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Three new thiodiketopiperazines, geospallins A–C (1–3), together with nine known analogues (4–12), were isolated from the culture of the deep-sea sediment-derived fungus Geosmithia pallida FS140. Among them, geospallins A and B (1 and 2) represent rare examples of thiodiketopiperazines featuring an S-methyl group at C-10 and a tertiary hydroxyl group at C-11. Their structures were determined by high-resolution electrospray mass spectrometry (HRESIMS), spectroscopic analyses, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Their angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity was reported, and geospallins A–C (1–3) showed inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 29–35 µM.

Using the pre-treatment of the working photoelectrode and the admixture light-scattering layer can ameliorate the performance of TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). TiCl4 treatments on TiO2 electrodes improve the adhesion and mechanical strength of the TiO2 layer. The HNO3 treatment significantly enhances the dispersion of TiO2 particles and increases the surface area and porosity of TiO2 films. The scattering layer formed by admixing both nanometer-sized and submicron-sized TiO2 particles greatly enhances the DSSC performance. The light absorption is considerably better in TiO2 films with a mixture of large and small particles. This mixture is capable of efficient light-scattering while simultaneously providing a larger surface area for effective dye adsorption. Each of these technologies for the TiO2 film fabrication has a significant influence on the overall photovoltaic parameters of DSSCs, resulting in improvements in energy conversion performance.

New strashilid fossils from the Middle Jurassic epoch of Daohugou, China, show that they are highly specialized flies, and suggest that larval abdominal respiratory gills were retained in adult males, indicating that adult strashilids were probably aquatic or amphibious, with mating occurring in water. With few fossil specimens to go on, and some novel characteristics, the strashilid fossil insects from the Jurassic period became generally regarded as flea-like parasites of the pterosaurs or feathered dinosaurs. The discovery of 13 new specimens from the Middle Jurassic of China, approximately 165 million years ago, radically alters this view. The pincer-like legs once thought to have been used to cling to a host are found only in males and were more likely to have been used to grasp females during mating. Mouthparts thought suited to sucking blood were vestigial in adults. And some specimens had wings and gills. Adult strashilids, it seems, were aquatic or amphibious, shedding their wings after emergence and mating in the water. The species of the Strashilidae (strashilids) have been the most perplexing of fossil insects from the Jurassic period of Russia and China1,2. They have been widely considered to be ectoparasites of pterosaurs or feathered dinosaurs, based on the putative presence of piercing and sucking mouthparts and hind tibio-basitarsal pincers purportedly used to fix onto the host’s hairs or feathers1,2,3,4,5,6. Both the supposed host and parasite occur in the Daohugou beds from the Middle Jurassic epoch of China (approximately 165 million years ago)7,8. Here we analyse the morphology of strashilids from the Daohugou beds, and reach markedly different conclusions; namely that strashilids are highly specialized flies (Diptera) bearing large membranous wings, with substantial sexual dimorphism of the hind legs and abdominal extensions. The idea that they belong to an extinct order2 is unsupported, and the lineage can be placed within the true flies. In terms of major morphological and inferred behavioural features, strashilids resemble the recent (extant) and relict members of the aquatic fly family Nymphomyiidae. Their ontogeny are distinguished by the persistence in adult males of larval abdominal respiratory gills, representing a unique case of paedomorphism among endopterygote insects. Adult strashilids were probably aquatic or amphibious, shedding their wings after emergence and mating in the water.

A new genus and species of aetheogrammatid lacewings is described and figured from the Jurassic of eastern Inner Mongolia, China (Daohugou; Jiulongshan Formation). Ectopogramma kalligrammoides Engel, Huang, and Lin, new genus and species, is noteworthy for the forked c-sc crossveins and presence of veinlets between the c-sc crossveins and the presence of some marginal twigging, while still retaining many putative apomorphies with the slightly more extreme venation of Aetheogramma Ren and Engel (Early Cretaceous; Yixian Formation). The wing venation provides a tantalizing link between the more extreme venation of the younger and more derived Aetheogramma speciosum Ren and Engel, nomen emendatum, and the venation of families such as Kalligrammatidae. Ectopogramma is placed in a separate subfamily, Ectopogrammatinae, new subfamily. The genus Kalligrammina Panfilov is considered as family incertae sedis.

