Pensoft blog

Three decades of research on cladocerans in Tyva, a unique Asian region

Scientists compiled and summarized the largest dataset to date on the cladocerans of the Republic of Tyva—the result of almost thirty years of field work.

Guest blog post by Nadezhda Kirova, Valeria Kirova, Alexey Kotov and Dr. Petr Garibian

The functioning of freshwater ecosystems is impossible without cladocerans (water fleas), which play a key role in the food chains of most continental water bodies. Although the cladoceran fauna is relatively well-studied in the Palearctic as a whole, vast territories of Central Asia, including the Republic of Tyva, have until recently been only fragmentarily studied and required systematic survey.

Microscopic view of tiny, elongated aquatic creatures swimming in a light background with bubbles. — *Different zooplankton in a Petri dish. Photo by Dr.Petr Garibian*

The first mentions of water bodies in Tyva date back to the 16th century, with the first data on zooplankton appearing in the early 20th century in the works of the Norwegian researcher Georg Ossian Sars (1903) and the Soviet scientist Vyacheslav Rylov (1923, 1930). Historical events of the 20th century significantly influenced the development of hydrobiological research in the region: after the republic became part of the USSR in 1944, the study of water bodies was actively conducted within the framework of ichthyological and fisheries tasks.

Starting from the 1960s, under the leadership of Tomsk scientists Alexey Gundrizer and later Victor Popkov, large-scale ichthyological and hydrobiological research was carried out in the region. During this period, zooplankton was studied primarily as a food source.

Cladocerans — the invisible foundation of freshwater life

Microscopic view of a translucent crustacean. — *Daphnia galeata is **a small species of planktonic crustaceans**. Photo taken by Dr.Petr Garibian*

If you were to scoop up water from any lake, pond, or steppe salt marsh and examine it under a microscope, you would almost certainly see cladocerans among the first creatures—microscopic crustaceans, usually 0.2–6 mm in size, invisible to the naked eye, but playing a huge role in freshwater ecosystems.

What are they?

Cladocerans are small crustaceans with a characteristic rounded or oval body shape; in most species, the limbs are hidden behind paired valves or a carapace. Externally, they may resemble miniature droplets pulsating in the water. The most well-known representatives of cladocerans are from the genus Daphnia. When first discovered, they were called “pulex aquaticus” or “water flea,” a term still used in scientific publications.

What is their role in nature?

Ceriodaphnia reticulata, a common cladoceran species found in US lakes. This is a female carrying two (orange) eggs in her brood chamber. Photo by Florida Sea Grant under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

Cladocerans play a key role in the functioning of freshwater ecosystems. Primarily, they are a central link in food chains: continuously filtering water and consuming phytoplankton, bacteria, and organic particles, these tiny crustaceans regulate the intensity of algal blooms, maintain water transparency, and control algal numbers. Thanks to cladocerans, many processes in aquatic ecosystems remain balanced, and they themselves serve as a crucial food source for the fry of most freshwater fish and predatory insect larvae. Without them, many species simply could not survive their early stages of development.

Thus, cladocerans perform the function of ecosystem sanitizers. By filtering water, they cleanse it of fine organic debris and bacteria, acting as a natural “microbial vacuum” that maintains freshwater quality.

Finally, these crustaceans are very sensitive to changes in the aquatic environment. Some cladocerans quickly react to changes in salinity, the presence of heavy metals, toxic substances, and other types of pollution. Thanks to this sensitivity, cladocerans are widely used in water quality biotesting, making them a valuable tool for environmental monitoring.

How do they survive?

Bosmina longirostris, а common species of cladoceran zooplankton found in US lakes. Photo by Florida Sea Grant under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

Cladocerans have an amazing life cycle. Under favorable conditions, they reproduce by parthenogenesis, without the participation of males—females simply clone themselves. This allows them to instantly colonize temporary water bodies after rains or snowmelt.

When “hard times” come—with the onset of cooling, shorter daylight hours, or the drying up of a water body—cladocerans produce resting eggs. These eggs are covered with a strong shell, can withstand drying, frost, and persist in bottom sediments for decades. Sometimes this “cladoceran archive” in the silt is used to study past climatic epochs—like a natural flash drive.

Where do they live?

Almost everywhere, on all continents including Antarctica. They can be found in diverse continental water bodies: rivers, lakes, swamps, ditches, puddles, and other temporary pools. There are even unique species living in leaf axils, tree hollows, damp moss, groundwater, and caves.

The cladocerans of Central Asia are very diverse, where fresh, slightly saline, and saline water bodies are in close proximity—each with its own unique crustaceans.

Why are they important for science?

Daphnia magna is a species of Daphnia (a cladoceran freshwater water flea). Photo: Per Harald Olsen/NTNU. Credit: NTNU, Faculty of Natural Sciences under a CC BY 2.0 license

Cladocerans are an ideal model for ecologists:

They reproduce quickly.
They are easily cultivated.
They instantly react to environmental changes.
They survive climatic changes.
They form the basis of freshwater communities.

Specimens found in permafrost allow scientists to literally “reconstruct zooplankton communities of the past,” comparing populations from different periods, researching evolution in real time, and tracing climate change processes.

