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Larvae of European rose chafer Cetonia aurata (Linnaeus, 1758) and cockchafer Melolontha sp. beetles were collected in Hungary for parasitological study. Intestinal examination revealed the presence of three well-known thelastomatid nematodes belonging to the genus Cephalobellus Cobb, 1920. We report for the first-time Cephalobellus cuspidatum (Rudolphi, 1814) Leibersperger, 1960, C. osmodermae Leibersperger, 1960, and C. potosiae Leibersperger, 1960 in Hungary, all found in scarab beetle larvae. Due to incomplete original descriptions, a comprehensive redescription with detailed morphological data is presented. Additionally, an identification key for closely related Cephalobellus, Thelastoma and Severianoia species infesting scarab beetles worldwide is provided. Newly generated 18S and 28S rDNA gene sequences of C. osmodermae place it as one of the early branches within Thelastomatidae., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Cyclocotyla bellones Otto, 1823 (Monogenea, Diclidophoridae) is one of the few monogenean species reported as hyperparasitic: the worms dwell on cymothoid isopods, themselves parasites of the buccal cavity of fishes. We present here observations based on newly collected monogenean specimens from Ceratothoa parallela (Otto, 1828), an isopod parasite of Boops boops off Algeria and also investigated its diet to address whether Cy. bellones is indeed a hyperparasite, i.e., whether it feeds on the isopod. We also compared the body shape of various monogeneans belonging to the same family as Cy. bellones, the Diclidophoridae, including Choricotyle cf. chrysophryi Van Beneden & Hesse, 1863, collected from Pagellus acarne off Algeria. No morphological character of the anterior organs suggested any special adaptation in Cy. bellones to the perforation of the crustacean cuticle. The wall of the oesophagus and of the intestine of Cy. bellones was lined with a dark pigment similar to what is usually observed in haematophagous polyopisthocotyleans, and which is derived from ingested fish blood. We noticed that an anterior elongate stem exists only in diclidophorids dwelling on parasitic isopods and never in those attached to the gills. We hypothesize that the anterior stem of the body of Cy. bellones is an anatomical adaptation for the monogenean to feed on the fish while dwelling on the isopod. We thus consider that Cy. bellones is an epibiont of the parasitic crustacean, as it uses it merely as an attachment substrate, and is not a true hyperparasite., (© C. Bouguerche et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2022.)

Sexual conflict is thought to be an important evolutionary force in driving phenotypic diversification, population divergence, and speciation. However, empirical evidence is inconsistent with the generality that sexual conflict enhances population divergence. Here, we demonstrate an alternative evolutionary outcome in which sexual conflict plays a conservative role in maintaining male and female polymorphisms locally, rather than promoting population divergence. In diving beetles, female polymorphisms have evolved in response to male mating harassment and sexual conflict. We present the first empirical evidence that this female polymorphism is associated with (i) two distinct and sympatric male morphological mating clusters (morphs) and (ii) assortative mating between male and female morphs. Changes in mating traits in one sex led to a predictable change in the other sex which leads to predictable within-population evolutionary dynamics in male and female morph frequencies. Our results reveal that sexual conflict can lead to assortative mating between male offence and female defence traits, if a stable male and female mating polymorphisms are maintained. Stable male and female mating polymorphisms are an alternative outcome to an accelerating coevolutionary arms race driven by sexual conflict. Such stable polymorphisms challenge the common view of sexual conflict as an engine of rapid speciation via exaggerated coevolution between sexes.

The genus Asthenara Förster, 1869, belonging to the tribe Pionini of the subfamily Ctenopelmatinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae), comprises eight described species (Yu et al. 2012). Two of them are distributed in the Palaearctic Region, and six in the Neotropical region. One Neotropical species is known from Costa Rica (Gauld et al. 1997), the remaining five from Mexico (Kasparyan 2006). Kasparyan (2006) provided a key to the species from the Mexico. To date, no species of the genus have been described from Nearctic region or south of Costa Rica. In this article a new species belonging to Asthenara, collected in the Mexican state of Jalisco is described.

The genus Lathrolestes Förster (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Northern Europe is reviewed. A new species, L. oelandinus sp. n. from Öland (Southern Sweden) is described. Illustrated diagnoses for 23 Northern European species are provided. Lathrolestes soperi Reshchikov, 2010 is recorded for the first time in the Palaearctic region (from the UK) and L. bipunctatus (Bridgman, 1886), L. citreus (Brischke, 1878), L. clypeatus (Zetterstedt, 1838) are new records for Denmark, and L. moravicus Habermehl, 1923 is a new record for Finland, France and Russia. Additionally L. ensator recorded newly from Belorus, L. erythrocephalus from Azerbaijan, L. macropygus and L. pictilis from Austria. Trophic interactions of the genus are discussed.

Nine species of Acropimpla Townes, 1960 are recorded from Thailand with three species described as new: A. leoni sp.n., A. natae sp.n., A. patellalutea sp.n. Six species, A. aspera Gupta & Tikar, 1976, A. hapaliae (Rao, 1953), A. leucostoma (Cameron, 1907), A. nakula Gupta & Tikar, 1976, A. taishunensis Liu, He & Chen, 2010, and A. uchidai (Cushman, 1933) are recorded from Thailand for the first time. A key to the females of Acropimpla species in South East Asia is also provided.

Seven new species of the genus Physotarsus Townes are described and illustrated: P. iquitos Reshchikov and Sääksjärvi sp. n., P. mishanensis Reshchikov and Sääksjärvi sp. n., P. orellanensis Reshchikov and Sääksjärvi sp. n., P. polleti Reshchikov and Sääksjärvi sp. n., P. saltilloensis Reshchikov sp. n., P. tampobata Reshchikov and Sääksjärvi sp. n., and P. tunchi Reshchikov sp. n. The male of P. oculatus Zhaurova, 2009 is described for the first time. An illustrated key for Neotropical species is provided.

A new species, Clystopyga longifemoralis Varga & Reshchikov sp. n., is described and illustrated from Thailand. Clistopyga latifrontalis (Uchida, 1941) is re-described and illustrated. Clistopyga nagatomii Kusigemati, 1984 is considered to be a junior synonym of C. sziladyi Kiss, 1959 (syn. nov) and also recorded from India for the first time.

A new species, Polysphincta punctigaster Varga & Reshchikov sp. n., the second known species of the genus from the Oriental region, is described from Thailand. Polysphincta asiatica Kusigemati, 1984 is considered to be a junior synonym of P. boops Tschek, 1869 (syn. nov.). Polysphincta longa Kasparyan, 1976 is recorded from the Oriental region for the first time.

The genus Aplomerus Provancher, 1886 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) is a small genus of the subfamily Xoridinae. Two new species from Asia, A. orientalis Varga & Reshchikov sp. n. from Thailand and A. phamae Broad sp. n. from Vietnam, are described and illustrated. An identification key for Asian species is provided. These are the first records of the genus from the Oriental region and increases the known number of Aplomerus species to eight, with a disjunct distribution of North America, Japan and south-east Asia.