Cage the fly: Walk-in field cages to assess mating compatibility in pest fruit flies

Fruit flies mating compatibility studies have been examined by an international team of researchers to assess the usefulness of walk-in field cages in studying the sexual behavior within fruit fly species complexes and recognition of taxonomically misplaced flies. In addition, they have also evaluated the relevant chemical signals during pheromone emission for species discrimination. The experimental part was conducted with the support of Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture in Seibersdorf, Austria. Their findings are published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Evolution has led to divergence in some groups, which sometimes results in new, yet very similar species. Hence, they might successfully confuse taxonomists, making them coin terms like ‘cryptic’ species, or in other words, distinct species misplaced under the same name.

However, these species are kept isolated from each other via reproductive barriers. Preventing interbreeding and hybridization, they can be ecological and mechanical, but also behavioral (i.e. sexual). The latter are behaviors or signals that affect recognition within a species, as well as attractiveness and mate choice. They affect their evolution and therefore, are key elements in species differentiation.

The authors of the present paper have found that the walk-in field cages methodology provides an appropriate ground to study these issues. By applying it, researchers around the world are able to detect pest species among others when occurring in the same populations.

Apart from taxonomic value, the scientists also point out the significance of these findings to pest management. As the studied pest fruit fly species are agricultural pests of major economic importance, assessing their mating behaviour, including the pheromones the males emit when attracting partners, can be utilised in the development of highly specific control methods. For instance, there is the sterile insect technique that involves releasing males reproductively sterilised via ionizing radiation into a wild population, where they inseminate the pest females with sterile sperm so that they end up with unviable offspring.

The main advantage of using walk-in field cages, rather than small laboratory-based ones, is that they provide semi-natural conditions under which they are “reliable and powerful tools to measure the level of mating compatibility among different species and populations of a putative single species.”

However, the present paper highlights that such an approach is only to be applied as a part of integrative taxonomic analyses, together with molecular, physiological and morphological approaches when assessing to which species a particular pest population belongs.

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Original source:

Juarez ML, Devescovi F, Brizova R, Bachmann G, Segura DF, Kalinova B, Fernandez P, Ruiz MJ, Yang J, Teal PEA, Caceres C,, Vreysen MJB, Hendrichs J, Vera MT (2015) Evaluating mating compatibility within fruit fly cryptic species complexes and the potential role of sex pheromones in pre-mating isolation. In: De Meyer M, Clarke AR, Vera MT, Hendrichs J (Eds) Resolution of Cryptic Species Complexes of Tephritid Pests to Enhance SIT Application and Facilitate International Trade. ZooKeys 540: 125-155. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.540.6133

Get to know them faster: Alternative time-efficient way to describe new moth species

Having collected thousands of moth and butterfly species from across Costa Rica, famous ecologist Daniel Janzen, University of Pennsylvania, and his team were yet to find out many of their names. When they sought help from Dr. Gunnar Brehm, the taxonomist realised he needed too much time to describe species in the framework of an extensive revision of the genus, especially as there are still only a few biologists skilled to do this.

In the end, he found a way to revise the Neotropical looper moth genus Hagnagorafast and efficiently through avoiding wordy descriptions, but focusing on diagnostic characters, illustrated external characters, genitalia structures and DNA barcoding instead. His study is available in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Having been put together back in the 19th century, most of the species within the Neotropical moth genus Hagnagora had been described by 1913. In modern days, it seemed necessary for the taxon to be revised. As a result, Dr. Gunnar Brehm herein publishes a “concise revision” comprising twenty species. It includes two species that have been revived from synonymy, two subspecies reinstated to a species level, four species excluded from the genus and the description of three new to science. In honour of the people who had funded the research, the new species have been named after them.

Following the revision, the research concludes not only the DNA molecules divergence between the separate species, but some subtle differences such as size, form of the wing blotches or the shape of the male genitalia.

Curious characteristic behaviour traits have also been noted within the genus. The representatives of the discussed genus fold their wings vertically while resting just like most butterflies and unlike the majority of related geometrid moths. Similarly, three of the revised species were noticed to be active during the day when they would often perch on moist substances like rotting plants, mud or dung, from whose fluids they would find vital nutrients.

The author stresses on the fact that taxonomists can hardly keep up with the pace inventories are being compiled, nor with the accelerating destruction of tropical rainforests. “Taxonomists therefore need to accelerate their workflows and try to make their papers useful not only to other taxonomists but for ecologists who need their support”, Dr. Gunnar Brehm says.