Tyva

The Republic of Tyva is one of the most contrasting and unusual regions of Eurasia. Within a relatively small area, almost all of the Earth’s natural zones are found—from semi-deserts and dry steppes to alpine meadows and high-mountain tundras.

The climate in the region is sharply continental, with cold winters, hot summers, large daily temperature fluctuations (up to 30°C), and extremely low precipitation, especially in the steppe basins. The climate in the mountains is milder, with more precipitation, warmer winters, and cooler summers than in the basins. The highest peaks have eternal snow. The highest mountain, Mongun-Taiga, is 3976 meters above sea level. This diversity of natural and climatic conditions creates a wide ecological spectrum.

The landscape mosaic of Tyva is impressive—steppe plains with sand massifs, taiga slopes, high-mountain plateaus, swampy areas, and numerous lakes coexist here. There are about two thousand lakes in Tyva, from large ones like Chagytai and Azas to small brackish and freshwater lakes.

The Ubsunur Basin stands out among the natural landscapes—a unique transboundary natural complex included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Here, in a small area, one can find desert, steppe, tundra, and alpine meadows, as well as many lakes with varying degrees of mineralization—from almost fresh to hyperhaline.

This combination of contrasting climatic zones, altitudinal gradients, types of water bodies, and salinity levels makes Tuva a natural laboratory for studying aquatic biota.

Dataset

In the course of the research, scientists compiled and summarized the largest dataset to date on the cladocerans of the Republic of Tyva—the result of almost thirty years of field work in the region (1993–2022). A total of 902 water bodies of various types were surveyed: permanent and temporary, differing in depth, altitude, and salinity.

It is important to note that only a few of the lakes located in the basins can be reached by a comfortable road. Most of the water bodies are situated in the mountains, in hard-to-reach areas with difficult mountain roads. The work was incredibly labor-intensive but also exhilarating: our cars broke down high in the mountains far from any settlements, we experienced earthquakes, we had to spend nights near ancient burial mounds, wolves walked near our camp, and marals would occasionally approach us. We even once had to run quickly high in the mountains to escape a thundercloud whose lightning was striking the ground.

On one occasion, we fell into a glacial quickstream. These formations, which occur near high-mountain lakes due to the melting of relict ice, suck you into the depths like quicksand, and are incredibly difficult to escape! So this dataset is inextricably linked with a whole series of adventures.

The final dataset, published in Darwin Core Archive format on GBIF, includes 3,599 occurrence records and 76 species of cladocerans. It is noteworthy that not a single invasive species was found in Tyva, although such finds are not uncommon in studies of cladocerans in other regions.

The obtained materials significantly expand the understanding of the composition and spatial distribution of cladocerans in Tyva, which was previously poorly studied from a faunistic perspective.

A special mention must be made of the constant members of our expedition team — Toby the dog, who took part in the annual field trips from 2011 onward, growing from a playful puppy into a wise “scientist dog,” and Karkusha the raven, who joined us in 2016 after we found him as a chick with broken legs and decided to keep him. Without exaggeration, both became an integral part of the long-term history of our fieldwork and made their own contribution.

A happy black and white dog reclines on colorful blankets inside a cluttered vehicle, surrounded by bags and a red container.

Toby passed away in November 2025, shortly after our research paper was published, at the age of fourteen. It would not be an overstatement to say that he truly devoted his life to these studies, accompanying us year after year and becoming a symbol of the expedition itself.

Research article:

Kirova N, Kirova V, Kotov A (2025) Diversity of the cladocerans (Crustacea, Branchiopoda) in the Republic of Tyva, Russian Federation. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e163656. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e163656

A new spider genus named after Shuqiang Li

“I am delighted that the authors have named a spider genus after me,” the ZooKeys subject editor commented.

Guest blog post by Ying Wang, Qingzhen Meng, Yuri M. Marusik and Zhiyuan Yao

A photo of a man wearing a black suit and white shirt, set against a plain white background. — Prof. Shuqiang Li

In a recent paper published in ZooKeys, a new genus of Lynx spider from China was named after the given name of ZooKeys subject editor Shuqiang Li, to honour him for his contributions in spider taxonomy. It is worth noting that from the publication of the first article on the taxonomy of Chinese spiders in 1842 by Cantor to the release of The Spiders of China by Song et al in 1999, the number of known Chinese spider species was only 2,361 through 175 years of cumulative research. In the past 25 years, spider research in China has been led by Shuqiang and his colleagues. To date, the number of Chinese spider species has exceeded 7,000, increased by 4,639 species in 25 years. These taxonomic research achievements are the result of the silent dedication of Shuqiang and his colleagues, and have laid a solid foundation for understanding and conserving China’s biodiversity.

Shuqiang is also a prolific arachnologist. By early 2025, he is author or coauthor for 2 063 new spider species, establishing him as the second most prolific arachnologist in history and one of the foremost taxonomists of the 21st century.