Novel magnetic field sensors are based on a “cross-shape” ferromagnetic film (FMF) attached to a silicon diaphragm and piezoresistive membrane. The interaction between the magnetic field and the (FMF) generates a deflection of the diaphragm, which changes the piezoresistance and unbalances a Wheatstone bridge. The effect of FMF and silicon diaphragm thickness on the sensor performance is studied by the finite element simulation. The performance of sensor can be improved by optimizing the size of “cross-shape” FMF. These low-cost, low-power sensors are easily integrated with electronic circuits.

Three new thiodiketopiperazines, geospallins A⁻C (1⁻3), together with nine known analogues (4⁻12), were isolated from the culture of the deep-sea sediment-derived fungus Geosmithia pallida FS140. Among them, geospallins A and B (1 and 2) represent rare examples of thiodiketopiperazines featuring an S-methyl group at C-10 and a tertiary hydroxyl group at C-11. Their structures were determined by high-resolution electrospray mass spectrometry (HRESIMS), spectroscopic analyses, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Their angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity was reported, and geospallins A⁻C (1⁻3) showed inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 29⁻35 µM.

Sinocalopteryx shangyongensis nov. gen., nov. sp., the first fossil calopterygoid from eastern Asia, is described from the earliest Eocene of Southwest China. Although the new genus has the principle synapomorphies of Calopterygoidea, it possesses a unique structure (possible reversal) in the pattern of vein RP1/2.

Sinoagetopanorpa permiana n. gen., n. sp., first Chinese Permian Agetopanorpinae, is described and compared to the other genera of this group.

Zygokaratawia reni, a new campterophlebiid genus and species is described from the Middle Jurassic of China. This fossil has a wing shape unique for this clade, i.e. a fore- and hind wing of the same width and very shortly petiolated, and hind wing cubito-anal area nearly as narrow as that of the forewing. This wing shape is convergently similar to that of recent Zygoptera: Calopterygidae, as well as to several other Cenozoic zygopteran clades, suggesting similar styles of flight and habits, i.e. predation on small insects and flight along trees of river banks.

The Middle Jurassic Ashangopsis daohugouensis, gen. et sp. n., of the prophalangopsid subfamily Chifengiinae is described based on two well-preserved specimens collected from the fossil locality near Daohugou at Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, Northeast China. The new genus is characterized by the particular shape of its pronotum, its hind leg, and stridulatory veins that only concern the cubital area but not the anal area, unlike in other Chifengiinae.

Sinokaratawia prokopi gen. nov., sp. nov. is the fifth representative of the Campterophlebiidae from the Chinese Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation, which corresponds to one of the most diverse fauna of isophlebioid damsel-dragonflies. The synapomorphies for the Campterophlebiidae and Isophlebiidae are discussed.

A new genus Nodalula gen. nov. and species Nodalula dalinghensis gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of a nearly complete specimen from the Lower Cretaceous of North-east China. Its special pattern of wing venation differs from those of the known Mesozoic Cavilabiata genera and allows us to include it in the new family Nodalulaidae within the Neobrachystigmata.

A new genus and species of Stratiomyidae, Gigantoberis liaoningensis, is described from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning Province based on a well-preserved, complete specimen. This is the first fossil record of a soldier fly so far described from China. It was armed with a specialized mouth part (proboscis and labella) and its huge body and short wings imply that it was a pollen eater and a poor flier.

Lophopidae is a family of planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) present today in tropical and subtropical zones of the Old World. The most recent taxonomic studies and phylogeny of these insects do not include the extinct representatives. Therefore, each new discovery of a fossil lophopid is of high interest, giving new insights to their evolutionary history and enabling to test the proposed relationships. The recent findings of extinct Lophopidae in Europe, in various Palaeogene deposits, put in doubts their proposed evolutionary and biogeographic scenario. The new fossil from the Palaeocene of Northern Tibet is related to one of the Lophopidae clades, Apia+ group, believed to be the most advanced one, and recently distributed in the recent Sundaland-New Guinea-Queensland area. A new genus and species Gesaris gnapo gen. et sp. n. provide information on early lophopids diversity and relationships and demonstrates the necessity for a revision of the existing hypotheses for the initial diversification and distributional pattern of the Lophopidae. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00114-015-1277-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Parapetala liaoningensis gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Lower Cretaceous of China. It has a very basal position in the clade Aeshnoptera (Odonata. Petalura, Spec. 2 (1996) 402), basal or close to the Upper Jurassic family Mesuropetalidae. This discovery confirms the high diversity of this group of dragonflies during the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous, suggesting rapid evolution of this clade in the Early or Middle Jurassic.