“What used to be one species ten years ago, known as Hagnagora anicata, is now regarded as a complex of six species, and more might be discovered in South American rain forests”, Brehm says. “Integrating information of molecules and morphology, as concisely as possible, appears to be one promising way to cope with the problem of slow taxonomy”, he explains in conclusion.

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Original source:

Brehm G (2015) Three new species of Hagnagora Druce, 1885 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Larentiinae) from Ecuador and Costa Rica and a concise revision of the genus. ZooKeys 537: 131-156. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.537.6090

How to catch a small squid? First records for the Gulf of California and southwest Mexico

Often avoiding sampling gear with their capability to detect movements and swim their way out of the nets fast enough, the small squids living in the open-ocean zone have so long gone under-researched. The present study, conducted by Dr. Michel Hendrickx, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, and his team, seems to provide new and first distributional records of five such species for the Gulf of California and in southwestern Mexico. It also significantly expands the currently known southernmost limit of localities of some of these squids in the eastern Pacific. The research is available in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

The researched five squid species belong to two genera, Abraliopsis and Pterygioteuthis, which although abundant and diverse, have long been shrouded by taxonomic and distributional controversies. To solve them, the researchers used specimens, collected over the span of thirteen years, comprising eight cruises across 113 locations in the Gulf of California and off the southwestern coast of Mexico.

As a result, the scientists concluded a significantly wider distributional range of the species they found. For instance, squids of the Abraliopsis genus were surprisingly found in water deeper than 600 m during the day.

The studied small squids are of high ecological value due to their vital position in the food web. Members of Abraliopsis are important preys for many fishes and mammals, such as the peruvian hake, the Indo-Pacific sailfish, the common dolphinfish and the local sharks. Meanwhile, the representatives of the other researched genus, Pterygioteuthis, are often consumed by larger cephalopods, sea-birds and fur seals. However, their abundance is strongly dependent on temperature, especially when there are fast and significant changes.

The scientists suggest that additional samplings with more adequate equipment, like faster large-sized mid-water trawls, could further bridge the knowledge gaps about these elusive marine inhabitants.

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Original source:

Hendrickx ME, Urbano B, Zamorano P (2015) Distribution of pelagic squids Abraliopsis Joubin, 1896 (Enoploteuthidae) and Pterygioteuthis P. Fischer, 1896 (Pyroteuthidae) (Cephalopoda, Decapodiformes, Oegopsida) in the Mexican Pacific. ZooKeys 537: 51-64. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.537.6023.

Smeagol found underground in Brazil: New eyeless and highly modified harvestman species

Called after Tolkien’s character from the “Lord of the Rings” series, a new eyeless harvestman species was found to crawl in a humid cave in southeastern Brazil. Never getting out of its subterranean home, the new daddy longlegs species is the most highly modified representative among its close relatives and only the second one with no eyes living in Brazil. Its introduction to science, made by the Brazilian research team of Dr. Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha, Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo together with Dr. Maria Elina Bichuette and MSc. Rafael Fonseca-ferreira from Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

While there are cave dwellers that can easily survive above the ground and even regularly go out in order to feed or mate, there are some, such as the new harvestman species, Iandumoema smeagol, that never leave their subterranean habitats. As an adaptation, the new harvestman species is eyeless and has a reduced amount of melanistic pigmentation, which shows through its pale yellowish colours.

The fourteen adult and juvenile individuals, observed by the researchers, were noticed to always stay close to the stream, most often preferring the wet cave walls. While the juveniles appeared quite active, the adults showed a more sedentary behaviour.

Typically for the harvestmen, the new species was found in a cave with organic matter deposits or spots. On one occasion the team observed one of the individuals in such litter, where it was scavenging carcasses of invertebrates.

In conclusion, the authors point out that additional studies on the population biology of the new species are urgent so that an adequate conservation strategy can be assumed. It is probable that its highly restricted distribution along with the deforestation taking place in the cave’s immediate surroundings call for the creation of protected areas.

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Original source:

Pinto-da-Rocha R, Fonseca-Ferreira R, Bichuette ME (2015) A new highly specialized cave harvestman from Brazil and the first blind species of the genus: Iandumoema smeagol sp. n. (Arachnida, Opiliones, Gonyleptidae). ZooKeys 537: 79-95. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.537.6073

Long-snouted Amazonian catfishes including three new species to form a new genus

Being close relatives within the same genus, eight catfishes showed enough external differences, such as characteristic elongated mouths, hinting to their separate origin. Following a thorough morphological as well as molecular analysis, a team of researchers suggested that five previously known species along with three new ones, which they have found during their survey, need a new genus to accommodate for their specificity. The study, conducted by a Brazilian research team from Universidade Estadual Paulista and led by Dr. Fabio F. Roxo, is available in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Among other physical peculiarities, the longer snout-like mouths of the herein discussed catfishes is a characteristic that sets them apart. This is also why the authors have chosen the name of Curculionichthys for the proposed genus, formed by the Latin word for “elongated snout” and the suffix “ichthys” meaning “fishes” in Greek.

