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.
“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 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.
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 showcased the EU pollinator projects VALOR and AGRI4POL at Entomology 2025.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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 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.”
“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
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.
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
Inspired by its seemingly doomed fate, the Colombian species was named after the protagonist of Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold.
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.
Lepanthesnasariana. 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.
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
A new species of wolf snake was discovered from the Great Nicobar Islands, India.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
One of the newly described toad species, Nectophrynoides uhehe. Photo credit: Michele Menegon.
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.
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
Published in the journal Subterranean Biology, the paper has become by far the most popular research article ever published across Pensoft’s scientific journal portfolio in terms of both news media coverage and overall online attention.
Issue 53 (2025) of Subterranean Biology, where the spider megacolony paper was published.
Thanks to an integration with our partners at Altmetric, we have quantifiable metrics that measure just how exceptional the attention to this article is. The paper’s Altmetric Attention Score of 2254 places it in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric globally. For less than a month, it became more popular than nearly 27,000 research papers published by Pensoft and tracked by Altmetric.
The study was covered globally by major news outlets, reaching audiences far beyond niche scientific circles. The article garnered over 2,200 online mentions linking directly to the publication, with Altmetric tracking attention from 290 news outlets specifically. The story was featured by numerous top global news organizations, including The New York Times, BBC, The Washington Post, The Independent, Die Welt and NBC News,as well as popular science publications such as Smithsonian Magazine and Science Alert.
Beyond traditional media, the study gained significant traction on various social platforms, including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, alongside mentions on Bluesky and X.
The paper details fascinating discovery from the Sulfur Cave, which sits on the border between Albania and Greece. There, the research team documented an extraordinary spider community centered around a massive communal web spanning more than 100 square meters. This giant structure, dense enough to resemble a living curtain, is home to an estimated total of over 110,000 spiders, comprised of approximately 69,000 Tegenaria domestica and 42,000 Prinerigone vagans individuals.
A video of the spider colony in Sulfur cave. Courtesy Blerina Vrenozi
Crucially, this study marks the first documented instance of colonial behavior in both of these spider species, and the first recorded case of colonial web-building in a chemoautotrophic cave environment.
This unusual coexistence, where the larger, normally predatory T. domestica does not eat the smaller P. vagans, is believed to be facilitated by the cave’s total darkness and, most importantly, the overwhelming abundance of food resources. The ecosystem is sustained entirely without sunlight through chemoautotrophy, where sulfur-oxidizing bacteria form biofilms that support invertebrates that serve as the spiders’ primary, highly dense food source. This specialized, isolated environment has also driven the evolutionary adaptation of the spiders, which are genetically distinct from their surface relatives, illustrating the remarkable genetic plasticity that emerges under extreme environmental conditions.
We are proud that our journal Subterranean Biology is the platform for publishing such globally compelling research. This record success only confirms the widespread interest in high-quality, specialized scientific discoveries.
We continue our dedication to effective, high-reach science communication and look forward to sharing other compelling research with both scientists and the wider public.
Researchers have rediscoveredMoema claudiae, a species of seasonal killifish in Bolivia that was thought to be possibly extinct. This rediscovery provides new hope for the conservation of this unique fish and the diverse wetland habitats of the region.
Moemaclaudiae. Credit: Heinz Arno Drawert and Thomas Otto Litz.
Moema claudiae was last seen over 20 years ago in its original locality, in a site now destroyed and converted to agricultural land. Despite extensive surveys in recent years, no other living individuals had been found, and the species was deemed Critically Endangered according to IUCN criteria and thought to be possibly extinct.
However, in a recent expedition, researchers Heinz Arno Drawert and Thomas Otto Litz located a surviving population in a small, temporary pond within a remnant forest patch surrounded by farms.
Heinz Arno Drawert at the biotope where Moemaclaudiae was rediscovered in 2024. Credit: Heinz Arno Drawert and Thomas Otto Litz.
Published in the open-access journal Nature Conservation, this is the first record of the species in more than two decades and enabled scientists to take the first-ever live photographs, observe its behaviour, and study previously unknown aspects of its natural history.
Thomas Litz, one of the co-authors, said: “For me, it is something special to have rediscovered Moema claudiae. This has shown that we now have the opportunity to preserve this species in the wild. I am all the more pleased because Prof. Wilson Costa named this species after his wife Claudia, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him especially for decades of collaboration and support.”
Thomas Otto Litz.
Heinz Arno Drawert.
The rediscovered habitat harboured not only Moema claudiae but also six other species of seasonal killifish, making it the most genetically diverse assemblage of these fish ever documented worldwide. The region’s unique ecology, where the Amazon forest meets the Llanos de Moxos savannas, appears to support this diversity, but rapid deforestation and agricultural expansion threaten these habitats at an alarming rate.
Following this discovery, scientists emphasise the urgent need to protect the area, as it is now the only known site harbouring a wild population of Moema claudiae, as well as an exceptional global hotspot for seasonal killifish diversity.
Moemaclaudiae. Credit: Heinz Arno Drawert and Thomas Otto Litz.
Over the last 25 years, nearly 10 million hectares of forest have been lost in Bolivia, including vital wetland habitats. Deforestation has accelerated dramatically in recent years, raising serious concerns for the future of many unique species and ecosystems.
