Tag: taxonomy

Tiny thorn snail discovered in Panama’s backyard

*Close-up view of live individuals of the new species crawling on a leaf.*

Discoveries of biodiversity at the Lilliputian scale are more tedious than it is for larger animals like elephants, for example. Furthermore, an analysis producing a DNA barcode – a taxonomic method using a short snippet of an organism’s DNA – is not enough to adequately identify it to the species level.

In the case of tiny thorn snails – appearing as minute white flecks grazing in moist, decomposing leaf litter – it is the shell that provides additional and reliable information needed to verify or question molecular assessment of these otherwise, nondescript critters.

*Broadleaf forest litter with white arrows indicating the newly described species on the leaves.*

However, at 2 mm, thorn snails are too small and fragile to handle and the few, if any, tangible details on the outside of the shells can only be seen using a high-powered microscope and computed tomographic (CT) images.

This is exactly how the interdisciplinary team of Dr Adrienne Jochum, Naturhistorisches Museum der Burgergemeinde Bern (NMBE) and University of Bern, Dr. Bernhard Ruthensteiner, Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen, Germany, Dr. Marian Kampschulte, University Hospital of Giessen and Marburg, Gunhild Martels, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Jeannette Kneubühler, NMBE and University of Bern, and Dr. Adrien Favre, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, managed to clarify the identity of a new Panamanian species. Their study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Even though the molecular analysis flagged what it was later to be named as the new to science species, Carychium panamaense, the examination left no shell for the description of the new snail to be completed, let alone to serve as tangible, voucher material in a museum collection available to future researchers. The mini forest compost-grazer had to wait for another five years and Dr. A. Favre, who collected fresh material while traveling in Panama.

The new snail is currently the second member of the family Carychiidae to be discovered in Panama. The first Panamanian, and southern-most member of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, is C. zarzaae, which was also described by Dr. A. Jochum and her team along with two sister species from North and Central America. The study was published in ZooKeys last year.

Much like X-rays showing the degree of damage in a broken bone, CT images visualise the degree of sinuosity of the potato chip-like wedge (lamella) along the spindle-like mast (columella) inside the thorn snail’s shell. These structures provide stability and surface area on which the snail exerts muscular traction while manoeuvring the unwieldy and pointed, signature thorn-like shell into tight nooks and crannies. The alignment and degree of waviness of the lamella on the columella is also used by malacologists (mollusc specialists) to differentiate the species.

*These are computed tomographic (CT) images of the new thorn snail species.*

Normally, a study of a thorn snail’s shell would require drilling out minute ‘windows’ in the shell by using a fine needle under a high microscope magnification.

“This miserable method requires much patience and dexterity and all too often, the shell springs open into oblivion or disintegrates into dust under pressure,” explains Dr. A. Jochum. “By exposing the delicate lamella using non-manipulative CT imaging, valuable shell material is conserved and unknown diversity in thorn snails becomes widely accessible for further study and subsequent conservation measures.”

The authors are hopeful that C. panamaense and C. zarzaae, which both inhabit the La Amistad International Park, Chiriquí, will remain a conservation priority along with other animalian treasures including the Resplendent Quetzal, Three-Wattled Bellbird and the Crested Eagles.

The park is considered the 1st bi-national biosphere reserve, as it occupies land in both Costa Rica and Panama, and constitutes a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

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Original Source:

Jochum A, Ruthensteiner B, Kampschulte M, Martels G, Kneubühler J, Favre A (2018) Fulfilling the taxonomic consequence after DNA Barcoding: Carychium panamaense sp. n. (Eupulmonata, Ellobioidea, Carychiidae) from Panama is described using computed tomographic (CT) imaging. ZooKeys 795: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.795.29339

World’s largest campodeid dipluran named after the mythological giant Daidarabotchi

*The giant newly described species Pacificampa daidarabotchi, discovered in the Mejiro-do cave, Kyushu, Japan. Photo by Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira.*

The insect-like animal is also the first subterranean representative of its family in Japan

Amongst the fauna thriving in the subterranean spaces below the surface of the earth’s crust, the insect-like diplurans and, precisely, those in the campodeid family are one of the best-known groups, currently comprising almost 150 species. However, not a single subterranean member of the family had been known from Japan until very recently.

As part of a project at the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development, the research team of Dr. Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Brasil, and Dr. Kazunori Yoshizawa, Hokkaido University, Japan, conducted an expedition to a total of 11 carbonate caves in the southern Japanese islands of Kyushu and Shikoku. Out of these, they managed to collect dipluran specimens from three touristic sites and sent them to Dr. Alberto Sendra from the Research group in Soil Biology and Subterranean Ecosystems at Alcala University, Spain, for identification.