Furthermore, one of the new species the researchers describe in the present paper surprises with its several dark-brown spots spread across its body. This colouration is unlike any other in its relatives that have various pigment patterns, yet never dark brown spots.

However, other overlapping morphological features as well as the closeness in the species’ researched habitats suggest they have a common ancestor, once lived in the Amazonian drainages.

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Original source:

Roxo FF, Silva GSC, Ochoa LA, Oliveira C (2015) Description of a new genus and three new species of Otothyrinae (Siluriformes, Loricariidae). ZooKeys 534: 103-134. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.534.6169

The owls beyond the Andes: Divergence between distant populations suggests new species

They might be looking quite identical, while perched above humanised farmlands and grasslands across several continents, but each of the populations of two owl species, living in the opposite hemispheres, might actually turn out to be yet another kind. This suggestion has been made by Dr. Nelson Colihueque and his team from Universidad de Los Lagos, Chile, based on new genetic divergence analyses of the Common Barn and the Short-eared Owl populations from southern Chile and comparing them with those from other geographic areas. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Although much has been known about the two widespread owl species, the knowledge about them has so far been restricted mainly to aspects such as their diet, conservation status and habitats. On the other hand, their genetic divergence in comparison with populations in distant areas has received little attention. Moreover, their taxonomical status is still based on traditional identification rather than modern methods such as the herein utilised mitochondrial COI sequencing.

Thus, the Chilean research team concluded a significant genetic divergence among the populations of both species from a few distinctive groups. In the case of the Common Barn Owl they compared the new analysis of its South American representatives with already available such data about populations from North America, Northern Europe and Australasia. For the Short-eared Owl, they compared Chilean and Argentinean birds with North American and North Asian.

One of the reasons behind such an evolutionary divergence might be the geographic isolation, experienced by the peripheral South American populations of both owl species. It is a consequence of the Andean Mountains acting as a natural barrier.

“In the case of the Common Barn Owl, the existence of geographic barriers to gene flow among populations on different continents is to be expected, and this in combination with its non-migratory or short-distance migratory behaviour, should contribute to promote the genetic divergence,” further explain the authors.

In conclusion, the researchers call for additional studies to clarify the taxonomic identification of these owl populations.

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Original source:

Colihueque N, Gantz A, Rau JR, Parraguez M (2015) Genetic divergence analysis of the Common Barn Owl Tyto alba (Scopoli, 1769) and the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (Pontoppidan, 1763) from southern Chile using COI sequence. ZooKeys 534: 135-146. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.534.5953

Immaculate white: New moth species preferring dry habitats is a rare case for Florida

Spreading its wings over the sandhills and scrub of peninsular Florida, a moth species with immaculately white wings has remained unnoticed by science until Mr. Terhune Dickel brought it to the attention of Dr. James Hayden of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. As a result of their research, published in the open-access journal ZooKeys, the authors have also included a key to facilitate the recognition of different pale-winged moths and their close relatives.

With its taste for much drier habitats such as the sandhills of peninsular Florida, the new species, called Antaeotricha floridella, is a noteworthy case among the moths and butterflies. This kind of endemism is, however, quite common among other groups of insects and spineless animals.

Initially confused with another very similar and widely distributed species, called Antaeotricha albulella, the herein described moth was found to be actually quite different when dissected by co-author Terhune Dickel.

After Mr. Dickel showed specimens to Dr. Hayden, they noticed that its forewings are immaculately white, unlike those of its close relatives within the pale-coloured endemics for the New World. Their wings tend to differ in colouration on a species level and are often spotted, however minute these contrasting patterns might be. While the new species has its forewings always in snow-white on the upper side and its hindwings – in pale gray, its kin, A. albulella, has either one or two black spots of black on its own forewings and white or pale-gray hindwings.

Currently, not much is known about the new moth species’ feeding habits. The evergreen sand live oak is the only plant that it has so far been confirmed to feed on. However, the researchers do not exclude the possibility that the new species could use a wider variety of oaks as hosts.

