Geckos are one of the most widespread and diverse squamate taxa in the Pacific region and play a major role in explaining colonisation history and locating faunal affinities. We describe a new species of large growing Gehyra Gray, 1834 from the Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu based on molecular phylogenetics and morphology. Gehyra georgpotthasti n. sp. was formerly included within G. vorax Girard, 1857, but has longer postmental scales, more postrostral scales, and usually fewer subdigital lamellae and precloacal-femoral pores. We here designate a lectotype for G. vorax and propose a close relationship of this species to G. georgpotthasti n. sp. and G. membranacruralis King & Horner, 1989. The phylogenetic position of G. marginata Boulenger, 1887 as sister species to G. oceanica (Lesson, 1830) is described and new morphological evidence also disproves the previously supposed close relationship with G. vorax. Both G. georgpotthasti n. sp. and G. vorax have been introduced to Polynesia by human activities, as Polynesian populations of both taxa are genetically and morphologically indistinguishable from populations within their respective native ranges. But even within its native range, G. georgpotthasti n. sp. shows little genetic variability, inferring a recent colonisation history. Systematics of this group confirm the close Zoogeographic relationship between Vanuatu and the Loyalty Islands.

The first Mutillidae collected in Vanuatu, on Espiritu Santo, are described as a new genus and species: Ancistrotilla azurea n. gen., n. sp. This extends the known range of distribution of the family on the Pacific islands. Three further species of Ancistrotilla n. gen., A. bleuensis n. gen., n. sp., A. aenigmatica n. gen., n. sp. and A. nigra n. gen., n. sp., are described from New Caledonia; A. caledonica (André, 1896) n. comb, is redescribed and compared, and a lectotype is designated. Several other Australasian species are transferred to Ancistrotilla n. gen.: A. albocaudata (André, 1898) n. comb., A. calcarina (André, 1898) n. comb., A. carbonaria (Smith, 1855) n. comb., A. fabricii (André, 1898) n. comb., A. senilis (André, 1898) n. comb., A. transiens (André, 1898) n. comb., A. transitoria (André, 1903) n. comb, and A. viridiceps (André, 1895) n. comb. The existence of several additional undescribed species of Ancistrotilla n. gen. in Australia and New Guinea is noted. Ancistrotilla n. gen. is distinguished from other sphaeropthalmine genera particularly by: in the male, the antennal scrobe with transverse carina dorsally and separate lamellate projection dorsolaterally, clypeus with pair of large acute teeth medially on anterior/ventral margin, T1 with narrow pale integumental band posteriorly, parapenial lobe medially curved and hook-like apically, and penis valve with single strong apical tooth; in the female, the antennal scrobe with strong dorsal carina almost reaching eye, mentum convex and glossa short and blunt, Tl with narrow pale integumental band posteriorly, T2 without apical medially oriented pubescence, pygidial plate broad and delimited, and hypopygium strongly bidentate medioapically.

Xylophion sevrapek Villemant n. sp. (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) is described from Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu and compared to the two other described species of the genus, X. xylus (Gauld, 1977) and X. ketus (Gauld, 1977).

Kryptosega mweramwera Villemant n. sp. (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Chrysididae, Amiseginae) is the first Chrysididae species recorded from Vanuatu. It was collected with Malaise traps on the Espiritu Santo Island during the SANTO 2006 expedition. The genus Kryptosega Kimsey, 1986 known to date by only two species, is recorded here for the first time outside of Papua New Guinea.

The grasshopper genus Hebridea Willemse, 1926 is redefined, the species Hebridea rufotibialis Willemse, 1926 from Espiritu Santo is redescribed and life history traits are given. Hebridea amedegnatoae n. sp. is described from Malekula Island. Examination of its morphology reveals that Hebridea belongs to Catantopinae Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1893 and not to Cyrtacanthacridinae Kirby, 1902. Relations of Hebridea with closely related Catantopinae genera are discussed.MOTS CLÉS Orthoptera, Caetifera, Acrididae, Catantopinae, Cyrtacanthacridinae, sud-ouest du Pacifique, espèce nouvelle.

We describe and quantify the mating behavioural sequence of Lebinthus santoensis Robillard, 2009, a cricket species from Espiritu Santo Island (Vanuatu) characterised by ultrasonic calling songs reaching 26 kHz. In trials carried out in laboratory we observed the complete mating sequence for two couples. We observed sequences of multiple copulations of short duration repeated at constant intervals, characterised by high rates of tremulation and acoustic activity, and showing an overlapping between the inter-copulation guarding and courtship. We analysed the durations of the production, transfer and retract of successive spermatophores and described the male and female behaviours during courtship and mating.

The long-legged crickets (Grylloidea, Phalangopsidae Blanchard, 1845) collected during the SANTO 2006 Global Biodiversity Survey are studied. Three genera (four species) are represented in the material at hand: three troglobitic species (Megacris lipsae n. gen., n. sp., Parendacustes sp. 1, Parendacustes sp. 2) and one epigean species (Brevizacla molisae n. sp.) widespread in Santo rainforests. The species are defined by their morphology and male and female genitalia, and their habitats documented. These taxa are briefly compared to New Caledonian Phalangopsidae.

