Comparison of ultrastructure among sibling species of Ostrinia (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) from China

Scanning electron microscopy on the ultrastructure of scales on the forewings and labial palpi suggests species-diagnostic differences among six sibling species of the genus Ostrinia Hübner. Among four species with small mid-tibiae, O. furnacalis (Guenée) and O. nubilalis (Hübner) show similar ultrastructure of the distal forewing scales, which is distinctly different from that of O. orientalis Mutuura and Munroe and O. dorsivittata (Moore). The diameter of windows between longitudinal ridges and cross ribs of forewing scales in O. dorsivittata is the largest among examined species, and clearly different from that in the other three small mid-tibiae species. Scales of the labial palpi of O. orientalis have indistinct vestigial windows; windows of O. nubilalis are more numerous and larger than in the other three small mid-tibiae species. Among two species with massive mid-tibiae, window diameter of forewing scales is larger in O. zealis (Guenée) than in O. scapulalis (Walker). Moreover, the number and diameter of windows in scales of the labial palpi differs between these two species. In addition to other known morphological differences, these ultrastructural differences provide further evidence that closely related Ostrinia species are distinct.

New species and host associations of commensal leucothoid amphipods from coral reefs in Florida and Belize (Crustacea:Amphipoda)

Six new amphipod species in the genus Leucothoe from the tropical western Atlantic Ocean are described and illustrated. Extensive field collecting and specialized underwater collecting techniques have documented 43 new invertebrate host records for these new taxa. Four of these new species inhabit interior canals of sponges; Leucothoe barana n.sp., Leucothoe garifunae n.sp., Leucothoe saron n.sp., and Leucothoe ubouhu n.sp. A remarkable new species, Leucothoe flammosa n.sp., nestles in the gills of seven species of bivalve mollusks. A single species, Leucothoe wuriti n.sp., appears restricted to the branchial chamber of two species of solitary ascidians. Detailed illustrations and scanning electron microscopy enables comparison of ultrastructure details. More precise taxonomic character morphologies are also presented thus allowing improved taxonomic precision within the family Leucothoidae.