Not ugly but lovely: 100 ZooKeys papers on spiders co-authored by Shuqiang Li

“I am delighted that the authors have named a spider genus after me. I hold the view that taxonomy should never be underestimated. Balanced disciplinary development is the foundation of healthy scholarship, and an overemphasis on high-profile disciplines is detrimental to social progress,” Shuqiang Li commented.

Research article:

Wang Y, Meng Q, Marusik YM, Yao Z (2025) Shuqiangius gen. nov., a new genus of Oxyopidae (Arachnida, Araneae) from China. ZooKeys 1261: 189-200. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.171511

EU reforms in chemical risk assessments to protect wild pollinators proposed by a Horizon Europe project

This is the first policy brief by the Horizon Europe project PollinERA, whose aim is to improve pesticide risk assessments, in order to protect wild pollinators across the Europe Union.

The 11-member PollinERA project consortium, brought together to reverse pollinator population declines and reduce the harmful impacts of pesticides, has released its first policy brief.

This marks an important stepping stone for the project, bringing PollinERA’s scientific insights directly into the policy space in a format designed to support decision-making.

Titled “Reforming EU chemical risk assessment: from regulatory bottlenecks to systems solution”, the brief was developed to address one of the core challenges identified in the project: the need to improve the way environmental risks to pollinators are currently assessed.

Moving towards a systems-based Environmental Risk Assessment for wild bees, butterflies, moths and hoverflies: Pensoft joins PollinERA

It has been acknowledged that the current approach works in isolation, overlooks cumulative impacts and bases decisions solely on binary “safe/unsafe” categories.

What the PollinERA-derived policy brief suggests is a systems-first, tools-second approach that can deliver faster, cheaper and effective decision-making by prioritising simulation and systems understanding before developing regulatory tools for Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA).

The brief is authored by project coordinator Christopher John Topping, Noa Simon Delso, James Henty Williams and Johan Axelman. Together, the team used their expertise in pollinator research and environmental policy to present PollinERA findings in an accessible, practical and relevant way, dedicated for those who shape policy at European and national levels.

To ensure transparency and provide a strong scientific foundation, the policy brief is supported by a technical evidence report, also made openly available.

The policy brief, technical supportive documents, as well as key scientific resources and publications are conveniently and publicly accessible in the PollinERA’s project collection, hosted in the open-science scholarly journal Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO). Being ‘a living’ space, the collection will be further enriched as new valuable outputs are generated over the course of the project.

Additionally, research articles associated with the project are being added to the PollinERA collection in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Food and Ecological Systems Modelling Journal (FESMJ), titled “PollinERA – Understanding pesticide-Pollinator interactions to support EU Environmental Risk Assessment and policy“.

The policy brief marks the beginning of the PollinERA Policy series: a collection of policy briefs that will be released throughout the project.

Each brief will focus on a different aspect of pollinator protection or pesticide risk assessment, helping to build a coherent and comprehensive set of policy-facing outputs.

Make sure to visit the PollinERA website, where you can also subscribe for the project’s newsletter. You can also follow PollinERA on BlueSky, YouTube, Instagram and Linkedin.

Don’t forget to also follow the journals FESMJ (BlueSky and Facebook) and RIO (BlueSky, Facebook and Linkedin) on social media!

New critically endangered ‘fairy lantern’ discovered in Malaysia

Just 20 individuals of the unusual species are known to exist in the wild.

Researchers in Malaysia have discovered a new endemic ‘fairy lantern’ species with fewer than 20 individuals known to exist in the wild.

Despite having only just being discovered, the ethereal plant is considered Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List due to its tiny population and threatened habitat.

Take a look at the incredible Thismia selangorensis below!

Thismia selangorensis. Credit: Gim Siew Tan.
Thismia selangorensis. Credit: Gim Siew Tan.
Thismia selangorensis. Credit: Gim Siew Tan.
Thismia selangorensis. Credit: Gim Siew Tan.

Described in the open-access journal PhytoKeys, the peach-to-pink Thismia selangorensis joins the expanding Thismia genus, which includes 120 known species of mycoheterotrophic plants. Unlike familiar phytosynthetic plants, mycoheterotrophic species lack chlorophyll and do not get their energy from the sun. Instead, they depend solely on a parasitic relationship with fungi in the soil for their nutrition.

Exquisite but endangered: new ‘fairy lantern’ flower discovered in Malaysia

Species from this genus are typically found in undisturbed forests rich in leaf litter, where moist and shaded soils allow them to remain hidden for much of their lives, making their discovery extremely difficult.

Thismia selangorensis was no exception. Standing at only around 10 cm tall, with coral‑like roots and a peach-to-pink flower that develops into a distinctive umbrella‑shaped “mitre” topped by three slender club‑shaped appendages, Thismia selangorensis had gone unnoticed despite decades of human activity in its habitat.

Among the earlier individuals found, one was located in a hole at the base of a tree, as if living in a cave. Later, a few more individuals were found in more open areas near tree buttresses along the riverbanks.

Four images of Thismia selangorensis. — *Thismia* *selangorensis*. A. Young flower that is not yet fully developed ; B. Mature flower living just beside the roots of a tree buttress; C. A clump of T. *selangorensis* at different stages in its natural habitat (FRI 79182); D. A clump of flowers showing a different stage of mitre. Credit: Gim Siew Tan (**A–C**) and Mohd Faizal (D).

