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Butterflies are probably best-loved insects. As such, they are relatively well studied, especially in the United States. Eastern parts of the country are explored most thoroughly. First eastern US butterfly species were described by the father of modern taxonomy Carl Linnaeus himself, over 250 years ago. For the last two and a half centuries, naturalists have been cataloguing species diversity of eastern butterflies, and every nook and cranny has been searched. Some even say that we learned everything there is to know about taxonomy of these butterflies.

Discovery of a new eastern USA butterfly species is indeed very rare nowadays. It is even more remarkable that Texas researchers discovered not just one, but two new species at once. “It was completely unexpected.”, said Dr. Grishin. ”We were studying genetics of these butterflies and noticed something very odd. Butterflies looked indistinguishable, were flying together at the same place on the same day, but their DNA molecules were very different from each other. We thought there was some kind of mistake in our experiments.”

But there was no mistake. Segments of DNA sequences obtained from these butterflies, clustered in two groups. While wing patterns in the two groups were indeed very similar, inspection of genitalia revealed profound differences. Males and females from one cluster had larger and paler genitalia, and males and females from the other cluster possessed smaller and darker genitalia, among other numerous distinctions. It became clear that the researchers were dealing with two species, which were not even very closely related to each other, just very similar in wing patterns. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

One of these species is a well-known Carolina Satyr (Hermeuptychia sosybius), discovered two centuries ago, in 1793: a small brown butterfly, just over an inch in wingspan, with eyespots along the edge of wings. It is one of the most common eastern US butterflies and a usual denizen of shaded, wooded areas, hence the name. The other species was new. It was named “Intricate Satyr” (Hermeuptychia intricata) for ”the difficulty in recognizing this very distinct species and its intricate ventral wing patterns”, Cong & Grishin write. Initially discovered in Brazos Bend State Park in East Texas, Intricate Satyr is widely distributed all over eastern USA in several states, including Florida and South Carolina.

One discovery leads to another. Being curious about genetic makeup of these Satyrs, Cong & Grishin decided to investigate DNA sequences and genitalia of Satyr populations from South Texas. And it immediately paid off. These populations turned out to be another new species, named “South Texas Satyr” (Hermeuptychia hermybius). Interestingly, South Texas Satyr is a close relative of Carolina Satyr, but Intricate Satyr is rather distant from either of them.

This begs a question about how many more new species of eastern butterflies remain to be discovered and currently hide behind their colourful wings? Nobody really knows, but it is clear that nothing can be further from truth than a statement that there is not much new to be learned about North American butterflies.

Original source:

Cong Q, Grishin N (2014) A new Hermeuptychia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) is sympatric and synchronic with H. sosybius in southeast US coastal plains, while another new Hermeuptychia species – not hermes – inhabits south Texas and northeast Mexico. ZooKeys 379 : 43, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.379.6394

In 1832 Charles Darwin disembarked from HMS Beagle in Bahia Blanca, Argentina where he travelled by land to Buenos Aires. In Bahia Blanca, Darwin collected several fossils of large mammals along with many other living organisms, including several insects. More than 180 years later on Darwin’s birthday, February 12, scientists name after him a long lost but new to science beetle genus and species from this collection.

The beetle was discovered and described by Dr. Stylianos Chatzimanolis, an entomologist at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA as a new genus and species of rove beetles, a group of insects with more than 57,000 described species. The scientific name for the new species is Darwinilus sedarisi. The genus name (Darwinilus) was given in honor of Charles Darwin, while the epithet (sedarisi) was given in honor of Mr David Sedaris, a USA writer. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The specimen collected by Darwin was considered lost for many years at the Natural History of Museum, London, until it was rediscovered in 2008. ”I received on loan several insects from the Museum in London, and to my surprise I realized that one of them was collected by Darwin.” said Dr. Chatzimanolis. ”Finding a new species is always exciting, finding one collected by Darwin is truly amazing.”

Only two specimens are known for this new species, both collected before 1935. Despite extensive work by Dr. Chatzimanolis in many major European and N. American museums no other specimens have been found. Most of the habitat where the species is found has been transformed into agricultural fields. ”One certainly hopes that a newly described species is not already extinct.”

