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Andrew Hicks from the Museum of Natural History at the University of Colorado and his team discovered a previously unknown leafhopper species in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, located just east of the megalopolis that extends from New York City to Washington, DC. This was the first time an insect has been reported from the state-listed threatened pinebarren smokegrass, Muhlenbergia torreyana. The study can be found in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

The discovery was made with the help of Dr. Gerry Moore of the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Greensboro, NC, and Uli Lorimer of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Called F. whitcombi, the leafhopper was named after the author’s “extraordinary” mentor, colleague and friend, Dr. Robert Whitcomb. “Among many other accomplishments,” in the fields of microbiology and ornithology, Mr. Hicks points to Whitcombs’ “major contributions” to leafhopper taxonomy and ecology.

Actually, it is exactly the ecology factor that could make it or break it for the “charismatic” new leafhopper. Not only is pinebarren smokegrass, which the insect inhabits, a threatened species, but it is known that the rest of the leafhoppers from the genus Flexamia, with a few exceptions, are each dependent on a very specific plant.

Although pinebarren smokegrass is still relatively well-distributed in the Pine Barrens, the Pine Barrens themselves have already been seen to suffer the effects of a warming climate. Various human activities could also pose a further threat to the leafhopper’s host and the its habitat.

“The description of any new species may serve as a catalyst for additional research, and this will be best accomplished while the species still can be found in nature–something that can no longer be taken for granted,” stressed the scientist. “To delay the publication of a species description until the time of a genus revision is to deny the pace of change in the natural world in the 21st century and may consign said new species to a future status of “known from a single collection”, or, “presumed extinct, life history unknown,” he added.

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Original source:

Hicks A (2015) In the shadow of a megalopolis, a new Flexamia from a threatened grass species in the New Jersey Pine Barrens (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Deltocephalinae, Paralimnini). ZooKeys 511: 69-79. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.511.9572

Discovered forty years ago, the two roundworm species, A. isokaryoni and P. paradoxus, are yet to be studied in detail. To obtain new information on the worms’ morphology and taxonomic position, a research team from Bulgaria were the first to implement scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study these nematodes. The research was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Through their initiative, the scientists also concluded that the Pararhyssocolpus genus can be considered endemic to the Maritime Antarctic.

So far has been known that the two worm species are widespread in the Antarctic Islands and they live in different microhabitats, having various diet. Nevertheless, all data has been derived from light microscopy analysis and therefore, it has been insufficient.

The new SEM pictures revealed curious peculiarities of lip region and spear, shape of vulva and other external characters. Along with new data about the worms’ postembryonic development and the evidences produced by molecular analyses, the micrographs helped in solving the taxonomic problems around these remarkable species.

Roundworms are the most diverse and numerous representatives of high-latitude invertebrate fauna in Antarctica. Very well adapted to its severe climate conditions, they are even called glacial survivors. However, there is still the need for further studies on the nematode diversity in these overwhelming habitats, the research team pointed out.

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Original source:

Elshishka M, Lazarova S, Radoslavov G, Hristov P, Peneva V (2015) New data on two remarkable Antarctic species Amblydorylaimus isokaryon (Loof, 1975) Andrássy, 1998 andPararhyssocolpus paradoxus (Loof, 1975) n. gen., n. comb. (Nematoda: Dorylaimida). Zookeys511: 25-68. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.511.9793

Additional information:

This study was partly funded by project ANIDIV2, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and several previous projects supported by the National Scientific Fund.

A research in the North Caucasus, conducted by a group of Russian scientists over three years, has revealed an intermediate distribution of Caucasian populations of non-biting midges between Europe and Siberia. Their observations also proved some interesting morphological distinctions between the studied populations and the previously researched ones from Europe and Siberia. Their results have been published in the open-access journal Comparative Cytogenetics.

The study on karyotypical and morphological peculiarities of Ch. bernensis is a part of the investigation of the fauna and distribution of non-biting midges in the Northern Caucasus.

“Non-biting midges is a very interesting group of insects,” said Dr. Karmokov, senior staff scientist in Tembotov Institute of Ecology of Mountain territories. “The fauna and distribution of many species are still almost unknown. We investigated the species Ch. bernensis of the genus Chironomus, observed by us in northern Caucasus for the first time. We found interesting distinctions in the morphology of the mouthparts of larvae, as well as new, not previously known for this species, rearrangement in the second chromosome.”

The genus Chironomus is one of the most well-studied groups of non-biting midges. It consists of over 200 species. Dr. Karmokov explained that on comparing the populations from Caucasus with the already studied ones from Europe and Siberia, they found similarities between the Caucasian and the European. However, the former was occupying a special intermediate location, which might indicate a fairly large degree of isolation.