“This discovery shows that significant scientific finds are not limited to remote jungles; they can also be made in ordinary environments where constant human activity leaves little room for expectation. Protecting Thismia selangorensis will require cooperation among researchers, the forest department, stakeholders, and the public, as its survival depends on how carefully we tread in its habitat.”
Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh (FRIM), lead author of the research paper.

Sun-shunning thief: new plant species robs underground fungi to survive

Naturalist Tan Gim Siew first spotted the elusive species in November 2023 during a routine photography visit to Taman Eko Rimba Sungai Chongkak, part of the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve and a long‑established picnic and camping destination near Kuala Lumpur. A tiny plant was growing among moist leaf litter near the buttress roots of a riverside tree. Follow-up surveys revealed that fewer than 20 individuals were present, with an estimated occupied habitat of only four km².

Video showing the public nature of Thismia selangorensis‘s habitat. Credit: Gim Siew Tan.

The authors highlight that, although part of the Sungai Chongkak forest remains relatively intact, plants growing close to riverside campsites and picnic areas could easily be destroyed unintentionally by trampling or flooding. They recommend careful management of visitor access around known sites, continued monitoring of the population and further botanical surveys to clarify whether the species occurs beyond its currently known locality.

“The most important effort now is to raise awareness about this species so the public realises that it exists – right here, in this small corner of the world, and nowhere else, at least for now. Understanding its presence is the first step towards ensuring that this extraordinary plant is not lost before many people even know it exists.”
Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh (FRIM), lead author of the research paper.

Original source

Siti-Munirah MY, Gim Siew T, Mat-Tahir MF, Azhar A (2025) Thismia selangorensis (Thismiaceae): a new mitriform fairy lantern species from Selangor, Malaysia. PhytoKeys 267: 9-21. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.267.157968

Follow PhytoKeys on Bluesky and Facebook.

Otters as bioindicators of estuarine health: a new topical collection from Estuarine Management and Technologies

The collection was launched in collaboration with Instituto Ekko Brasil’s Projeto Lontra.

In a landmark collaboration marking the first joint initiative between the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Estuarine Management and Technologies (EMT) and Instituto Ekko Brasil’s Projeto Lontra, the Pensoft-published journal has launched a new Topical Collection.

Titled “Otters as Bioindicators of Estuarine Health: Innovations in Monitoring and Management from Tropical Coastal Brazil,” the collection celebrates nearly four decades of pioneering otter conservation and estuarine stewardship in Brazil, while advancing global knowledge on sustainable coastal ecosystem management.

Since 1986, Projeto Lontra has stood at the forefront of tropical otter conservation, ecological monitoring, and community engagement. Over the years, its research has provided unprecedented insights into the health of estuarine and coastal ecosystems—making otters not only charismatic species of interest, but powerful sentinels of environmental change.

Reflecting on the partnership, Dr. Oldemar Carvalho Junior, Coordinator of Projeto Lontra, notes:

“2026 will mark the 40th anniversary of Projeto Lontra. This partnership represents a rare convergence of long-term field knowledge, cutting-edge methodology, and global outreach—precisely the kind of collaboration needed to scale impact in applied estuarine conservation.”

From hydrodynamic assessments and habitat connectivity studies to long-term behavioral monitoring, Projeto Lontra has generated one of the most extensive otter-focused datasets in the Western Atlantic.

EMT Editor-in-Chief Dr. Soufiane Haddout highlights the significance of this collaborative milestone:

“Otters aren’t just icons of biodiversity—they’re active barometers of estuarine resilience. Partnering with Instituto Ekko Brasil allows us to amplify voices from the Global South, transforming local stewardship into global action. This is more than a collection; it’s a call to reimagine how we protect our coasts through otter-inspired innovation.”

The new collection directly supports EMT’s mission to strengthen the exchange of applied research, technology, and management strategies that support the long-term sustainability of estuarine ecosystems worldwide.

All contributions to the Topical Collection come from the Projeto Lontra team and invited collaborators who have worked closely with the project over the years. The resulting series of articles will showcase the unparalleled long-term dataset built since 1986 and demonstrate how otters serve as powerful sentinels of estuarine and coastal health.

Guest Editors

Projeto Lontra – Instituto Ekko Brasil

Dr Oldemar Carvalho Junior– Coordinator, Projeto Lontra & Institutional Director, Instituto Ekko Brasil, Florianópolis, Brazil
Ms Alessandra Bez Birolo – Coordinator of Social Mobilization and Public Policies, Founding Partner, Instituto Ekko Brasil; Environmental Education Coordinator, Projeto Lontra, Brazil
Mr Marcelo Tosatti – President, Instituto Ekko Brasil; Field Researcher (20+ years), Projeto Lontra, Brazil

EMT Editorial Board

Dr Soufiane Haddout – Editor-in-Chief, Estuarine Management and Technologies, Ibn Tofail University, Morocco
Dr Igor Ljubenkov – Water Development Ltd., Split, Croatia
Dr P.R. Jayachandran – King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia

The partnership between EMT and Projeto Lontra embodies a powerful message: long-term conservation succeeds when knowledge, people, and technology work together.