The Chinese Lower Cretaceous dragonfly genus Guyuanaeschnidia Lin, 1982, originally considered to be an Aeschnidae, is redescribed and transferred to the family Liupanshaniidae Bechly et al., 2001. A phylogenetic analysis of the family is presented.

On trouvera ici la description de Caenoephemera shangyuanensis, gen.nov., sp.nov., a partir d'une larve d'ephemere fossile decouverte a la base de la formation Yixian (Jurassique superieur - Cretace inferieur, Jianshangou, district de Beipiao, Ouest Liaoning, Chine). Ce fossile presente non seulement plusieurs caracteres archaiques typiques des ephemeres paleozoiques comme des tarses a 5 articles et des fourreaux d'ailes posterieures non couverts par ceux des ailes anterieures, mais egalement des structures nettement modernes comme un metathorax court, des branchies abdominales et des cerques. Ce fossile semble etre intermediaire entre les ephemeres paleozoiques et modernes.

A new genus and species of Flatidae planthoppers, Priscoflata subvexa n. gen., n. sp., is described here on the basis of tegmen from the Paleocene of Northern Tibet. The tegminal features of this fossil and its importance for classification and phylogenetic studies within Flatidae are given. The comparison of this fossil and other extant and extinct flatids, its systematic position, its biogeographic and evolutionary significance are discussed. “Ormenis” devincta Cockerell, 1926 from the Eocene of Argentina is placed in Fulgoroidea incertae sedis.

Recently collected insect fossils from 63 localities in Cretaceous strata in China comprise several thousand specimens, and permit a detailed analysis of Cretaceous insect evolution and palaeogeography in eastern Asia. The Cretaceous Mesolygeus laiyanensis and Chironomaptera gregaria are absent below 35°S. Their distribution is significant because it supports the existence of northern and southern palaeobiogeographic regions. During the Cretaceous three insect faunas of the northern region and four insect assemblages of the southern region are distinguished and different aspects of these faunas are discussed.

The Middle Permian Sinojurina permiana n. gen., n. sp. is the oldest Chinese representative of the insect order Glosselytrodea. Despites of its strong similarities with the Australian Late Triassic genus Polycytella, it is not possible to attribute it to a precise family because of the great confusion in the systematic of this order., Le premier Glosselytrodea (Insecta) du Permien moyen de la province Anhui, China. Sinojurina permiana n. gen., n. sp. du Permien moyen est le plus ancien représentant de l'ordre Glosselytrodea trouvé en Chine. Malgré ses fortes similarités avec le genre Polycytella du Trias supérieur d'Australie, il n'est pas possible de l'attribuer à une famille précise du fait de la grande confusion qui règne dans la systématique de cet ordre., Huang Diying, Nel André, Lin Qi-bin, Dong Fa-bing. The first Glosselytrodea (Insecta) from the latest Middle Permian of Anhui Province, China. In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 112 (2), juin 2007. pp. 179-182.

Although the Petalurida make up what is probably one of the most inclusive anisopteran clades (Bybee et al., 2008; Dumont et al., 2010), fossils of this group are rarer than other taxa of dragonflies. No Cenozoic and only eight Mesozoic Petalurida have been described from Europe, Central Asia, China, and South America (Nel & Paicheler, 1992; Nel et al., 1998, 2001; Petrulevičius & Nel, 2003; Huang et al., 2006). The Aktassiidae Pritykina, 1968 is a strictly Mesozoic family divided into the two subfamilies Aktassiinae Nel et al., 1998 (Middle-Late Jurassic), and Pseudocymatophlebiinae Nel et al., 1998 (Early Cretaceous).

Three new representatives of the Odonata Campterophlebiidae are described from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou (Inner Mongolia, China), i.e. Amnifleckia guttata n. gen., n. sp., Amnifleckia splendida n. sp., and Parabrunetia celinea n. gen., n. sp. Their close affinities with the genus Pternopteron (Dogger of Kirgizia) support a similar age for the Daohugou fauna.