“Without rapid and effective action to curb the irrational expansion of the agricultural frontier in Bolivia’s lowlands, we risk losing some of the world’s most important terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and with them the irreplaceable goods and services they provide,” added co-author Heinz Drawert. “We cannot hope to achieve true social and economic wellbeing unless we also maintain the functionality of the ecosystems that sustain it.”
The Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna (ANHMW) has launched its first issue since transitioning to the ARPHA scholarly publishing platform and entering a co-publishing partnership with Pensoft.
The open-access, peer-reviewed journal publishes original research relating to the museum’s scientific collections and ongoing projects, covering anthropology, biosciences, earth sciences, genetics, prehistory, and the museum’s history.
Established in 1836 as the Annalen des Wiener Museums der Naturgeschichte, the journal is one of Europe’s oldest periodicals, maintaining a longstanding tradition of scientific publishing. Over the years, the journal experienced various iterations and name changes and, in 1980, it was divided into three series. Now, following the transition to Pensoft, these series have been reunited under one title.
ANHMW operates as a diamond open-access journal, allowing authors to publish freely thanks to the generous support of the Natural History Museum Vienna. Co-published by Pensoft and the museum, all articles are available in multiple formats including HTML, JATS XML, and high-resolution full-colour PDF.
Content is enhanced semantically and converted into Linked Open Data and OpenBiodiv Biodiversity knowledge graphs. To meet nomenclatural standards for electronic publication, all articles will be indexed and archived in repositories such as Zenodo, CLOCKSS, Portico, and more, with nomenclatural acts registered in ZooBank.
The joint Editors-in-Chief, Dr Anna Weinmann, Mag Andrea Krapf, and Dr Nesrine Akkari, expressed enthusiasm for the journal’s digital transformation. Andrea Krapf commented, “I am very proud to accompany such a venerable and traditional journal as the Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien on its journey into the digital future under its new English title, Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna. In Pensoft, we have found a reliable partner to publish the journal under a modern diamond open access model, making it thus more attractive to the scientific community and the general public.”
Dr Nesrine Akkari said, “Since joining the editorial team of the Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien as the editor-in-chief of Serie B in 2018, I have witnessed continuous attempts to modernise the journal’s editorial workflow and publications. The idea of moving to Pensoft as a co-publisher was discussed and I am delighted that our managers support it.
“As both a scientist and an editor, I recognise the importance of the Annals as part of the museum’s legacy, while I also recognize the many advantages of the collaboration with Pensoft. I believe that this change marks a new era for the Annals and that, by combining modernity and tradition, our journal will continue to thrive.”
Prof Lyubomir Penev, CEO and Founder of Pensoft, welcomed the partnership: “We are thrilled to welcome the Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna into the Pensoft family of next-generation scientific journals. ARPHA’s publishing solutions will allow the journal to modernise and find new audiences.”
The first issue is now available on the ANHMW’s new website, including an editorial by the Editors-in-Chief reflecting on the past and future of this historic journal.
A new native bee species with tiny devil-like “horns” named Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer has been discovered in Western Australia’s Goldfields, highlighting how much remains unknown about Australia’s native pollinators.
Dr Kit Prendergast
The striking new bee was found during surveys of a critically endangered wildflower Marianthus aquilonarius that grows only in the Bremer Range region, which is between the towns of Norseman and Hyden.
Lead author Curtin Adjunct Research Fellow Dr Kit Prendergast, from the Curtin School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said the female bee’s unusual horned face inspired its name lucifer – Latin for “light-bringer,” but also a playful nod to the devilish look.
A female Megachile Lucifer.
“I discovered the species while surveying a rare plant in the Goldfields and noticed this bee visiting both the endangered wildflower and a nearby mallee tree,” Dr Prendergast said.
The two plants visited by Megachile Lucifer. Left: Marianthus aquilonaris. Right: Eucalyptus livida.
“The female had these incredible little horns on her face. When writing up the new species description I was watching the Netflix show Lucifer at the time, and the name just fit perfectly. I am also a huge fan of the Netflix character Lucifer so it was a no-brainer.
A female Megachile Lucifer.
“DNA barcoding confirmed the male and female were the same species and that it didn’t match any known bees in DNA databases, nor did the specimens I had collected morphologically match any in museum collections.
“It’s the first new member of this bee group to be described in more than 20 years, which really shows how much life we still have to discover – including in areas that are at risk of mining, such as the Goldfields.”
Dr Prendergast said the discovery highlighted the importance of understanding native bees before their habitats are disturbed.
“Because the new species was found in the same small area as the endangered wildflower, both could be at risk from habitat disturbance and other threatening processes like climate change,” Dr Prendergast said.
“Many mining companies still don’t survey for native bees, so we may be missing undescribed species, including those that play crucial roles in supporting threatened plants and ecosystems.
“Without knowing which native bees exist and what plants they depend on, we risk losing both before we even realise they’re there.”
Dr Kit Prendergast
The publication of the research coincides with Australian Pollinator Week, an annual celebration of the crucial role bees, butterflies and other insects play in maintaining healthy ecosystems and food production.
The research was supported by the Atlas of Living Australia, the Goldfields Environmental Management Group and the USDA Agricultural Research Service.
Research article:
Prendergast KS, Campbell JW (2025) Megachile (Hackeriapis) lucifer (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae), a new megachilid with demon-like horns that visits the Critically Endangered Marianthus aquilonaris (Pittosporaceae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 98: 1017-1030. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.98.166350