By elevating nearly 40 years of Brazilian conservation leadership to global research audiences, this Topical Collection aims to inspire new partnerships, operational tools, and policy actions that safeguard estuarine ecosystems for future generations.

Visit the journal’s website at: EMT Journal.

Follow EMT on: X, Bluesky, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube.

Insects and innovation: Pensoft in Portland 2025

Pensoft attended the Entomological Collections Network Annual Meeting and Entomology 2025, both held in Oregon’s largest city.

In November 2025, Pensoft’s Chief Communications Officer, Teodor Metodiev, crossed the Atlantic to represent the publisher at two entomology events in Portland, Oregon: the Entomological Collections Network (ECN) Annual Meeting (8–9 November) and the Entomology 2025 conference (9–12 November).

Entomological Collections Network Annual Meeting

Held at the Hyatt Regency in Portland, the ECN 2025 annual meeting brought together professionals dedicated to the care, management, and use of entomological collections. The hybrid event featured live talks, pre-recorded lightning presentations and a silent auction in support of collection initiatives.

Pensoft’s stand at the ECN meeting.
Natural History Collections and Museomics featured prominently at the event.
Deborah Paul, one of the Editors-in-Chief for Natural History Collections and Museomics, with Teodor Metodiev.

At ECN 2025, Pensoft spotlighted its journals in entomology, particularly the newly launched diamond open-access journal Natural History Collections and Museomics (NHCM), which welcomes research on the preservation, digitisation and analysis of natural history collections. Building on last year’s successful collaboration, the meeting again highlighted the Topical Collection “Entomological Outreach Collections and Community Engagement,” published in NHCM and inspired by the 2024 ECN programme.

Entomology 2025

Pensoft joined more than 3,200 insect science professionals at the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting, Entomology 2025 (Ento2025), hosted at the Oregon Convention Center. Over four days, the conference offered symposia, workshops, networking sessions, mixers and a busy exhibit hall.

Pensoft exhibited at booth #715, showcasing the publisher’s portfolio of entomology journals and promoting two key EU-funded projects on pollinators: VALOR and AGRI4POL. Featuring professional scientific illustrations, attractive open-access publishing opportunities, and results from Pensoft-partnered EU projects, the booth attracted considerable interest from attendees.

A highlight of Pensoft’s presence at Entomology 2025 was the participation of Lars Straub, Editor-in-Chief of the newly launched Diamond Open Access journal Advances in Pollinator Research (APR). Straub moderated two student 10-minute presentation competitions and presented his own research, “Neonicotinoid exposure reduces fitness of a widespread butterfly, Vanessa cardui.”

Dr Alfred Daniel Johnson, a Journal of Hymenoptera Research author.
Dr Kevin Li, a One Ecosystem author.
Dr Claire Rutledge, a NeoBiota author.
Dr Lars Straub, Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Pollinator Research .
Dr Priyadarshini Chakrabarti Basu, an Advances in Pollinator Research editor.
Dr Yihang Li, a ZooKeys author.
Dr Jose ‘Joe’ Martinez, a ZooKeys author.
Yeshwanth, H M, a ZooKeys author.

–

Following a fantastic week in Portland at both ECN 2025 and Entomology 2025, Pensoft looks forward to continuing its close collaboration with the entomological and collections communities. The Entomological Society of America’s next annual meeting, Entomology 2026, will take place on 8–11 November in Columbus, Ohio, where Pensoft plans to create more partnerships and continue its support for open science in insect research.

From curiosity to control: A new wasp joins the fight against soybean gall midge

Recently, the discovery of the wasp Synopeas ruficoxum parasitizing soybean gall midge in Nebraska offers hope that it could be deployed in biological control efforts.

Guest blog post by Sarah von Gries

Tiny, squishy, and deceptively cute, bright orange maggots tucked inside soybean stems are causing big trouble. Resseliella maxima, better known as the soybean gall midge (SGM), has become a concern for soybean growers, chewing through stems and cutting into yields. Despite several years of efforts, there is still no reliable way to keep SGM populations in check. However, nature may already be offering reinforcements: parasitoid wasps that consume SGM maggots from the inside out.

Three close-up images of a small insect, with scale bars for size reference. — As soybean gall midge (*Resseliella maxima*) grows as a pest of concern, researchers are searching for ways to keep it in check. Recently, the discovery of the wasp *Synopeas ruficoxum* parasitizing soybean gall midge in Nebraska offers hope that it could be deployed in biological control efforts. Shown here are lateral views of the 2005 holotype of *S. ruficoxum* found in New Brunswick, Canada (A), a 2017 unidentified *Synopeas* found in Ontario, Canada (B), and 2021 *Synopeas “Y”* (C), illustrating the elongate metasoma. (Image originally published in von Gries et al. 2025, *Journal of Hymenoptera Research*)

A Lone “Oddball” Wasp

In 2021, Justin McMechan, Ph.D., and his lab team at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln began rearing insects from SGM-infested soybean stems. Among the hundreds of midges and a handful of familiar soybean-associated insects, the team recovered an unusual wasp. It stood out, not just from the known insects, but also from another wasp species discovered around the same time in Minnesota.