Chatzimanolis S (2014) Darwin’s legacy to rove beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae): A new genus and a new species, including materials collected on the Beagle’s voyage. ZooKeys 379: 29-41. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.379.6624

 

Additional information:

Read more on rove beetles in the author’s blog “Rove beetle musings” at: http://xanthopygina.blogspot.com and follow the author on Twitter @schatzimanolis

An international team of scientists from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (China) and the Forest Herbarium (BKF – Thailand) discovered a new species of Stone Oak in the Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand. This isolated sanctuary is popular for its rich bird- and wildlife such as the Blue-banded Kingfisher and Whitehanded Gibbons, as well for its rare and beautiful flora like Rafflesia’s – known to hold some of the largest flowers on earth. The wildlife sanctuary covers a region of low-lying forested mountains and is located in the middle of a fascinating transition zone that lies between the northern Indochinese and the southern Sundaland biogeographic regions. A recent addition to the endemic species of this area is the newly described species of Stone Oak, currently known only from the sanctuary.

The new species Lithocarpus orbicarpus is a medium to small tree with simple leaves. It can be easily distinguished by its spherical acorns covered with a dense pattern of irregularly placed scales that completely conceal the nut, except for a tiny opening at the top, and which are arranged in dense clusters on upright spikes.

“This species is only known from Thailand, and has not been recorded outside Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary. During our field survey, we found only one individual tree, located on a gentle sloping section of closed dense forest.” explains one of the authors Dr. Strijk. “We know next to nothing about this species’ biology, it’s evolution or it’s position within the Oak family. Follow-up molecular work will provide us with more information, but additional survey work will have to be undertaken to determine the actual population size within the sanctuary. So far, it seems that the species is not only endemic but also very rare within the confined area where it appears.”

Such distribution limitation and rarity is not uncommon in tropical Oaks. Within this region alone, there are several species that are known only from one or two localities. Though not uncommon, such restricted ranges stress the possible delicate conservation status of new species and other flora and fauna present in the Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary. “The unique species composition, high diversity and relatively intact forest structure underscore the importance of strengthening ongoing and future conservation measures at Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary, as a key element of wider conservation efforts in southern Thailand.” adds Dr. Strijk.

Currently, more than 300 species of Stone Oak have been described, occurring from eastern India to Japan and the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. The fieldwork and surveys in Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary by the team of Dutch and Thai botanists are part of ongoing research on the genomics, systematics, biogeography and evolution of tropical Asian Oaks and their close relatives.

Original Source:

Strijk JS, Sirimongkol S, Rueangruea S, Ritphet N, ChamchumroonV (2013) Lithocarpus orbicarpus (Fagaceae), a new species of Stone Oak from Phang Nga province, Thailand. PhytoKeys 34: 33. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.34.6429

New technologies are changing the way we collect biodiversity data. Data that once required taking expensive, bulky and fragile equipment on field trips can now be collected on cheap, compact and robust devices. In a recent paper in the Biodiversity Data Journal the construction of an environmental data-logger using the Arduino platform is described. It is hoped that this work will encourage the adoption of new data collection technologies by biodiversity scientists and foster new collaborations with both electronics hobbyists and electronics engineers who have an interest in biodiversity.

The Arduino platform (a microcontroller device designed to make interactive prototypes at low cost) provides a low-cost and customizable alternative to expensive proprietary data loggers and sensors. We increasingly rely on citizen scientists to collect the data at the core of our science, in particular the network of biological recorders who provide much of our knowledge on the changing distribution of species. Many of these people are interested in using technology to maximize the value of the data they collect, but don’t have the financial or technological resources to make full use of the opportunities technology provides. Projects such as the one described here will enable wider access to the latest technologies.

In recent years biodiversity science has made use of increasingly large datasets, from the global collection of specimen and observation data in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility(GBIF) to monitoring changes in habitat and vegetation using data from satellites. Technologies such as those described here will add value to traditional biodiversity studies, and increase their use in aiding us to understand species and how their interact with their environment.

“The introduction of easy-to-use micro-controller devices such as the Arduino brought working with digital electronics to a broader audience.” comments the author Ed Baker. “There is great potential for the biodiversity community if we collaborate with knowledgeable ”hackers” and ”makers” as citizen engineers in the same way we interact with knowledgeable amateur natural historians as citizen scientists.”