The occurrence of the moth exclusively in the dry areas of peninsular Florida fits an ecological pattern, and it is likely that more species, currently assigned under incorrect names, will be found in the state’s sandhills and scrub.

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Original source:

Hayden JE, Dickel TS (2015) A new Antaeotricha species from Florida sandhills and scrub (Lepidoptera, Depressariidae, Stenomatinae). ZooKeys 533: 133-150. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.533.6004

Black mouse-eared bat goes green: First case of a fruit-eating bat in the largest genus

Out of more than 110 allegedly well-studied mouse-eared bat species, there turns out to be one that has been keeping its diet a mystery. Belonging to the largest group of bats, known to be feeding on insects exclusively, the widely common Black mouse-eared bat (Myotis nigricans) is found to also seek fruits. The Brazilian team of researchers, led by biologist Roberto Leonan Morim Novaes, Fiocruz, conducted their work in the Rio de Janeiro’s reserve Reserva Ecologica de Guapiacu (REGUA), a 5,500 ha remnant of Atlantic Forest, and have their findings and discussion published in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal.

The unexpected first documentation of fruit consumption in this group of bats happened when the researchers captured a number of bats with mist-nets and kept them alone in cotton bags for about thirty minutes before handling for identification and biometry. Thus, they managed to retrieve feces of the specimens, which showed to contain small seeds. Later, in an experiment, part of the seeds even grew into seedlings. As a result, the scientists report the first fruit consumption within the mouse-eared bat genus, called Myotis, as well as the whole subfamily Myotinae. Their finding might also mean that the examined species plays the ecological role of a seed disperser.

Although the finding is based on a single specimen of Black mouse-eared bat, the researchers reject the possibility of the cotton bags having been previously contaminated with feces of other animals. Dismissed is also the chance of the seeds having been consumed on accident while predation, since the Black mouse-eared bat hunts insects during flight.

Overall, bats are remarkable because of their varied eating habits. Commonly eating insects, there are predatory groups specialised in feeding on other invertebrates, terrestrial vertebrates, fishes or blood. Among the plant-eating, there are those specialised in fruits, flowers or leaves. A few are classified as omnivores and yet few, which are known to be using one category of food exclusively, on rare occasions include an untypical food item to compliment their diet. For example, a carnivorous bat may sporadically consume a plant and vice versa.

“The discovery of a well-studied species, previously considered strictly insectivorous, foraging on fruits shows how little we know about the biology and natural history of Neotropical bats,” conclude the authors.

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Original source:

Novaes R, Souza R, Ribeiro E, Siqueira A, Greco A, Moratelli R (2015) First evidence of frugivory in Myotis(Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Myotinae). Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e6841. doi:10.3897/BDJ.3.e6841

The first long-haired ones: New wasp group proposed for 5 new species from India

Long accustomed to parasitising spider eggs, a large worldwide genus of wasps has as few as 24 known representatives in India. However, Dr. Veenakumari, ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, and her team have recently discovered five new species of these interesting wasps from different parts of the country. Because of their uniqueness and their strong resemblance to each other, as well to aid taxonomic studies they have been considered as constituting a group of their own. The discoveries and the suggestion of ‘the first long-haired ones’ species group are available in the open-access journal Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift.

Among the unique features that bring together the new five species, discovered by Drs. Veenakumari Kamalanathan, Prashanth Mohanraj and F. R. Khan, are the long hair-like structures along the margins of both of their wings. This is also the reason behind the authors’ choice of naming the proposed group adikeshavus, meaning ‘first one to have long hairs’ in Sanskrit.

Within this parasitic superfamily of wasps each group has been long accustomed to a specific host. The tribe to which the new five wasp species belong, for instance, is characterised by its exclusive preference for spider eggs. Parallel evolution accounts for the tiny wings of these wasps which allows them to slip through the silk strands of the egg sacs which are deposited in leaf litter by the spiders. Furthermore, all these species have a uniform length of 1 to 2 mm as a result of their getting used to parasitising relatively medium-sized spider eggs.

With over a thousand species supposed to exist in this genus the scientists suggest that their clustering into groups is a necessity to facilitate future studies.

The authors conclude that it is highly likely that this group of wasps will yield a much larger number of species of parasitoids attacking spider eggs in India.

