The small reduviid subfamily Physoderinae has the greatest species diversity in the Oriental region and Madagascar. Only the two monotypic genera Cryptophysoderes Wygodzinsky and Maldonado and Leptophysoderes Weirauch are currently known from the Neotropical region. We here describe and document a new, sexually dimorphic species of Physoderinae, Leptophysoderes sarapiqui sp. nov. from Costa Ric...

We isolated nine microsatellite loci from the Neotropical understorey tree Miconia affinis (Melastomataceae) and optimized them for research on gene flow and genetic structure. Loci screened in 43 individuals from a 2.26-km(2) region were shown to be unlinked and polymorphic, with 5 to 14 alleles per locus and observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.394 to 0.810.

The Neotropical genus Marbenia Malloch is revised and now includes 3 species: Marbenia cinerea, sp. nov., Marbenia pallida, sp. nov. and Marbenia peculiaris Malloch, 1931. The genus is herein recorded from the amazonian region of South America (Bolivia, Brazil and Ecuador), and characters of male and female terminalia are illustrated for the first time.

The spider family Theridiidae Sundevall, 1833 is currently represented by 121 genera and 2,387 species distributed worldwide (Platnick, 2014), of which 52 genera are recorded in the Neotropical region. The genus Episinus Latreille, 1809 has 57 described species but only 29 (50.8%) are known by both sexes (Platnick, 2014). The type species of the genus, E. truncatus Latreille, 1809, was describe...

The type material of six species of Porricondylinae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) described from the Neotropical Region between 1905 and 1936 is re-examined. On the basis of revised adult descriptions the classification of these species is analyzed and discussed. Lectotypes are designated for Asynapta citrinae Felt, A. mangiferae Felt, Holoneurus occidentalis Felt, and Porricondyla gossypii Coquillett.

A male nematode was extracted from iris fibers of a man from the Brazilian Amazon region. This nematode belonged to the genus Pelecitus but was distinct from the 16 known species in this genus. Similarities with Pelecitus spp. from neotropical birds suggested an avian origin for this species.

The genus Ditylometopa Kertész (Diptera: Stratiomyidae, Clitellariinae), which occurs only in the Neotropical Region, is reviewed. Euryneura rufifrons Curran, 1934 is synonymized with Ditylometopa elegans Kertész, 1923. A neotype is designated for D. elegans. Two species are recognized, including Ditylometopa centralensis sp. nov., which is described from Costa Rica (type locality) and Nicaragu...

BACKGROUND The genus Melaloncha is a large group of species of parasitoid phorid flies that attack Hymenoptera, mostly stingless bees (Meliponinae, Apidae) in the Neotropical Region. NEW INFORMATION Two new Brazilian species, Melaloncha (Melaloncha) peacockorum sp. n. and Melaloncha (Udamochiras) nielsi sp. n., are described and their identification clarified.