Original Source:

Baker E (2014) Open source data logger for low-cost environmental monitoring. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e1059. DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.2.e1059

Biologists working in the Andes mountains of Ecuador have described a new plant species, a wild relative of black pepper, that is in itself a mini biodiversity hotspot. The new species, Piper kelleyi, is the sole home of an estimated 40-50 insect species, most of which are entirely dependent on this plant species for survival. This discovery is part of a larger project which focuses on the influence of plant-produced chemical compounds on biodiversity. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

The chemical compounds produced by plants are source of plants’ unique flavors, aromas, and colors. What’s less appreciated is that these compounds often have important medicinal or toxic properties, and are the plant’s natural way to resist pesky herbivores. Black pepper and its wild relatives produce a wide diversity of chemical compounds, many of which are known to be biologically active (in fact, several compounds from the new species are currently under evaluation, and show promise as possible anti-cancer drugs). These compounds are known to deter most herbivores, but a certain group of caterpillars has been able to overcome their toxicity and, as a result, most species of the genus feed only on a single species of wild black pepper. To make matters more complex, each of these caterpillars typically has one to several predatory wasp and/or fly species that attack only that caterpillar species.

Our team of scientists has made nearly 30,000 observations of over 100 black pepper relatives over 20+ years, and the new plant species described here supports the largest number of specialized caterpillar and predator species recorded for species in the black pepper family to date. Many of these insect species were discovered as a result of our investigations and are new to science (many remain unnamed). Piper kelleyi supports an estimated 40-50 species of specialized herbivores and predators, which makes this newly described plant species, in itself, a veritable biodiversity hotspot. Are there any vertebrate species that depend on this plant? Nobody knows, but relatives of black pepper are often important food sources for vertebrates, such as bats and birds, that specialize on their fruits or feed on associated insects.

This finding has conservation implications as well. The insect species that make up this unusually large assemblage are, for the most part, entirely dependent on the new plant species and, if the plant were to disappear, all of its associated animal species would too.

Evidence suggests that the unique compounds produced by a plant species, or the unique combination of these compounds, help drive the evolution of biological diversity, not only among the herbivores that feed directly on the plants, but among higher trophic levels as well. The discovery of our new species, along with its large cohort of dependent insects, lends considerable support to the hypothesis that a suite of new species of herbivores and predators of those herbivores evolves in response to the evolution of novel plant-produced chemical compounds.

Original source:

Tepe EJ, Rodríguez-Castañeda G, Glassmire AE, Dyer LA (2014) Piper kelleyi, a hotspot of ecological interactions and a new species from Ecuador and Peru. PhytoKeys 34: 19-32. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.34.6376

Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ present CLIMBER: Climatic niche characteristics of the butterflies in Europe –a unique dataset on the climatic niche characteristics of 397 European butterflies representing impressive 91% of the European species. The information provided in this dataset is of great relevance for basic and applied ecology and provides a combination of high quality standards and open access, data ready to use for a broad range of applications. The data paper describing the characteristics of the compilation was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Global change seriously threatens biodiversity at all organisational levels ranging from properties of single species, through communities and species assemblages to whole ecosystems including the provision of ecosystem services for human well-being. Detailed information on species’ ecological niche characteristics is indispensable for a better understanding of the relationship between the occurrence and performance of wild species and their environment and, moreover, for an improved assessment of the impacts of global change.

Knowledge on species characteristics such as habitat requirements is already available in the ecological literature for butterflies, but information about their climatic requirements is still lacking. The new CLIMBER dataset attempts to fill this gap by providing unique information on the climatic niche characteristics of 397 European butterflies. These characteristics are obtained by combining detailed information on butterfly distributions in Europe, which also led to the ”Distribution Atlas of European Butterflies” (Kudrna 2002), the ”Climatic Risk Atlas of European Butterflies” (Settele et al. 2008) and the ”Distribution Atlas of Butterflies in Europe” (Kudrna et al. 2011).

The application potential of this database ranges from theoretical aspects such as assessments of past niche evolution or analyses of trait interdependencies to the very applied aspects of measuring, monitoring and projecting historical, ongoing and potential future responses to climate change using butterflies as an indicator. Good knowledge of the ecological characteristics relevant for the reaction of species and communities to particular drivers of global change is needed, which can then be utilised as powerful indicators for conservation planning and action.

“By combining a comprehensive database on the distribution of European butterflies with publicly available climatic data in combination with a constantly high level of quality control at crucial steps of the data generation, CLIMBER represents a unique and ready-to-use dataset for a broad variety of potential applications.” comments Dr. Oliver Schweiger, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ.

“By providing public access to this dataset, we hope to contribute to improvements of the scientific understanding of how climate change affects species and communities and to improve monitoring and conservation actions for climate change mitigation.” he adds on the choice of open access for the dataset.

