Toddsherman6540

A major revision of all the Mediterranean material previously attributed to A. mediterranea from both morphological and molecular points of view is needed.Specimens of the palpimanid spider subfamily Otiothopinae Platnick are commonly collected in soil and leaf litter in tropical and subtropical environments (Platnick 1975; Cala-Riquelme et al. 2018). However, otiothopines are generally poorly represented in biological collections and usually collected in low numbers during field campaigns, with many species represented by only a single sex (Cala-Riquelme et al. 2018). These difficulties, combined with our scarce knowledge of the biology and natural history of these spiders, mean that there are regional gaps in our systematic understanding of the group. Thus, taxonomic additions and notes about natural history are essential in order to increase our knowledge of the group and gradually close those gaps.The genus Klimaszewskia Yin Zhang of the pselaphine tribe Tyrini was recently established to include a single species, viz., K. punctata Yin Zhang, from Indonesia (Yin Zhang 2021). However, the generic name was preoccupied by Klimaszewskia Szelegiewicz, 1979 (Hemiptera, Aphididae). In accordance with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999 Article 60.3), a new replacement is here proposed.Heliothrips (Parthenothrips) octarcticulatus was originally described by Schmutz (1913) from Sri Lanka. Subsequently, Hood (1954) described from Taiwan a new genus and species Copidothrips formosus, and then Stannard and Mitri (1962) described a further new genus and species, Mesostenothrips kraussi, from Kiribati and Gibert Islands. Bhatti (1967, 1990), recognized that only a single genus and species was involved amongst these names, established the resultant synonymies, and recorded the species octarcticulatus from various localities between the Seychelles and five different Pacific Island groups. It has also been recorded from Northern Australia, and Thailand (ThripsWiki 2021) as well as Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean (Mound 2019). Despite these records, there is little reliable information about host plants and biology apart from Piper myristicum on Pohnpei island (Micronesia), and also damage caused to the leaves of Aglaonema and Spathoglottis at Darwin in Australia (Mound Tree 2020). In this note, we add a further interesting host record and describe the previously unknown male as well as the larvae of this species.Three Egyptian species of the oribatid mite family Malaconothridae, all found on roots of the floating aquatic plant Eichhornia crassipes in the River Nile, are analyzed. Trimalaconothrus crassipes Ramadan, Ismail Mustafa, 2017 is recombined to Tyrphonothrus crassipes (Ramadan, Ismail Mustafa, 2017) (comb. nov.). Malaconothrus ramadani Ramadan, Ismail Mustafa, 2018 and M. Cyclopamine transversus Ramadan, Ismail Mustafa, 2018 are both considered to be tritonymphs of Ty. crassipes (=M. ramadani syn. nov.; =M. transversus syn. nov.).A new species, Maua squeala sp. nov., is described from China. This species is similar to M. affinis Distant, 1905 and M. palawanensis Duffels, 2009, but can be distinguished by the shorter and more slender body of the new species, the lateral fasciae on the mesonotum and the shape of the male genitalia. The intraspecific variation of this species is discussed based on morphological observation combined with sequences of partial mitochondrial COI gene (DNA barcoding) of individuals exhibiting different morphological characters.Eight genera are included in the family Zoothamniidae, and at the present the data of the epibiotic species on crustaceans is not updated. Thus, the main goal of the present work is to provide the checklist of zoothamniids worldwide reported as associated to several groups of crustaceans, including some data of their geographic distribution, and also to provide the complete list of species of this peritrich group. We obtained all available data of family Zoothamniidae and checked their taxonomic status. Then we provided the complete list of species including those reported as epibionts on crustacean hosts. We obtained 156 species included in eight genera of Zoothamniidae, being 85 species recorded as symbionts on 86 species of hosts. Genus Zoothamnium contained the higher number (56) of epibiotic species on crustaceans, and genus Pseudohaplocaulus has not been reported for any crustacean. The reviewed data highlights the concentration of records in Europe, and stands out the need to amplify sampling and studies in the Southern Hemisphere. The main groups of crustaceans infested by zoothamniids are the amphipods, isopods and decapods.We report on a survey of phytoseiid mites associated with medicinal plants in West Bengal, India. Thirteen species were collected during the study, four of which are described as new species in the subgenus Typholodromus (Anthoseius) De Leon, 1959. The new species are Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) bulbosis Karmakar et al. sp. nov., Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) bengalensis Karmakar et al. sp. nov., Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) adhatoda Karmakar et al. sp. nov., and Typhlodromus (Anthoseius) sagaricus Karmakar et al. sp. nov.Four new species of Mileewini, Mileewa clavata He Yang, sp. nov., Mileewa rubricosta He Yang, sp. nov., Mileewa quinquemaculata He Yang, sp. nov. and Ujna liboensis He Yang, sp. nov., are described and illustrated. A checklist of all Chinese Mileewini is provided.Two new species of Austrolebias are described based on specimens collected from temporary pools located in natural grassland landscape within the Araucaria Forest domain at exceptionally high altitudes (~1000 meters a.s.l.). Austrolebias botocudo sp. n. and Austrolebias nubium sp. n. occur, respectively, in drainages of upper rio Apuaê-Inhandava (upper rio Uruguay basin) and upper rio Taquari-Antas (upper rio Jacuí, Laguna dos Patos