*The Mejiro-do cave, Kyushu Island, Japan: the type locality of the newly discovered record-breaking species Pacificampa daidarabotchi. Photo by Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira.*

To the amazement of the scientists, it turned out that they had collected specimens of two previously unrecognised species of well-adapted subterranean campodeid diplurans.

Moreover, one of the new species (Pacificampa daidarabotchi), identified exclusively from the Mejiro-do cave located near an active quarry in Kyushu, proved to be the largest known dipluran in the family Campodeidae. Measuring about 10 mm in length, the creature looks gigantic next to any other campodeid, which, most often, are only half as big.

Inspired by the peculiar size of the former, the researchers decided to name it after the giant yökai creature Daidarabotchi, known from Japanese mythology. According to one of the legends, Daidarabotchi once lifted up the mountains of Fuji and Tsukuba in order to weigh them. By accident, he split the peak of Tsukuba in the process.

Another remarkable finding from the same study is that the genus, where both new species were assigned – Pacificampa – serves as yet another example of the former physical connection between Asia and America some millennia ago. In their paper, the scientists note that the genus demonstrates close affinities with a genus known from North America.

“We hope that this discovery could stop the destruction of the land nearby and preserve for the future the subterranean habitat of these remarkable gigantic species,” say the researchers in conclusion.

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Last year, lead author Dr. Alberto Sendra and his colleagues Prof. Boris Sket, University of Ljubljana, and Prof. Pavel Stoev, National Museum of Natural History, Bulgaria, described another cave-dwelling campodeid dipluran to the world’s amazement.

Discovered in Eastern Turkmenistan, the species, whose name (Turkmenocampa mirabilis) refers to its wondrous peculiarity, was the first of in the order Diplura found in Central Asia. Further, it was the first strictly subterranean terrestrial creature recorded in the country.

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Original source:

Sendra A, Yoshizawa K, Ferreira RL (2018) New oversize troglobitic species of Campodeidae in Japan (Diplura). Subterranean Biology 27: 53-73. https://doi.org/10.3897/subtbiol.27.28575

Large-sized fossilised lacewings prove remarkable species diversity during Middle Jurassic

Middle Jurassic has always been considered as a mysterious ancient period full of ‘magical’ dinosaurs, pterosaurs and plants. However, when we think about the Jurassic landscape, we should take insects into consideration as well.

The lacewings, for example, are a graceful group famous for the lovely net-like veins on their wings, beautiful enough to stand the test of time, preserved as fossils. In addition, the wing spots on their wings form various patterns, which serve to tell us more about their adaptation to the particular environment.

Having carefully studied several pieces of compressed fossils of the large and distinct insects they found in Dohugou village, Inner Mongolia, Chinese scientists Hui Fang, Dong Ren, Jiaxi Liu and Yongjie Wang, College of Life Science, Capital Normal University, Beijing, discovered two species new to science.

Due to their complex, one-of-a-kind wing venations, all three of them were placed in the same genus (Laccosmylus) in the family Saucrosmylidae. Their descriptions, along with the redescription of another previously known species, are published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

“Fossil lacewing insects are much more abundant compared to living ones,” comment the authors.

“These large-sized fossil lacewing species reflect a high lacewing diversity in Middle Jurassic. Soon, they will help us reconstruct the wonderful environment of the Jurassic world.”

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Original source:

Fang H, Ren D, Liu J, Wang Y (2018) Revision of the lacewing genus Laccosmylus with two new species from the Middle Jurassic of China (Insecta, Neuroptera, Saucrosmylidae). ZooKeys 790: 115-126. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.790.28286

Newly discovered moth named Icarus sports a flame-shaped mark and prefers high elevations

The paper describing the new species is part of a special issue dedicated to macro moths of the New World published in the open-access journal ZooKeys

Newly-recognized species of owlet moth recently discovered to inhabit high-elevation mountains in western North America was named after the Greek mythological character Icarus. From now on, scientists will be referring to the new insect as Admetovis icarus.

In their paper, Dr Lars Crabo, Washington State University, USA, and Dr Christian Schmidt, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, explain that the combination of the distinct flame-shaped mark on the moth’s forewing and its high-elevation habitat were quick to remind them of Icarus, who is said to have died after flying so close to the sun that his wings made of wax and feathers caught fire.

The study is part of the seventh volume of the “Contributions to the systematics of New World macro-moths” series, where all previous volumes have also been published as special issues in ZooKeys.

