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Stingless bees (Meliponini) are a ubiquitous and diverse element of the pantropical melittofauna, and have significant cultural and economic importance. This review outlines their diversity, and provides identification keys based on external morphology, brief accounts for each of the recognized genera, and an updated checklist of all living and fossil species. In total there are currently 605 described extant species in 45 extant genera, and a further 18 extinct species in nine genera, seven of which are extinct. A new fossil genus, Adactylurina Engel, gen. nov. , is also described for a species in Miocene amber from Ethiopia. In addition to the systematic review, the biology of stingless bees is summarized with an emphasis on aspects related to their nesting biology and architecture.

Four new species, Elachista silfverbergi sp. nov. from Ethiopia and Kenya, E. griseifrons sp. nov. from Ethiopia, E. levis sp. nov. from Tanzania, and E. conica sp. nov. from Ethiopia are described. The habitus and genitalia are diagnosed and illustrated in detail. Identification keys to the Afrotropical species of the E. praelineata species group, based on male and female genitalia, are provided.

Among mayflies, Baetidae are often considered as easy to recognise at the family level, but difficult to identify at lower level. In several faunistic or ecological studies, the identification remains at the family level; Baetidae are generally considered as widespread and ubiquitous, therefore as poorly informative for ecological studies or bioassessments. Here, a straightforward identification key is offered to larvae of the ten genera of Baetidae reported from Maghreb based on easily observable and understandable characters. The diversity, ecology, and distribution of each taxonomic unit (genera or subgenera) are discussed and the main difficulties for deeper identification are pointed out. Future challenges and remaining taxonomic riddles for Maghrebian Baetidae are detailed.

Phylum Annelida are ubiquitous metazoans found in almost every terrestrial and aquatic habitat on Earth. Historically, taxonomic studies on the phylum have been focused largely on its majorgroups, polychaetes, oligochaetes and leeches, so that while family-level keys for each group are available, no single-source identification guide exists to the world’s annelid families. Here, the first illustrated linear key to annelid families is provided and family-level descriptions and diagnoses that distinguish individuals of each family from those of other families in the phylum are updated. This information is generated from an annelid DELTA database of 334 characters and 166 mostly family-level taxa. A link is provided to downloadable software (ANNiKEY Interactive) allowing the same data to be interrogated using the open-source DELTA program Intkey, which enables both interactive identification and taxonomic query functionality. For each family-level taxon, a diagnosis, full description, links to taxonomic data at the World Register of Marine Species, illustrations of diagnostic features, and a summary of the recent literature, including a list of published keys to genera and species are provided.

Species of Trissolcus Ashmead are potent natural enemies of stink bugs (Pentatomidae). Research on biological agents to control the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (BMSB), in Western Europe requires reliable taxonomic resources for identification of Trissolcus wasps. To aid this research endeavor, we present a species identification key to females of Palearctic Trissolcus . Morphological characters and concepts of the genus and species groups are discussed. We discovered a number of nomenclatural and identification issues that we here rectify.

Two new species of the genus Trilacuna Tong & Li, 2007, T. manhao Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀) and T. mopanshan Tong & Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), are described from Yunnan, China. Descriptions, diagnoses, photomicroscopy images and a key to species of Yunnan Province are provided.

Two new dasytid species of the genus Danaceothrix Majer, 1989 are discovered from Xizang, China and described under the names of D. medogense sp. nov. and D. xizangense sp. nov. They are illustrated with habitus, ultimate abdominal tergite and sternite, and genitalia of both sexes. The generic diagnosis is updated. A key for identification and a distribution map of all Danaceothrix species are provided.

Within the diverse genus Lasioglossum , the subgenus Eickwortia as currently understood, encompasses three characteristic species from mountainous areas in Mexico and Central America. Prior to this work only Lasioglossum (Eickwortia) nycteris had descriptions for both male and female. Here we describe and illustrate the previously unknown males of L. (E.) hienae and L. (E.) alexanderi, providing new distributional data for both species, and an updated species identification key for the group.

The parvorder Amphilochidira includes 1,152 described species in 24 families. Amphilochidiran amphipods retain many plesiomorphic character states and are thought to represent the ancestral state of amphipods. Many amphipods in this parvorder cling to substrates such as algae or sponges. Nineteen species from four families within the parvorder are documented from Bocas del Toro, Panama, including one new species, Apolochus dragensis sp. nov. Range extensions are documented for eight species, including two species previously documented only from the Pacific Ocean. All species are diagnosed and an identification key to the Amphilochidira amphipods of Panama is provided herein.

The little-known subgenus Lagria (Lagriella) Borchmann, 1916 is characterized by pronounced sexual dimorphism, notably manifested in apterous females. In this paper, the Asian species of Lagria (Lagriella) are reviewed, including three known species, Lagria (Lagriella) bimarginata Fairmaire, 1896, L. (Lagriella) andrewesi Borchmann, 1916, L. (Lagriella) mima Borchmann, 1916, and the newly described L. (Lagriella) cordata sp. nov. from Guangxi, Guizhou, Hong Kong, Hunan, China. The new species represents the first record of the subgenus in China. Lectotypes are designated for L. (Lagriella) andrewesi and L. (Lagriella) mima. Habitus images, key diagnostic characters, ecological habitats of the new species, and type habitus of three known Asian species are documented. An identification key to the four Asian species is also provided.