This study aimed to resolve the differences in the two currently used classifications of Mutillidae, which differ in many respects. Cladistic analyses of 101 genera and subgenera of Mutillidae (represented by females of 253 species and males of 260 species) and four outgroups (pepsine Pompilidae, anthoboscine Tiphiidae and both fedtschenkiine and sapygine Sapygidae) based on 230 morphological characters treated in various ways, produced most-parsimonious trees which were in broad agreement but differed in many details. Evaluation of these results led to the proposal of a compromise tree which reflected each proposed taxon as monophyletic, while trying to keep disruptions to the current classifications to a minimum. The result differs from both previous classifications, and proposes the recognition of eight subfamilies: Myrmosinae (with the tribes Kudakrumiini and Myrmosini), Pseudophotopsidinae, Rhopalomutillinae, Ticoplinae (with the tribes Smicromyrmillini and Ticoplini), Sphaeropthalminae (with the tribes Sphaeropthalmini, Dasymutillini trib. n., and Pseudomethocini with the subtribes Euspinoliina subtrib. n. and Pseudomethocina), Myrmillinae, Dasylabrinae (with the tribes Apteromutillini trib. n. and Dasylabrini) and Mutillinae (with the tribes Ctenotillini trib. n., Smicromyrmini, Mutillini with the subtribes Ephutina and Mutillina, and Trogaspidiini). Notably, Myrmosinae were consistently strongly supported as monophyletic with the remaining Mutillidae (disagreeing with a recent molecular analysis), and thus retained as a mutillid subfamily. The placements of all currently valid genera and subgenera in the proposed classification are provided.

An updated classification of the order Hymenoptera is provided with the current numbers of genera and species described so far specified. The order is composed of 2 suborders, 27 superfamilies, 132 families, 8423 extant genera with an additional 685 extinct genera. Considered one of the most species-rich insects orders a total of 153088 extant species have been described, in addition to 2429 extinct species.

Aim Based on seven consecutive seasons of biotic survey and inventory of the terrestrial and freshwater plants and animals of the 30 major islands of the Kuril Archipelago, a description of the biodiversity and an analysis of the biogeography of this previously little known part of the world are provided.Location The Kuril Archipelago, a natural laboratory for investigations into the origin, subsequent evolution, and long-term maintenance of insular populations, forms the eastern boundary of the Okhotsk Sea, extending 1200 km between Hokkaido, Japan, and the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. A chain of more than 56 islands, the system is only slightly smaller than the Hawaiian Islands, covering an area of 15,600 km 2 and providing 2409 km of coastline.Methods Collections of whole specimens of plants and animals, as well as tissue samples for future molecular studies, were made by teams of scientists from Russia, Japan, and the USA, averaging 34 people for each of the seven annual summer expeditions (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000). Floral and faunal similarities between islands were evaluated by using Sorensen's coefficient of similarity. The similarity matrix resulting from pair-wise calculations was then subjected to UPGMA cluster analysis.

Sixty five species in 21 genera are recorded from Turkey. The new species, Skorikovia anatolica Lelej, sp. nov. (Turkey), is described and illustrated. The hitherto unknown male is recognized for Pseudophotopsis schachruda (Skorikov). A new synonymy is proposed for Pseudophotopsis schachruda (Skorikov 1935) = Ephutomma schachruda var. robusta Skorikov 1935, syn. nov., E. mavromoustakisi Suárez 1959, syn. nov. A new status is proposed for Krombeinella gaullei (Invrea). The status is resurrected for Pseudophotopsis schachruda (Skorikov) and Dentilla erronea (André). Nine species are recorded for the first time from Turkey: Pseudophotopsis syriaca (André), Myrmilla anopla Skorikov, Tropidotilla semirufa (André), Mutilla richterae Lelej, Skorikovia radoszkovskii (Skorikov), S. transcaucasica (Lelej), Smicromyrme azerbaidzhanicus Lelej, S. novaki Invrea, and S. rufipes (Fabricius). Krombeinella gaullei (Invrea) is recorded for the first time from Bulgaria. Eleven species and one subspecies are excluded from the list of Turkish fauna. A key to five Palaearctic species of Skorikovia is given. A tabular checklist for the mutillid fauna of Turkey, Greece, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia includes 106 species and four subspecies. A cluster analysis of faunal similarities among these countries for Mutillidae produce two major clusters (index similarity 0.4): Turkey and Greece (bootstrap probability 95 %), and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia (bootstrap probability 90 %), and demonstrates the important boundary between two large biogeographical subregions of Palaearctic: Mediterranean and Euro-Siberian. The Turkish fauna, especially its eastern part, is the transitional zone between these subregions. The mutillid fauna of Turkey consists of widely distributed in the Mediterranean (21), East Mediterranean (28), widely distributed in the Palaearctic (three) and Anatolian-Armenian (13) species, including five endemic species. The highest number of species is known from the Anatolian biogeographical province of Turkey: 55.

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