taxonomy

Thirty-four species of oribatid mites (Oribatida), belonging to 29 genera and 14 families, were collected from Saona Island, Southeast Dominican Republic. A new species of the genus Pergalumna—P. (Pergalumna) saonaensis sp. nov.—is described from leaf litter of the mixed forest.

Two new species of oribatid mites (Oribatida)—Hermannobates neotropicus sp. nov. (Hermanniellidae) and Mucrobates venezuelaensis sp. nov. (Scheloribatidae)—are described, based on materials collected from sweep sample in the cloud forest in Western Venezuela. The genus Mucrobates is recorded in the Venezuelan fauna for the first time. Hermannobates neotropicus sp. nov. differs from the closely related species, H. intermedius Călugăr, 1990, by length and morphology of the bothridial seta. Mucrobates venezuelaensis sp. nov. differs from the closely related species, M. cayoaguaensis Ermilov & Kontschán, 2021, by the body size, the length of the bothridial and exobothridial setae, the presence of the pedotectum II, keel-shaped ridge and seta v’ on the leg genu II, and the location of the adanal seta ad1.

Neosetophoma iranianum has so far only been described in its coelomycetous asexual morph. In this study, the sexual morph for this species was recovered for the first time, from dead branches of Lonicera caprifolium, in North Khorasan Province, Iran. The connection between the asexual and sexual morphs of the species was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis based on ITS rDNA sequence data, and morphological traits. The sexual and asexual morphs of N. iranianum are described and illustrated here, and compared with closely related species. A dichotomous key for the identification of all species assigned to the genus Neosetophoma is also provided.

Fungal endophytes are defined as microorganisms with the ability to colonize plants asymptomatically throughout or at least a significant part of their life cycle, thereby establishing a plant-fungal association. In the present study, 44 plant samples, including healthy and symptomless fruit, leaf and branch samples, were collected from Eucalyptus trees located in Tehran, Qom, Alborz, Esfahan, and Mazandaran provinces to isolate and identify the endophytic fungi. Among 170 fungal isolates from collected plant samples, two species were new based on morphological and molecular phylogeny of the ITS rDNA for the Funga of Iran, including Phaeophleospora eucalypticola and Pseudosydowia eucalypti. Furthermore, both species are reported for the first time as endophytic fungi of eucalyptus trees in the world.

A new species of the genus Laelaspis Berlese, L. nematiisp. nov., is described based on adult female specimens collected from ant nest materials, Cataglyphis fritillariaeKhalili-Moghadamet al., 2021 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in Koohrang County (Dashte Laleh), Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiari and from soil in Ahwaz city, Khoozestan Province, southwestern Iran.

The present study is based on oribatid mite material collected from five locations in Eastern Guatemala. A list of 98species, belonging to 68 genera and 43 families, is presented; 70 species are recorded for the first time in Guatemalan fauna.A new species of genus Pergalumna,P. paraobsidianasp. nov.is described from rainforest litter.

A new species, Epitranus longicaudatus sp. nov., is described with illustrations from South India, expanding the genus Epitranus Walker to 73 species globally and 18 from India. The new species is compared with the congeneric species E. salinae Narendran, originally described from Malaysia. Both E. longicaudatus sp. nov. and E. salinae are easily identified within the monotypic subfamily in having large metasoma, more than twice as long as petiole and having gastral terga following the first, telescopic and retracted beneath the first. E. salinae is also diagnosed and illustrated using digital images for the first time. These two species complex is the largest of all described Epitranus.

A new species of cicada, Platylomia jini Wang sp. nov. (Hemiptera, Cicadidae, Cicadinae) is described from Yunnan, China. Illustrations of the habitus and diagnostic characters of the new species are presented. It most resembles P. shaanxiensis Wang & Wei, 2014 from Shaanxi, China. Diagnostic characters of the two species are compared in detail. Platylomia insignis Distant, 1912 and P. operculata Distant, 1913 are commented on their distributions in China, and P. strongata Lei, 1997 is proposed as an unavailable name and a nomen nudum. In addition, an updated list of all 23 known species of the genus Platylomia are presented.

Based on new evidence from morphology, ecology, and DNA barcodes, the taxon originally described as Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) valiabadi asadii Charmeux, 2016, is raised to a specific rank, Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) asadii bona species. It is endemic to Northern Iran and confined to the Dalasm valley in the Alborz mountains. Its preferred larval host is the annual Onobrychis mazanderanica Reich. f., while the larvae of its sister species P. valiabadi feed on O. talagonica Reich. f. (Fabaceae). It can be diagnosed from P. valiabadi and other closely-related species by differences in wing pattern and male genitalia. Our time-calibrated phylogenetic hypothesis estimates that the common ancestor of P. asadii and P. valiabadi split around 750,000 years ago.

Aphids constitute a significant cohort of herbivorous insects, primarily nourishing themselves by extracting plant sap, sometimes posing a notable threat to plant health. Here, we present a comprehensive investigation into the aphid fauna associated with Carthamus in Iran, unveiling 18 species across 11 genera within the Aphididae. Furthermore, 31 associations between aphid species and host plants were recognized, of which two are new for Iran. Our study expands upon prior knowledge by documenting three new occurrences, shedding light on previously unrecorded aphid species in Isfahan and Razavi Khorasan provinces. In addition, we describe the previously unknown male of Uroleucon carthami, offering insights into its life cycle and reproductive strategies. An identification key to the apterous viviparous female aphids living on Carthamus in Iran is provided.