Original Source:

Schweiger O, Harpke A, Wiemers M, Settele J (2013) CLIMBER: Climatic niche characteristics of the butterflies in Europe. ZooKeys 367: 65-84. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.367.6185. Resource ID: GBIF key: http://www.gbif.org/dataset/e2bcea8c-dfea-475e-a4ae-af282b4ea1c5

 

Additional information:

The research was supported by European Commission Framework Programme (FP) 6 via the Integrated Project ALARM (GOCE-CT-2003-506675; Settele et al. 2005) and FP 7 via the Integrated Project SCALES (grant 226 852; Henle et al. 2010) and the Collaborative Project STEP (grant 244090 – STEP – CP – FP; Potts et al. 2011) and the FP6BiodivERsA Eranet project CLIMIT (funded by DLR-BMBF (Germany), NERC and DEFRA (UK), ANR (France), Formas (Sweden) and Swedish EPA (Sweden)

 

Contact:

Oliver Schweiger
Email: oliver.schweiger@ufz.de

Martin Wiemers
Email: martin.wiemers@ufz.de

Josef Settele
Email: josef.settele@ufz.de

The state of Qatar occupies a small peninsula of 11,500 km2 within the Arabian Peninsula. Both Qatar’s population and economy have increased rapidly during the last decades, thus putting a strong pressure on native species. The commitment of the Qatari government towards sustainable development has triggered a variety of studies of its dwindling biodiversity.

A recent lizard inventory project has confirmed the occurrence of 21 lizard species, two of them being the first records to the fauna of Qatar, the Persian leaf-toed gecko and the Gulf sand gecko. The Qatari lizards belong to eight different families, but the most abundant family is Gekkonidae with nine species of nocturnal Geckos.

The authors of this study have found that while some lizard species are widespread, others are only present in few locations. In fact, lizard species richness varied between one and eleven species per grid square of 10×10 km. The most abundant lizard species are associated with artificial habitats made by human activities, and some of these are probably introduced. Other lizard species appear to be rare and would require urgent conservation measures. Despite the small size and flat relief of the country, some areas are not easily accessible and were under sampled. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The authors believe that additional lizard species might be present. “Additional efforts and funds are needed for future field surveys including all protected areas and private farms in order to complete the inventory of lizards of Qatar.”, explains one of the authors Dr. Cogalniceanu. “The complete distribution database will be valuable to identify and plan adequate conservation measures for lizards. The data will also allow for species distribution modelling and predicting shifts in species range under different climate change scenarios and human impact factors.”

This study was possible thanks to the efforts and close collaboration of a large international team from Qatar (Ministry of Environment, Qatar Foundation and Qatar University) and several European institutions from Spain (University of Zaragoza, Aranzadi Society of Sciences, Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia-CTFC, Spanish National Research Council-CSIC) and Romania (University Ovidius Constanţa).

Original Source:

Cogălniceanu D, Castilla AM, Valdeón A, Gosá A, Al-Jaidah N, Alkuwary A, Saifelnasr EOH, Mas-Peinado P, Richer R, Al-Hemaidi AAM (2014) A preliminary report on the distribution of lizards in Qatar. ZooKeys 373: 67. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.373.5994

 

Funding:

Funding for this study include the Qatar Foundation (QEERI) Project #QF.00.307.722011.QE11, and funds from the Qatar Ministry of Environment and Qatar Petroleum, and from the Department of Education, Government of Navarra (Spain).

 

Contact person:

Dr Essam OH Saifelnasr
Qatar Biodiversity Expert
Ministry of Environment (MOE)
E-mail: esnasr@moe.gov.qa
Phone, office 00974 44261208
Fax 00974 44763676

 

Some introduced (i.e. non-native) plants become abundant, threaten species richness and the well-functioning of ecosystems, the economy, or health (plant invasion). Environmental policies that attempt to restrict the expansion of non-native species are based on a consensus among scientific experts that invasions are a serious environmental problem. An example of a problematic non-native species in many parts of the world is Fallopia japonica, the Japanese knotweed that negatively affects river ecosystems.

A consensus among experts on the severity of plant invasions seems evident in many scientific and outreach publications. However, instead of consensus, a new study by an interdisciplinary research team at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) of psychologists and plant biologists found a wide range of different opinions among scientific experts about how to describe invasive plant species, and how severe their effects on the environment are. The study is published in the latest issue of the open access journal NeoBiota.

The researchers conducted 26 face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of German-speaking scientists working on plant invasions, or more generally on environmental change, in Europe. The interviews revealed that individual understandings of scientific concepts, uncertainties, and value-based attitudes towards invasive plants and their management diverged widely among these experts.