Found in the town of Nederland, Colorado, the moth was collected at an elevation of 2,896 m above sea level. The species has also been recorded all the way from central Utah and central Colorado to the Selkirk Mountains of southeastern British Columbia, including a record from northeastern Oregon. It can be spotted between June and August at night.

In fact, it turns out that the moth has been collected during surveys in the past on multiple occasions, but has been misidentified with another closely related species: Admetovis oxymorus.

While the flame mark is a characteristic feature in all three species known in the genus (Admetovis), in the newly described species it is darker. When compared, the wings of the Icarus moth are also more mottled.

Despite the biology of the larvae being currently unknown, the scientists believe they are climbing cutworms and feed on woody shrubs, similarly to the species Admetovis oxymorus.

“Finding undiscovered moths is not that unusual, even though scientists have been naming insects since the eighteenth century,” says lead author Dr Lars Crabo.

“The Contributions series, edited by Don Lafontaine and Chris Schmidt, in which this discovery is published, really encourages professional and citizen scientists alike to go through the steps necessary to properly name the species that they have discovered. This series of seven volumes also includes a new check list for the United States and Canada, which has led to a re-kindling of interest in moths during the last decade.”

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Original source:

Crabo LG, Schmidt BC (2018) A revision of Admetovis Grote, with the description of a new species from western North America (Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Hadenini). In: Schmidt BC, Lafontaine JD (Eds) Contributions to the systematics of New World macro-moths VII. ZooKeys788: 167-181. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.788.26480

The first drywood termite known to use snapping stick-like mandibles to defend its colony

Tasked to defend the colony from attackers, the specialised soldier caste in some termite species has evolved various impressive mechanisms, including plug-like heads – meant to block intruding ants trying to invade their lairs, and mouthparts designed to bite and pierce.

Still, there are even more spectacular soldiers, such as a recently discovered drywood termite species, whose unique long and slender, stick-like snapping mandibles produce one of the highest acceleration speeds measured in a living organism. Rather than bite, these peculiar ‘jaws’ deliver powerful strikes at enemies bold enough to stand in the way of the soldier termite and its colony.

The scientists describe the new termite’s specialty in detail:

“Roisinitermes employs a unique strategy of snapping, achieved by long and slender mandibles pressed against each other in a defensive encounter. When this potential energy is released, the left mandible springs over the right and the resultant snap is forced onto the opponent if it is in the path of the strike.”

Discovered in Cameroon, this striking species is the first drywood termite found to rely on snapping mandibles as a defense strategy. Given that until now there had been a single subfamily (Termitinae) known to have developed such, the very existence of the new insect poses a whole new set of questions before scientists. Have snapping mandibles evolved independently in two evolutionary lineages? Or, is it that these groups share a distant kin relationship which has gone unnoticed for that long?

The new drywood termite, which is also assigned to a new genus, is named Roisinitermes ebogoensis, and is described in the open access journal ZooKeys by an international team of researchers, led by Dr Rudolf Scheffrahn of the Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences at University of Florida, Davie, USA. Although this particular species is not thought to be a pest, some drywood termites cause serious damage to wooden structures around the world.

Both colonies studied by the scientists were found near the Ebogo II village, which also stands behind the name of the species. The first unusual colony to draw the attention of the scientists was collected from a forest on an island in the Nyong River, where it lived in a thin (3 cm) and long (over 3 m) broad-leaf tree branch suspended from a canopy. The second one – in a 15-mm thick dead liana branch hanging from a tree in a nearly pristine rainforest.

The team expects that future research will shed more light on the origins and evolution of the newly discovered termite.

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Original source:

Scheffrahn RH, Bourguignon T, Akama PD, Sillam-Dussès D, Šobotník J (2018) Roisinitermes ebogoensis gen. & sp. n., an outstanding drywood termite with snapping soldiers from Cameroon (Isoptera, Kalotermitidae). ZooKeys 787: 91-105. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.787.28195

Total of 21 new parasitoid wasps following the first ever revision of their genus

As many as twenty-one species of parasitoid wasps are described as new to science, following the first ever revision of their genus since its establishment back in 1893.

The study simultaneously updates the count of species within the genus (Chromoteleia) to 27 in total, produces a systematic revision of the world’s representatives of this group of wasps, expands their biogeographic knowledge, and clarifies their generic concept.

The monograph is published in the open access journal ZooKeys by a team of US and Canadian scientists, led by Hua-yan Chen, graduate student at the Ohio State University.