In a study on taxonomy of mycotoxigenic fungi associated with raisins and other dried fruits including apricots, apples and white mulberries, and the traditional food Terkhêna in Mahabad, west of Iran, 33 isolates resembling members of the genus Rhizopus were collected. These isolates were placed in two distinct clusters based on DNA fingerprinting patterns generated by primer (GTG)5. A representative isolate from each cluster was selected for phylogenetic analysis. Based on ITS phylogeny, two representative isolates IRAN 5249C and CJA OGh31 were identified as Rhizopus arrhizus which has previously been reported from soil and clinical samples in Iran. To our knowledge, it is the first report of R. arrhizus on dried fruits apricot and white mulberry and the traditional food Terkhêna around the globe. To clarify the taxonomy of R. arrhizus, we recommend more investigation on the phylogeny of this species using multigene phylogenetic analyses.

The Comoclathris genus belongs to the Pleosporaceae family (Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota), with most species being saprophytes. In the present study, Comoclathris typhicola was isolated from Typha latifolia (Typhaceae, Poales) exhibiting leaf spot symptoms. The species was described using PDA, MEA, and OA culture media, and its molecular identification was confirmed through sequencing of the large subunit RNA polymerase II (RPB2) gene. This is the first report of this species in Iran.

Taxonomy and phylogeny of Erysiphe sect. Erysiphe (Erysiphaceae, Helotiales) in Iran was revised. One hundred samples from the University of Guilan Mycological Fungarium (GUM) and the fungal reference collection of the Ministry of Jihad-e Agriculture (IRAN), as well as newly collected specimens during 2019–2021, were investigated using morphology and ITS-LSU rDNA sequence analysis. Based on our findings, Erysiphe sect. Erysiphe has 22 accepted and two unknown species in Iran viz.: E. aquilegiae, E. betae, E.  buhrii, E.  caulicola, E.  circaeae, E.  convolvuli, E.  cruchetiana, E. cruciferarum, E.  heraclei, E. howeana, E.  limonii, E. lycopsidis, E.  malvae, E.  mayorii,  E.  medicaginis, E.  paeoniae, E. pisi, E. polygoni, E. punicae, E. rumicicola, E.  sedi, E. urticae. E. sedi and E. paeoniae are new records for the funga of Iran. In addition, Mesostemma kotschyana (Caryophyllaceae) is reported as a new host for E. buhrii. The occurrence of potential cryptic species on Urtica spp. is discussed as well

The order Orthoptera, including locusts, grasshoppers, mole crickets, crickets and bushcrickets, are generally herbivores. With large-scale and single-crop agriculture development, some locusts and grasshoppers appeared as pests and sometimes caused famine and crisis. The plateau of Iran is the origin of many cereal cultivars. Since some morphological characters, particularly the male internal genitalia in nymphs do not differentiate enough for confident diagnosis; the classical morphological identification of grasshoppers is largely based on the characteristics of adults. However, identifying the nymphs is very important in the field from the economic point of view, because most crop loss is due to the nymphal damage. Although accurate molecular determination is possible even in the egg stage, this technique is costly and specialized. Thus, providing cheaper and simpler approaches have rational perspectives. Our studies showed that some morphological features in nymphs could be practised at a genus-level field identification, none of the important grasshoppers related to wheat cultivation in Iran has apterism, and only the macroscopic characteristics of nymphs of two ages before maturity provide the necessary accuracy for field identification. Therefore, from 2019 through 2021, morphological characteristics of developing organs that could be informative for taxonomy in the late-stage nymphs were investigated in 362 nymphs belonging to 22 genera of 8 subfamilies out of 2 families. As a result, some 35 most conservative characters and 79 character-states were extracted. Afterwards, an illustrated key for field genus identification was prepared based on a sort of data. Education and extension of these filed identification outputs can avoid wasting time and money and lessen pollution of the environment with hazardous chemical agricultural pesticides before any control operation.

There are 33 aphid species reported so far on Lamiaceae plants in Iran. In this research, a total of 19 aphid species belonging to 12 genera were collected on 20 host plant species. Furthermore, 33 associations between aphid species and host plants were recognized, of which six are new for Iran. Among the examined specimens, an Ovatus species collected on Mentha longifolia showed a complete range of intermediate biometric data of O. mentharius (van der Goot, 1913) and O. archangelskajae Kadyrbekov, 2008. In view of the biometric data from samples of Iran, we conclude that O. archangelskajae is a geographical variant of O. mentharius, therefore we consider it as a synonym for O. mentharius and redescribe O. mentharius as its morphological entities are extended. In this paper, the distribution of the aphid species in different parts of Iran is also presented and six new occurrences are reported for Fars and Kerman provinces. An identification key to the apterous viviparous female aphids living on Lamiaceae in Iran is provided.

The present study is focused on the species belonging to the genus Maiestas Distant, 1917 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Deltocephalinae, Deltocephalini) in Iran, based on some specimens collected during 2016 to 2019 from Southeast Iran and species that have been previously reported: M. horvathi (Then, 1896), M. pruthii (Metcalf, 1967), M. schmidtgeni (Wagner, 1939), and M. trifasciata (Lindberg, 1954). M. pruthii, previously known from the Oriental region (India and Pakistan), is recorded for the first time in the Palaearctic region from Southeast Iran and M. horvathi is a new record for the fauna of Sistan and Baluchestan Province. An identification key and distribution maps for the Iranian Maiestas species are provided.