This lone wasp was sent to Gloria Melotto, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota studying natural enemies of SGM. At the time, Melotto was working to identify a different wasp species associated with SGM in Minnesota, collaborating with two taxonomists, Elijah Talamas, Ph.D., of the Florida State Collection of Arthropods and Jessica Awad, Ph.D., at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands.

Tiny, bright orange maggots of *Resseliella maxima*, better known as the soybean gall midge are causing big trouble for soybean growers, chewing through stems and cutting into yields. Despite several years of efforts, there is still no reliable way to keep soybean gall midge populations in check. However, nature may be offering reinforcements: parasitoid wasps that consume soybean gall midge larvae from the inside out. (Adult soybean gall midge shown in inset.) (Image courtesy of Sarah von Gries)

Melotto forwarded the Nebraska specimen, along with her Minnesota parasitoids, to Talamas and Awad for identification. More specimens were available from Minnesota, so the team’s attention focused on that species, now known as Synopeas maximum (family Platygastridae, subfamily Platygastrinae). The Nebraska wasp remained unidentified, waiting patiently in a collection drawer for its time to shine.

By 2023, I had joined McMechan’s team as a graduate student, just in time for a new field season surveying Nebraska soybean fields for natural enemies. That same “oddball” wasp reappeared, only this time it was not alone. We collected 26 more wasps, scattered across multiple sites. Suddenly, the curious singleton revealed itself to be part of a much larger story. It was clear this wasp warranted closer attention, and we published the resulting discovery in August in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

The first page of a research article covering Synopeas ruficoxum, a natural enemy of the soybean gall midge. — The first page of the paper in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

The Mystery of Synopeas “Y”

Talamas and Awad identified the wasp as a second species in the genus Synopeas, and we began referring to it as Synopeas “Y.” Its elongate metasoma, or tail end of its abdomen, set it apart from most of the 400 described species in the genus, narrowing the possible matches to a subset of 34, which we later named the “craterum group.”

While Talamas and Awad combed the literature for descriptions that matched Synopeas “Y,” we generated genentic barcode sequences from the 26 fresh specimens and queried them against the Barcode of Life Database. Two matches surfaced: unidentified Synopeas specimens from Montreal and Guelph, Canada. Fortunately, voucher specimens were available for closer examination, so Talamas requested them to compare against Synopeas “Y.”

New species of parasitic wasp associated with soybean pest in Minnesota

“The Canadian specimens had more brightly colored appendages [than those from the U.S.], but otherwise they appeared to be conspecific,” says Talamas. The morphological match and a genetic barcode similarity of 99.5% provided strong evidence that the Canadian and U.S. populations were the same species.

Then came a breakthrough. Awad found a potential match with a single female wasp collected in 2005 near Belleville, New Brunswick, Canada, Synopeas ruficoxum, which she had seen during a previous visit to the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen.

“I was about 90% confident that Synopeas “Y” was Synopeas ruficoxum,” Awad says. “The morphology was a very close match and the known distribution matched as well. I wanted to double-check the holotype, but I examined it closely when I was in Copenhagen and took detailed notes, so I had a pretty good idea of what it looked like.”

Identity Confirmed

Map showing the distribution of R. maxima in the U.S. Midwest and S. ruficoxum in Canada, marked by orange and blue dots, respectively. — Geographic distribution of soybean gall midge (*Resseliella maxima*) and the parasitoid wasp *Synopeas ruficoxum* in the U.S. and Canada. (Figure originally published in von Gries et al. 2025, *Journal of Hymenoptera Research*)

After borrowing and comparing the museum specimen and two voucher specimens, Talamas and Awad confirmed Synopeas “Y” was indeed Synopeas ruficoxum, expanding the known geographic range of the species.

Using the genetic barcodes, we developed species-specific primers to screen field-collected SGM larvae for parasitism by S. ruficoxum. This method provided DNA evidence for the host-parasitoid relationship, confirming that S. ruficoxum parasitizes SGM.

Although all wasps in Platygastrinae are assumed to parasitize gall midges (family Cecidomyiidae), validated host-parasitoid relationships at the species level remain rare. “Something that’s kind of interesting,” Awad says, “is that other members of the Synopeas craterum group also parasitize species of Resseliella. This is only the third host association known for this group.” The function of the extra-long metasoma remains unknown, but more ecological data could help explain this unusual feature.

Looking Ahead: Biological Control Potential

Close-up of a damaged plant stem, showing brown decay and small reddish insects partially embedded in the wood. — Soybean Gall Midge (Resseliella maxima). Photo by slisak published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license

With S. ruficoxum now identified as a parasitoid of SGM, it opens the door to more questions. We still do not know much about its basic biology, like how long adults live, or even how they reproduce, since only females have been found. We also lack data on parasitism rates, which is key to evaluating its potential as a biological control agent in integrated pest management. And all of these questions need to be considered alongside the other known SGM parasitoid, S. maximum.