basin), in the Meridional Plateau of southern Brazil. Despite an intensive survey conducted in the area, only two populations of each species were recorded. Both new species occurs at altitudes that are among the higher recorded for species of the genus, and both are assigned to the subgenus Acrolebias. The new species described herein are easily distinguished for its congeners by the colour pattern of males, by presence of melanophores irregularly distributed in different parts of the body, contact organs cover the body and anal fins, position of fins related with vertebrae, by preopercular and mandibular series of neuromasts united, by a series of morphometric features and by larger maximum standard length. Austrolebias botocudo and A. nubium are distinguished from each other by colour pattern of males, length of contact organs in the flank and number of contact organs in scales of lateral line, dorsal profile of head, number of neuromasts in the preopercular + mandibular series, body depth in females, and by basihyal cartilage length. Additionally, we discuss the conservation status of the new species, and provided an identification key for the species of the subgenus Acrolebias.This study revises the taxonomy of the genus Eccoptolonthus Bernhauer, 1912 and reports 14 species in the Chinese fauna. A catalogue of the remaining 15 Eccoptolonthus species from the Oriental and Afrotropical regions is also provided. Four new species are described from China Eccoptolonthus conaensis Fei Zhou, sp. nov. from Tibet, Eccoptolonthus fuyuensis Fei Zhou, sp. nov. from Zhejiang, Eccoptolonthus dafoensis Fei Zhou, sp. nov. from Guizhou, and Eccoptolonthus xiaolongmenensis Fei Zhou, sp. nov. from Beijing. Eccoptolonthus (Eumorimotous) laevigatus laevigatus (Fauvel, 1895) is reported for the first time from Yunnan in China and Vietnam. A preliminary key to the Chinese species of Eccoptolonthus is also included in the paper. Color images and line drawings are provided to show diagnostic characters.A new species, Oiceoptoma tangi Sommer, Růžička, Nishikawa Schneider, new species, from Zhejiang Province, China, is described and illustrated. The new species is closely related to O. subrufum (Lewis, 1888), distributed in Central and North-eastern China, the Korean Peninsula, Far East of Russia and Japan, and to O. nigropunctatum (Lewis, 1888), endemic to Japan. All three species are keyed, and distribution maps of all three species are presented.Megascops is the most species-rich owl genus in the New World, with 21 species currently recognized. Phylogenetic relationships within this genus are notoriously difficult to establish due to the considerable plumage similarity among species and polymorphism within species. Previous studies have suggested that the widespread lowland Amazonian M. watsonii might include more than one species, and that the Atlantic Forest endemic M. atricapilla is closely related to the M. watsonii complex, but these relationships are as yet poorly understood. A recently published phylogeny of Megascops demonstrated that M. watsonii is paraphyletic with respect to M. atricapilla and that genetic divergences among some populations of M. watsonii are equal to or surpass the degree of differentiation between some M. watsonii and M. atricapilla. To shed light on the taxonomic status of these species and populations within them, we conducted a multi-character study based on molecular, morphological, and vocal characters. We sequencedhin clades was usually associated with the presence of two or more color morphs. By contrast, vocal analyses detected significant differentiation among some clades but considerable overlap among others, with some lineages (particularly the most widespread one) exhibiting significant regional variation. The combined results allow for a redefinition of species limits in both M. watsonii and M. atricapilla, with the recognition of four additional species, two of which we describe here as new. We estimated most cladogenesis in the Megascops atricapilla-M. watsonii complex as having taken place during the Plio-Pleistocene, with the development of the modern Amazonian and São Francisco drainages and the expansion and retraction of forest biomes during interglacial and glacial periods as likely events accounting for this relatively recent burst of diversification.The ceratocanthine genus Pterorthochaetes Gestro, 1898 (Coleoptera Scarabaeoidea Hybosoridae) includes about 26 valid species and occurs from the eastern Himalaya (Nepal and India) and southern China to northern Australia (Queensland) and Vanuatu Islands (Paulian 1978, 1987; Ballerio 1999, 2006, 2013, 2014).The subfamily Aneurinae of the flat bug family Aradidae (Hemiptera Heteroptera) contains about 150 extant species assigned to seven genera, and seven fossil species of which six were described from Eocene Baltic amber and one from Cretaceous Burmese amber. A new species Aneurus damzeni sp. nov. from Baltic amber is described and illustrated using X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) reconstructing concealed morphological characters. A key to all five extant and fossil Aneurinae species with triangular scutellum is provided.Intact voucher specimens are essential to allow detailed morphological observations on specimens that are used in molecular genetic studies. This can be achieved either by dissection of small, taxonomically uninformative parts of the body for DNA extraction or by employing non-destructive DNA extraction methods. The latter is particularly important for small-bodied animals. Here we test the effects of Chelex-based DNA extraction on the integrity of setae and setules in Amphipoda, fragile structures of great taxonomic importance. Our results show that DNA extraction using Chelex had no influence on the setae and setule structure and is well suited for reverse taxonomic approaches and the long-term storage of morphological vouchers. A detailed protocol for non-destructive DNA extraction is provided.