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Original source:

Kamalanathan V, Mohanraj P, Khan FR (2015) ‘The adikeshavus-group’: A new species group of Idris Förster (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae) from India, with descriptions of five new species. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 62(2): 247-260. doi: 10.3897/dez.62.6219

Counting stars: Illegal trade of Indian star tortoises is a far graver issue

Patterned with star-like figures on their shells, Indian star tortoises can be found in private homes across Asia, where they are commonly kept as pets. One can also see them in religious temples, praised as the living incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. How did they get there? Suspicious of a large-scale illegal international trade of these tortoises that could in fact pose a grave threat to the survival of the Indian Star tortoise, a team of researchers, led by Dr. Neil D’Cruze from Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford, and World Animal Protection, London, spent 17 months investigating the case focusing on India and Thailand. They have their study published in the open-access journal Nature Conservation.

The present study established that at least 55,000 Indian star tortoise individuals are being poached over the span of a year from a single trade hub in India. Helped by a number of herpetologists and wildlife enforcement officials, the researchers have tracked signals about how sophisticated criminal gangs are exploiting “legal loopholes” and people alike, taking advantage of rural communities and urban consumers in India and other Asian countries.

“We were shocked at the sheer scale of the illegal trade in tortoises and the cruelty inflicted upon them,” comments Dr. Neil D’Cruze. “Over 15 years ago wildlife experts warned that the domestic trade in Indian star tortoises needed to be contained before it could become established as an organised international criminal operation.”

“Unfortunately, it seems that our worst nightmare has come true – sophisticated criminal gangs are exploiting both impoverished rural communities and urban consumers alike,” he also added. “Neither group is fully aware how their actions are threatening the welfare and conservation of these tortoises.”

Although deemed of “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List when last formally assessed back in 2000, the Indian star tortoise and its increasing illegal poaching and trading can easily lead to a serious risk of the species’ extinction. Other dangers of such unregulated activities include the introduction of invasive species and diseases.

Having spent a year among a rural hunter-gatherer community, researchers established the collection of at least 55,000 juvenile wild Indian star tortoises between January and December 2014. This is already between three and six times more than the last such record dating from about ten years ago.

Collectors tend to poach juvenile tortoises, but it is not rare for them to also catch adults. Based on the individual’s age and health, the tortoises are later sold to vendors at a price of between 50 and 300 Indian Rupees (INR), or between 1 and 5 USD, per animal. “Therefore, we conservatively estimate (assuming no mortalities) that the collector engagement in this illegal operation has a collective annual value of up to 16,500,000 INR (263,000 USD) for their impoverished communities,” comment the researchers.

Consumers seek the Indian star tortoise for either exotic pets or spiritual purposes. With their star-like radiating yellow patterns splashed with black on their shells, not only is this tortoise species an attractive animal, but it was also found to be considered as a good omen among the locals in the Indian state of Gujarat. During their survey, the researchers found over a hundred hatchlings in a single urban household. However, their owner claimed that none of them was kept with commercial intent, although some of the tortoises were meant for close friends and relatives.

On the other hand, there was a case where the researchers came across a Shiva temple hosting a total of eleven Indian star tortoises. Temple representatives there confirmed that the tortoise is believed to represent an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, one of the three central gods in the religion, recognised as the preserver and protector of the universe.

In India vendors do not show the reptiles in public, but they are made available upon a special request. If paid for in advance, a vendor can also supply a larger quantity of the animals at a price ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 INR (15 to 50 USD) per animal. The researchers managed to see seven captive tortoises in private, including six juveniles and one adult, all in visibly poor health. Disturbingly, in order to reach these vendors, the collected tortoise are usually wrapped in cloths and packed into suitcases. Covered by a ‘mask’ of legal produce such as fruit and vegetables, they are transported to the ‘trade hubs’. They are also smuggled abroad to satisfy consumer demand among the growing middle classes in countries such as Thailand and China.

“Despite being protected in India since the 1970’s, legal ‘loopholes’ in other Asian countries such as Thailand and China appear to undermine India’s enforcement efforts,” explains Mr. Gajender Sharma, India’s Director at World Animal Protection, “They are smuggled out of the country in confined spaces, it’s clear there is little or no concern about the welfare of these reptiles.”

“World Animal Protection is concerned about the suffering that these tortoises endure,” he further notes. “We are dealing with an organised international criminal operation which requires an equally organised international approach to combat it.”

As a result of their study, the authors conclude that more research into both the illegal trafficking of Indian star tortoise and its effects as well as the consumer demand is urgently needed in order to assess, address and subsequently tackle the issue.

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Original source:

D’Cruze N, Singh B, Morrison T, Schmidt-Burbach J, Macdonald DW, Mookerjee A (2015) A star attraction: The illegal trade in Indian Star Tortoises. Nature Conservation 13: 1-19. doi:10.3897/natureconservation.13.5625