Molecular tools, including DNA barcoding, offer opportunities to advance our understanding of platygastrines and their gall midge hosts, especially in pest management. These techniques can reveal host-parasitoid associations, detect new species, and monitor population dynamics in agriculture. Broader implementation has the potential to enhance biological control strategies but is presently limited by major knowledge gaps about the diversity and life history of gall midges and their parasitoids.

Here, the agricultural significance of the insects helps to provide both the impetus and funding to advance our understanding of their biology, and the tools used to do it. These tools can now be used to study gall midge-parasitoid interactions more broadly, including those in both agricultural and natural ecosystems.

Research article:

von Gries SC, Awad J, Talamas EJ, McMechan AJ, Koch RL, Lindsey ARI (2025) Synopeas ruficoxum Buhl (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae) is a natural enemy of soybean gall midge, Resseliella maxima Gagné (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 98: 721-742. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.98.163211

Story originally published on Entomology Today. Republished with permission.

Newly discovered orchid faces ‘foretold’ extinction

Inspired by its seemingly doomed fate, the Colombian species was named after the protagonist of Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

“There had never been a death so foretold.”
Gabriel García Márquez.

When researchers discovered an unknown orchid species growing in the cloud forests and páramos of Colombia’s Western and Central Andes, they were struck by the iconic first line of Gabriel García Márquez’s 1981 novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

Photgraphs of Lepanthes nasariana, a newly discovered orchid. — *Lepanthes* *nasariana*. A. Flower, frontal view; B. Leaf, showing its thick, succulent morphology; C. Habit of the plant, showing the growth form and habitat. Photographs by J.S. Moreno.

Found thriving in lush, humid habitats at altitudes between 2,800 and 3,600 metres, Lepanthes nasariana is currently assessed as “Least Concern” according to IUCN Red List criteria. But its discovery is shadowed by a grim future, and a team of Colombian botanists has issued an urgent wake-up call after projecting its likely extinction within decades due to climate change.

Drawing inspiration from the tragic fate of protagonist Santiago Nasar, the researchers have termed their finding the “Nasar Effect”: a phenomenon where new species are described even as their demise is foretold by the conditions that threaten them. In the novella, Nasar’s impending death is known to everyone but himself, reflecting the fate of this new species.

Gabriel García Márquez portrait photo. — Gabriel García Márquez.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold cover. — *Chronicle of a Death Foretold* cover.

Published in the open-access journal PhytoKeys, the researchers’ models show Lepanthes nasariana could lose up to 96% of its suitable habitat by 2090 under a worst-case climate scenario, shrinking the orchid’s presence to tiny refugia in just two Colombian national parks.

The projected impact of rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns would, under more severe climate projections, qualify it as “Critically Endangered” in less than a century. This trajectory is reflected in numerous high-Andean species, many still unknown to science, whose fates may soon be sealed by global warming.

Projected changes in the potential distribution of *Lepanthes nasariana* under future climate scenarios. A. scenario for 2070; B. scenario for 2070; C. scenario for 2090; D. scenario for 2090. Blue indicates stable habitat, red indicates habitat loss. Each map represents the ensemble average of multiple GCMs under intermediate (SSP2-4.5) and high (SSP5-8.5) greenhouse gas emission pathways.

“Like the fate of Santiago Nasar, Lepanthes nasariana lives under a prophecy it cannot hear. Its extinction foretold by the warming of the very clouds that cradle it. Yet, in naming it, we hope to break that spell, to remind the world that there is still time to change the ending,” said the research team behind the discovery.

Original source

Moreno JS, Herrera Cobo AT, Palacio RD, Hazzi NA (2025) Chronicle of a death foretold: Lepanthes nasariana (Orchidaceae, Pleurothallidinae), a newly described high-Andean orchid facing a worst-case climate change scenario. PhytoKeys 266: 219-240. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.266.161410

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New snake species named in honor of Steve Irwin

The species is glossy black, reaches up to a meter in length, and is non-venomous. It is believed to be endemic to the island.

A new species of wolf snake was discovered from the Great Nicobar Islands, India.

A black snake with glossy scales is depicted in the grass, flicking its tongue, surrounded by grass. — Photo by Girish Choure.

Researchers R. S. Naveen and S. R. Chandramouli of the Pondicherry University, Zeeshan A. Mirza of the Max Planck Institute for Biology and Girish Choure of Pune published the discovery in the open-access journal Evolutionary Systematics.

A coiled black snake with glossy scales resting on a mossy surface. — Photo by S. R. Chandramouli.

The team named the new species Irwin’s wolf snake, or Lycodon irwini, after the late Stephen Robert Irwin, the renowned Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, and wildlife educator. “His passion and dedication to wildlife education and conservation have inspired naturalists and conservationists worldwide, including the authors of the paper,” they write in their study.

A sleek, dark snake coiled on a log against a dark background. — Photo by Girish Choure.

The adults of the new species are glossy black and can grow to a meter in length. The snakes are non-venomous and likely feed on reptiles, amphibians and small mammals. Currently, the species appears to the endemic to the Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago. Based on the narrow distribution range and potential human threats to the species, the authors suggest that it should be considered Endangered.

