A striking example of plant/pollinator trait matching is found between Andean species of Passiflora with 6-14-cm-long nectar tubes and the sword-billed hummingbird, Ensifera ensifera, with up to 11-cm-long bills. Because of the position of their anthers and stigmas, and self-incompatibility, these passionflower species depend on E. ensifera for pollination. Field observations show that the bird...

Representatives of the Orthopteran suborder Ensifera (crickets, katydids, and related insects) are well known for acoustic signals produced in the contexts of courtship and mate recognition. We present a phylogenetic estimate of Ensifera for a sample of 51 taxonomically diverse exemplars, using sequences from 18S, 28S, and 16S rRNA. The results support a monophyletic Ensifera, monophyly of most...

We record Dolichopoda lustriae Rampini & Di Russo, 2008 (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Rhaphidophoridae) from the Pindus mountain range in Epirus, Greece, more than 200 km to north of type locality...

BACKGROUND Molecular genetic analyses of parentage provide insights into mating systems. Although there are 22,000 members in Malacostraca, not much has been known about mating systems in Malacostraca. The freshwater shrimp Caridina ensifera blue, is a new species belonging to Malacostraca which was discovered recently in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Due to its small body size and low fecundity, this s...

Two new Cocconitini Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1895 species belonging to Nesonotus Beier, 1960 are described from the Lesser Antilles: Nesonotus caeruloglobus Hugel, n. sp. from Dominica, and Nesonotus vulneratus Hugel, n. sp. from Martinique. The songs of both species are described and elements of biology are given. The taxonomic status of species close to Nesonotus tricornis (Thunberg, 1815) is d...

Since the 1990ies a great number of Meconematinae mainly from Asia have been described (OTTE & NASKRECKI, 1997). Within this subfamily GOROCHOV (1993) revised, amongst others, the heterogeneous genus Xiphidiopsis REDTENBACHER 1891 and divided it in numerous new genera and subgenera. Two of them are relevant for the present paper: Kuzicus GOROCHOV 1993, based on K. suzukii (MATSUMURA & SHIRAKI 1...

In Ensifera, the lack of well-supported phylogeny and the focus on acoustic communication of the terminal taxa hinders understanding of the evolutionary history of their signalling behaviour and the related sensory structures. For Rhaphidophoridae, the most relic of ensiferans following morphology-based phylogenies, the signalling modes are still unknown. Together with a detailed description of...

The cleptoparasitic bee genus Townsendiella Crawford (Nomadinae, Townsendiellini) is a rare group restricted to the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico, whose taxonomy and biology remain poorly known. This paper describes Townsendiella ensifera sp. n., the first known record of this genus from Pinnacles National Park. A key to the species of the genus is provided. Several potential a...

Comparative studies of the organization of nervous systems and sensory organs can reveal their evolution and specific adaptations. In the forelegs of some Ensifera (including crickets and tettigoniids), tympanal hearing organs are located in close proximity to the mechanosensitive subgenual organ (SGO). In the present study, the SGO complex in the non-hearing cave cricket Troglophilus neglectus...