“Particularly, ambiguous definitions of the terms non-native and invasive (two key notions in invasion science) are a strong source of misunderstandings among scientists.” said lead author Franziska Humair, a doctoral student at ETH Zurich. Some of the study participants used a biological definition to discriminate native from non-native species (“species from a different biogeographic region”), while others referred to culture (“species not familiar to local people”). “Based on each definition, a different set of species is considered non-native in a particular country.” Ms Humair said. Equally, different experts considered different impacts by invasive species on ecosystems and their functioning for humans (ecosystem services) to be relevant. “These ambiguous interpretations of key notions and divergent assessments of impacts may then lead to conflicting risk assessments and pronounced misunderstandings, eventually impeding concerted management action.” concluded Ms Humair.

The authors propose that invasive species management would strongly profit from broader participation of different expert groups and stakeholders in invasive species research and management, making scientific uncertainties as well as diverging opinions towards management goals transparent.

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Original source:

Humair F, Edwards PJ, Siegrist M, Kueffer C (2014) Understanding misunderstandings in invasion science: why experts don’t agree on common concepts and risk assessments. NeoBiota 20: 1. doi: 10.3897/NeoBiota.20.6043

Saccharum spontaneum is an invasive grass that has spread extensively in disturbed areas throughout the Panama Canal watershed, where it has created a fire hazard and inhibited reforestation efforts. The weed originally believed to be originally from India, is perfectly adapted to the conditions in Panama and produces excessive amounts of biomass during the wet season, which impedes reforestation efforts. A new study published in the open access journal NeoBiota proposes an effective method for controlling the growth, based on analysis of its reproductive biology.

Currently physical removal of aboveground biomass is the primary means of controlling the weed, which is largely ineffective and does little to inhibit spread of the species. This is due to the insufficient knowledge about reproduction of the species and this is where science comes to the rescue.

A team of scientists from Australia and Panama provide a detailed examination of a series of studies looking at some of the basic reproductive mechanisms and strategies utilised by S. spontaneum to provide information to support development of better targeted management strategies.

It turns out that S. spontaneum has a very good survival toolkit being able to reproduce through buds on stems that had been dried for up to six weeks. Separate experiments showed that even leftover stem fragments could sprout when left on the surface or buried shallowly and that larger pieces sprouted more readily than smaller pieces.

The study shows that the through better knowledge the panacea of a big problem can turn out to be very simple. A good timing of management actions to prevent flowering would significantly reduce the seed load into the environment and help to prevent spread to new sites. Similarly simple but effective would be cutting stems into smaller pieces allowing them to dry out and reduce the ability of buds to sprout.

Original Source:

Bonnett GD, Kushner JNS, Saltonstall K (2014) The reproductive biology of Saccharum spontaneum L.: implications for management of this invasive weed in Panama. NeoBiota 20: 61. doi: 10.3897/neobiota.20.6163

A team of scientists from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the University of California at Davis describe ten new species of Temnothorax ants, doubling the number of species of this genus in California. What makes this discovery even more special is that each described specimen is linked to the AntWeb database by a unique identifier. Publishing this way makes it easier to harvest the data by other on-line resources and repositories.

The era of electronic publishing in taxonomy has greatly facilitated the accessibility of specimen data. ZooKeys, where the new study is published, has been long spearheading the goal of wide and rapid dissemination of taxonomic information and a new publication in this journal is further taking the advantage of electronic media.

As is customary in taxonomic descriptions, the authors are providing a list of material examined for each species. Each of the specimen records is marked by a unique specimen identifier, a number that links to a record page in the AntWeb database. This data is also supplied as a supplementary text file, making it easy for the readers to access, download, and analyze these records. The presence of this information in an external database allows harvesting by other on-line resources, such as Encyclopedia of Life, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Species-ID and ZooBank.

AntWeb is an online ant database that focuses on specimen level data and images linked to specimens. In addition, contributors can submit natural history information and field images that are linked directly to taxonomic names. Distribution maps and field guides are generated automatically. All data in AntWeb are downloadable by users.

“We include 20 species known from California in our study but at present, there are about 60 species (including those described below) of Temnothorax known from North America and more than 350 species worldwide so our study is of somewhat limited scope.”, explain the authors. “Nevertheless, we believe that by officially describing these forms and giving a new illustrated key, we are providing a useful resource for myrmecologists working in western North America.”

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Original Source:

Snelling RR, Borowiec ML, Prebus MM (2014) Studies on California ants: a review of the genus Temnothorax (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). ZooKeys 372: 27. doi:10.3897/zookeys.372.6039