“New species continue to be discovered, exemplified by Lycodon irwini, highlighting the ongoing progress in taxonomy and the incomplete understanding of herpetofaunal diversity and distribution in the region,” the researchers write in their paper.

Research article:

Naveen RS, Mirza ZA, Choure G, Chandramouli SR (2025) A ‘Crikey’ new snake: An insular Lycodon Fitzinger, 1826 (Squamata, Colubridae) from the Nicobar Archipelago, India. Evolutionary Systematics 9(2): 221-228. https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.9.170645

Three new toad species skip the tadpole phase and give birth to live toadlets

Guest blog post from the University of Copenhagen. Read their press release here.

An international team of researchers have identified three new species of enchanting, pustular, tree-dwelling toads from Africa. Their solution for having offspring away from water? Skipping the tadpole phase altogether, and giving birth to live toadlets. The study is published in the open-access scientific journal Vertebrate Zoology.

Face-on photograph of a toad. — One of the newly described toad species, *Nectophrynoides luhomeroensis*. Photo credit: John Lyarkurwa

Most textbooks will tell you only one story of frog reproduction: Eggs to tadpoles to froglets to adults. But for three newly discovered species found in Tanzania this is not the case. The three new species of frogs belong to an unusual group of African toads in the genus Nectophrynoides — commonly called “tree toads.”

Instead of laying eggs that hatch into tadpoles, the female tree toads carry their offspring inside their bodies and give birth to fully formed, tiny toads. This makes them among the very few amphibians in the world capable of internal fertilization and true live birth.

“It’s common knowledge that frogs grow from tadpoles—it’s one of the classic metamorphosis paradigms in biology. But the nearly 8000 frog species actually have a wide variety of reproductive modes, many of which don’t closely resemble that famous story” says Assoc. Prof. Mark D. Scherz, Curator for Herpetology at the Natural History Museum Denmark, a coauthor on the study.

Side-on photograph of a toad. — Like its relatives, *Nectophrynoides luhomeroensis* has large skin glands all over its body. Photo credit: Michele Menegon.

Only a handful of frog species from South America and southeast Asia have developed similar strategies making these toads a rare case in the animal kingdom.

“Live-bearing is exceptionally rare among frogs and toads, practiced by less than 1% of frogs species, making these new species exceptionally interesting,” says H. Christoph Liedtke a co-author from the Spanish National Research Council, who has specialized in the evolution of amphibian reproductive modes.

120-year-old frog DNA

Back in 1905, a German researcher, Gustav Tornier, presented to the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, the discovery of a toad from Tanzania that, astonishingly, gives birth to live young. At the time, it was the only known species of frog in the world to do so.

Side-on photograph of a beige and black toad. — One of the newly described toad species, *Nectophrynoides uhehe*. Photo credit: Michele Menegon.

The frogs originally found by Tornier are today housed at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, and the research team were able to secure DNA from the original frogs using methods collectively known as ‘museomics’.

“Some of these specimens were collected over 120 years ago. Our museomics work was able to reveal exactly which populations those old specimens belonged to, giving us a lot more confidence for future work on these toads,” says Dr Alice Petzold of the University of Potsdam, who carried out the museomics portion of the study.

“Phylogenetic work from a few years ago had already let us know there was previously unrecognised diversity among these toads. But by travelling to different natural history museums and examining hundreds of preserved toads, I was able to get a better idea of their morphological diversity, so we could describe these new species,” says Christian Thrane from University of Copenhagen and first author on the study.

Protecting endangered species

Beyond its evolutionary interest, the discovery could have important implications for conservation. Many of these live-bearing toads inhabit small, fragmented habitats and are under threat from deforestation, mining, and climate change.

The new species are from the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM) of Tanzania, an imperiled biodiversity hotspot famed for the many species that are found nowhere else on Earth. These mountains that rise from the plains are cloaked in lush forests, but Dr Michele Menegon, another coauthor on the study who works for a conservation organisation whose work focuses on forest protection, notes how highly fragmented these habitats are and that this is impacting the biodiversity, including the toads that dwell there.

Rainforest stream. — *Nectophrynoides* species are often found near rainforest streams in the Eastern Arc mountains of Tanzania. Photo credit: Michele Menegon.

His colleague from the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzia raises the same concern.

“The forests where these toads are known to occur are disappearing quickly,” says John V. Lyakurwa, a researcher from the University of Dar es Salaam, who has been studying amphibians in the EAM, including these toads, and a coauthor on the study.

Most of the tree toads are already on the brink of extinction, with one species in this genus, Nectophrynoides asperginis, already extinct in the wild, and another Nectophrynoides poyntoni not observed since its discovery in 2003. The future of these beautiful toads is very uncertain.

Original source

Thrane C, Lyakurwa JV, Liedtke HC, Menegon M, Petzold A, Loader SP, Scherz MD (2025) Museomics and integrative taxonomy reveal three new species of glandular viviparous tree toads (Nectophrynoides) in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains (Anura: Bufonidae). Vertebrate Zoology 75: 459-485. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.75.e167008