“The dominance of different genotypic combinations at various sites of the Caucasus probably can be explained by the fact that in some areas some combinations can be more adaptive than the others,” the scientists suggest. “Perhaps this is happening due to a different level of mineralization, temperature and degree of eutrophication in the different collection sites.”

Although the research team points out that more researches are needed for more specific information to be obtained, they propose that the geographical location of the studied regions reflects the true course of the species’ settlement (either from west to east or from east to west). Dr. Karmokov conducted the current study with the help of Dr. Polukonova and Dr. Sinichkina from Saratov State Medical University named after V.I. Razumovsky.

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Original source:

Karmokov MKh, Polukonova NV, Sinichkina OV (2015) Karyotype characteristics and polymorphism peculiarities of Chironomus bernensis Wülker & Klötzli, 1973 (Diptera, Chironomidae) from the Central Caucasus and Ciscaucasia. Comparative Cytogenetics 9(3): 281-297. doi: 10.3897/CompCytogen.v9i3.4519

A team of scientists, led by Dr. Tremaine Gregory from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, worked with a pipeline construction company to preserve the branches of large trees that connected over the pipeline clearing forming natural canopy bridges in the Lower Urubamba Region of Peru. For a year, the researchers used camera traps in the bridges to monitor their use, and it didn’t take long for an unexpected animal to appear in the photographs: a tiny porcupine weighing just 770g. Curiously, the small mammals appeared to be unable to leap across canopy gaps, choosing only well-connected bridges. The finding was published in the open-access journal ZooKeys, and funding and logistical support for this canopy bridge study were provided by Repsol Exploración Perú.

Similar to a road, a natural gas pipeline clearing in the tropical forest presents a problem for arboreal animals, like monkeys, whose paws never touch the ground. They need to either take a chance and dare to cross the clearing on the ground or remain safely in the canopy while losing access to the resources on the other side. The researchers decided to test the utility of a solution to this problem: natural canopy bridges.

“When my colleague, Farah Carrasco-Rueda, and I saw this species for the first time in the camera trap photos, we were confused,” said Dr. Gregory. “The animals were much smaller than the species known to exist in the area, but they didn’t seem to be youngsters.”

Because no dwarf porcupines are known to the region, as the bridge monitoring project came to a close, the researchers opted to collect one individual. After a careful identification process, they determined that the animals belong to a species known to exist only as far south as Iquitos, Peru, 900 km to the north.

The camera trap photos revealed the species not only to be present but also to be quite abundant, with 17 individuals revealed in the photos. This species was described just over a decade ago, and previously, knowledge of the species came from only 5 specimens collected over the past century, while behavioral information could only be deduced from a single live specimen observed. However, in this study, the researchers found camera trapping to be a successful method to study them, with the porcupines even developing an apparent affinity for the cameras.

“At one point we began to have problems with the cameras. When we checked them, we found many of them opened and exposed to the tropical weather. After reviewing the photos, we realized it was the porcupines inadvertently opening them when they came to gnaw on them!”

The behavioral information gathered in this study from over 2,000 camera trap photos provides new insight into the lives of these tiny, spiny creatures.

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Original source:

Gregory T, Lunde D, Zamora-Meza HT, Carrasco-Rueda F (2015) Records of Coendou ichillus(Rodentia, Erethizontidae) from the Lower Urubamba Region of Peru. ZooKeys 509: 109-121. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.509.9821

Researchers Ullmann and Stachowitsch critically review the current state of sea turtle rescue centres and first-aid stations in relation to the mortality trends for two charismatic yet endangered flagship species – the Mediterranean loggerhead and green turtle populations. Their findings were published in the open-access journal Nature Conservation.

The authors emphasise an urgent need for additional and more evenly spread turtle rescue centres and first-aid stations. They also call for improving communication and collaboration among existing centres to form a tightly knit rescue network spanning the entire Mediterranean.

The research team points out that while countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain have a fair number of rescue centres and first-aid stations, others have no facilities at all. For a number of countries no official data on this issue were available.

Sea turtles are highly migratory by nature and face a range of human-induced threats at sea and on land.A disturbing fact, featured in the review, is a bycatch rate of up to 200,000 loggerheads per year, leading to more than 50,000 deaths through direct interaction alone. The authors point out that because sea turtles grow slowly and reach sexual maturity late in their lives, every adult is extremely important.

This is precisely where the role of rescue centers grasps: every rescued individual counts. The research team provides a list of over 40 rescue institutions with contact details as a starting point for a common online database to connect existing centres and to inform potential volunteers where their valuable help is most needed.