An annotated list of Tenebrionidae Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera Linnaeus, 1758) collected by one of the authors (LS) during the SANTO 2006 expedition is given. It concerns the period covered by the section “Fallow & Aliens” during October 2006. These faunistic data are completed with the description of a new species: Uloma vanuatensis L. Soldati n. sp. Furthermore, biogeographic hypotheses on the colonisation of the Vanuatu archipelago are presented to explain the origin of the tenebrionid fauna.

Four new skates of the genus Notoraja Ishiyama, 1958 are described from the rarely accessed, deep waters off New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji islands, and the Norfolk Ridge. Three of these (N. alisae n. sp., N. longiventralis n. sp. and N. fijiensis n. sp.) are “velcro skates” which are characterised by their velvety dorsal and ventral surfaces, covered with fine denticles. Although similar in shape, they differ by their colour pattern, dermal armature, development of the lateral tail folds, and size of the pelvic-fin anterior lobe and nasal curtain. The description of the fourth species, Notoraja inusitata n. sp., is based on a juvenile male exhibiting some unusual features resembling those of other skate genera.

The genus Liotipoma McLean & Kiel, 2007, was proposed for a remarkable small-shelled gastropod genus from coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific that resemble the family Liotiidae Gray, 1850 in having fine axial lamellae and a thickened terminal lip, but differ in having the solid calcareous operculum of the family Colloniidae Cossmann, 1916. The genus was originally assigned to the otherwise Cretaceous subfamily Petropomatinae Cox, 1960 of the family Colloniidae, because the inner side of the operculum is multispiral, conical and projecting, as in the Mesozoic genera assigned to Petropomatinae. Here the genus Liotipoma is assigned to a new colloniid subfamily Liotipomatinae n. subfam., because its axial lamellae are unknown in the Cretaceous genera of Petropomatinae. Four genera are now recognised; all species are known from shell grit samples collected by diving or dredging at coral reefs from recent MNHN expeditions to New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu) and Wallis Island, and also from LACM material from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and the Marshall Islands. The most speciose genus is Liotipoma, with eight known species, seven of which are new and described here the largest known species is L. magna n. sp. from Santo, Vanuatu. Also described are: Depressipoma n. gen. with two new species from the Marshall Islands; Rhombipoma n. gen., with one new species from Rowley Shoals, northwestern Australia; and Paraliotipoma n. gen., with one new species from Sea Horse Shoal, South China Sea. Although live-collected specimens are still unknown, sexual dimorphism in Liotipoma was reported for the type species when the genus was described. Here it is reported from four of the eight known species of that genus, expressed in expansion of the umbilical cavity as a brood chamber in the female shell, as previously reported in the families Liotiidae and Colloniidae. In two species the worn female shell shows an irregular degradation of the umbilical cavity, which is considered the effect of bearing a large egg mass and brood. For reasons unknown, female shells of most species of Liotipoma are much less frequent than male shells. Formal validation of Areneidae n. fam. is provided in an addendum to this paper.

The adult male of Centropages orsinii Giesbrecht, 1889 is redescribed based on a single specimen collected in an anchialine cave on the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu. The mouthparts of this species have never previously been described and figured. Males exhibit a remarkable asymmetry in the form of the basis of leg 4. On the right leg only the basis carries three processes on its posterior surface, a unique asymmetry for the entire Calanoida. Comparison with males from other locations in the Indo-Pacific reveals some variation in the precise form of these processes. Some other species of Centropages exhibit sexually dimorphic asymmetry, with modified setation elements present on the exopod of right leg 4 only in males. It is speculated that this might be correlated with the strong asymmetry exhibited in females of some species within the genus.

This paper documents the species of Pectinoidea Rafinesque, 1815 collected in Vanuatu during the SANTO 2006 expedition. A total of 49 species (13 Propeamussiidae Abbott, 1954, 4 Cyclochlamydidae n. fam., 1 Entoliidae Teppner, 1922, and 31 Pectinidae Rafinesque, 1815) are represented, of which 70% are new records for Vanuatu. A new family, Cyclochlamydidae n. fam., is established for the genera Cyclochlamys Finlay, 1926, Chlamydella lredale, 1929 and Micropecten n. gen., formerly placed in Propeamussiidae, but differing by their sculptured prodissoconch (smooth in Propeamussiidae), an occasionally antimarginally sculptured right valve (smooth or weak commarginally sculptured in Propeamussiidae), a (common) simple outer prismatic layer of longitudinally hexagonal microstructure on the right valve (an outer layer of columnar calcite in Propeamussiidae). The family Cyclochlamydidae n. fam. includes about 30 species, all with adult size in the 1.2–6 mm range, and living mainly in the Southern Hemisphere and Indo-West Pacific; the family is not known from the Arctic, the Atlantic, or the northern and eastern Pacific. One new genus, Micropecten n. gen., and two new species, Cyclochlamys aperta n. sp. and Micropecten excuratus n. gen., n. sp., are described.