The phylogenetic relationships of Mertensia (Boraginaceae), which comprises approximately 45 species in both Asia and North America, have been uncertain, and taxonomists have placed the genus in various tribes of subfamily Boraginoideae, with the most recent placements in Trigonotideae and Cynoglosseae. Our study applies molecular phylogenetic methods to test the monophyly and relationships of ...

A new species, Haplothrips heliotropica, is described from Argentina causing severe damage to the leaves of Heliotropium amplexicaule (Boraginaceae), a South American plant that is now a serious weed of pastures in Australia. Observations are presented on the host specificity, seasonal population changes and overwintering of this thrips. The genus Haplothrips includes more than 230 species worl...

Four novel diterpenoids were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Sarcodon scabrosus (Fr.) Karst. (Boraginaceae) together with neosarcodonin A. One of the novel compounds was elucidated to be a cyathane diterpenoid, namely neosarcodonin O, by its spectral data. The others were characterized as 19-O-linoleoyl, 19-O-oleoyl and 19-O-stearoyl derivatives of sarcodonin A, after comparison with the a...

A third species of the rare augochlorine bee genus Chlerogelloides Engel et al. (Halictinae, Augochlorini) is described and figured. Chlerogelloides nexosasp. n. is most similar to the type species, Chlerogelloides femoralis Engel et al., in that both have modified midlegs in the males. The former, however, can be distinguished on the basis of its terminalia, which in some respects more closely...