“Proposals similar to ours have been previously advanced. The Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas, for example, has suggested building a Mediterranean-wide rescue network, but unfortunately it has never been realized in the envisioned scope.” commented Ullmann from the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway. “With the current worrying trends, however, action should not be delayed until further evidence has been collected. A functioning network of sea turtle rescue centers would be a good first step in this direction.”

Ten subsocial cobweb spider species were discovered in a research on nearly 400 Madagascan colonies, conducted by Dr. Agnarsson’s team. Most of them are single forest endemics and belong to one genus, Anelosimus.

The number of newly found species in an otherwise ongoingly deforested area such as Madagascar triggers the need for additional samplings, the research team point out.

In their report the scientists also stress on the fact that the extraordinary biodiversity there is still “mostly unexplored and undescribed” in terms of “many arthropod groups, such as spiders.” The California Academy of Sciences is one of the few institutions to have thoroughly looked into Madagascan spider research.

Curiously, five of the new species bare the names of the staple figures within the field of evolutionary biology: Wallace, Huxley, Buffon, Hooker and Lamarck. The Anelosimus darwini derives its name from the father of evolutionary biology Charles Darwin himself.

Yet, another one out of the ten species, Anelosimus moramora, got its name from the Madagascan motto ‘no rush’ or ‘take it easy.’

Dr. Agnarsson led the research in the biodiversity hotspot of Madagascar on behalf of both the University of Vermont’s Biology department and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The study can be found in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Researchers from the California Academy of Sciences (Rick Overson and Brian Fisher) have described six new species of strange subterranean ants from the genus Prionopelta in Madagascar and Seychelles.

Members of the ant genus Prionopelta are fierce, social predators that hunt down their prey with dagger-like teeth. These ants live throughout the tropics of the world, but usually go completely unnoticed for two main reasons.

Firstly, they are tiny. The smallest of the newly described species makes a fruit fly look huge. At 1.5 mm in length and 0.2 mm wide it is a barely visible fleck, skinnier even than the diameter of some single-celled protozoa.

Secondly, they lead an extremely cryptic lifestyle. Unlike many ants that are seen marching around at picnics, Prionopelta are either subterranean or live deep within leaf litter on the rainforest floor – some never catch a glimpse of sunlight their entire lives.

In keeping with their dark and mysterious habits, Prionopelta are part of a larger group of ants that have been dubbed Dracula ants by Fisher, as they are known to engage in the strange behavior of wounding the young of the colony and drinking their blood–more correctly called hemolymph in insects–as a bizarre means of distributing nutrients throughout the colony.

All of the newly described species of Prionopelta are endemic to the Malagasy region: six from Madagascar and one known only from the islands of Seychelles. This investigation increases the total number of species in the genus from 15 to 21, and highlights Madagascar as a major center of diversity for these fascinating insects. Previously, only one species was known from Madagascar which was described in 1924.

The new discoveries are a result of intensive sampling for over a decade by Fisher and members of the Madagascar Biodiversity Center. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

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Original source:

Overson R & Fisher BL (2015) Taxonomic revision of the genus Prionopelta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Malagasy region. In: ZooKeys 507: 115-150. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.507.9303

Other references:

Ito F & Billen J (1998) Larval hemolymph feeding and oophagy: behavior of queen and workers in the primitive ponerine ant Prionopelta kraepelini (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). In: Société royale zoologique de Belgique 128: 201-209

Masuko K, (1986) Larval hemolymph feeding: a non-destructive parental cannibalism in the primitive ant Amblyopone silvestrii Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 19: 249-255

Inspired by the discovery of more than 1000 eriophyoid mite species in China so far, Dr. Ji Wei Li and his team collected mites from four different areas across the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. A consecutive study of the samples proved the existence of three new mite species all from separate genera. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

All new species come from representatives of the rose family Rosaceae. Interestingly, one of the new mites is also the first ever representative of the genus Paracolomerus found to inhabit a Rosaceae plant.

Eriophyoid mites are so tiny that they are invisible to the naked human eye. Nevertheless, they are recognized as important pests in agriculture and forestry all over the world. They can induce plant malformations such as galls and disturb the normal growth of plants by piercing their cells with saliva.

About half of the eriophyoid mites, however, don’t cause any apparent damage to their hosts.

Such is the case with the newly discovered three species. The mites were found to infest the undersurface of the leaves of two species of flowering plants (Rosa beggeriana and Cotoneaster ignavus), without causing any apparent damage to the host.

The collected type specimens are now being kept at the Department of Plant Protection, Shihezi University, China.

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Original source:

Li J-W, Wang Z-H, Xue X-F, Zhang J-P (2015) Three new species of eriophyoid mites (Acari, Eriophyoidea) from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. ZooKeys 508: 97-111. doi:10.3897/zookeys.508.8940