests to secondary growth and plantations but is extremely rare. Using external morphological characters, internal proventricular structures and a molecular phylogeny of 78 Camponotini species based on five protein-coding loci, we demonstrate that Overbeckia is a monophyletic lineage. Molecular-clock calibrated trees using 21 fossil records indicate that the divergence between Overbeckia and its sister clade comprising the genera Echinopla Smith, 1857 and Calomyrmex Emery, 1895 occurred c. 21 Ma (95% highest posterior density 14–28), and that the divergence between the three Overbeckia species likely occurred in the late Miocene and Pliocene. In addition, we transfer one Camponotus Mayr, 1861 species to Colobopsis in the light of molecular evidence: Colobopsis triangulata (Klimes & McArthur, 2014) comb. nov. Our analysis represents the most comprehensive phylogeny of the tribe Camponotini in terms of coverage of extant divergent lineages, including Overbeckia, and suggests relatively robust phylogenetic relationships among genera that are consistent with published phylogenomic trees. Overall, our study reveals cryptic species diversity in Overbeckia and provides strong evidence that this is a valid and polytypic ant genus.