The wasps in the genus Chromoteleia are easily distinguished thanks to their large size in combination with their vivid colouration. Compared to other species in the family of platygastrid wasps, which normally measure merely 1 – 2 mm in length, the species in the studied genus range between 3 and 9 mm. Their uncommonly large, robust and elongated bodies is why the scientists assume that these wasps likely parasitise the eggs of orthopterans, such as grasshoppers, crickets and katydids.

A focal point in the study is the intriguing distribution of the wasps. While the genus is widespread throughout continental Mesoamerica, Central America and South America, and its distribution ranges from the Mexican state of Jalisco in the north all the way to Itapúa Department in Paraguay and Paraná in southern Brazil, the species C. congoana is a lone representative of the genus in Africa.

*The ‘lone’ African representative of the genus, Chromoteleia congoana.*

While dispersal from South America to Africa has been observed in the past in another genus of parasitoid wasps (Kapala), the scientists are not willing to reject the possibility of Chromoteleia wasps having been widely distributed across the Old World during a previous geological epoch. Such phenomenon, also known as a relict population, would not mean that the wasp group has subsequently ‘conquered’ the Neotropics and current species inhabiting the New World are rather remainders of once widespread insects.

To conclude their findings, the scientists examined specimens hosted in collections at twenty natural history institutions from around the globe, including the American Entomological Institute; American Museum of Natural History; Bernice P. Bishop Museum; California Academy of Sciences; Canadian National Collection of Insects; California State Collection of Arthropods; Florida State Collection of Arthropods; Instituto Alexander von Humboldt; Illinois Natural History Survey; Kansas University’s Natural History Museum; Museo del Instituto de Museo del Instituto de Zoologia Agricola; Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle; Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi; Lund Museum of Zoology at Lund University; Triplehorn Insect Collection at the Ohio State University; South African Museum; Texas A&M University’s Insect Collection; Bohart Museum of Entomology; University of Colorado; and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

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Original source:

Chen H-y, Talamas EJ, Valerio AA, Masner L, Johnson NF (2018) Revision of the World species of the genus Chromoteleia Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Scelioninae). ZooKeys 778: 1-95. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.778.25775

Right under our noses: A novel lichen-patterned spider found on oaks in central Spain

It happened again, a previously unknown spider species, whose home is a strongly humanised European country, appears to have been quietly and patiently waiting to get noticed until very recently.

Living on the trunks of oaks in Spain, the new species would have probably been spotted decades ago, had it not been for its sophisticated camouflage, which allows the small arachnid to perfectly blend with the lichens naturally growing on the tree.

Going by the name Araneus bonali, the new species was discovered on isolated trees at the borders of cereal fields by the scientists Eduardo Morano, University of Castilla-La Mancha, and Dr Raul Bonal, University of Extremadura. Their study is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Curiously enough, this is the same habitat, where the team found another new spider in 2016.

“How many new species remain unknown in these isolated oaks that once formed vast forests now becomes one even more intriguing question,” say the researchers.

“Anyone going for a walk around any village or park in central Spain would have been close to the new species. However, noticing it requires not only curiosity, but also a good sight, as its lichen-like colours make up an excellent mimicry.”

*Lichens growing on an oak trunk at the study site in central Spain.*

The similarity between the adults and the lichens that cover the oak trunks they inhabit is remarkable. Meanwhile, the greenish juveniles live amongst the green new shoots in the oak canopy until they reach maturity.

Whether the spider uses its mimicry to avoid predators or rather surprise its prey remains open for further investigation.

The description of this new species that belongs to the popular group of orb-weavers once again stresses the need of working harder on completing the list of spiders living in the Old World, such as the countries in the Mediterranean basin – a region that certainly keeps more taxonomic surprises up his sleeve.

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Original source:

Morano E, Bonal R (2018) Araneus bonali sp. n., a novel lichen-patterned species found on oak trunks (Araneae, Araneidae). ZooKeys 779: 119-145. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.779.26944

Mosquito populations give a new insight into the role of Caucasus in evolution

We know that the Caucasus is a relatively large mountainous region, situated between Black and the Caspian seas. In its turn, it is divided into three subregions: Ciscaucasia, Greater Caucasus and Transcaucasia, also known as South Caucasus.

A closer look into the chromosome structure of mosquito larvae of a curious group of species (Chironomus “annularius” sensu Strenzke (1959)), collected from the three localities, has allowed Dr Mukhamed Karmokov of the Tembotov Institute of Ecology of Mountain territories at the Russian Academy of Science to figure out how the specificity of the Caucasian region has simultaneously unified its fauna geographically, yet has divided it evolutionarily. His paper is published in the open access journal Comparative Cytogenetics.

Having collected a sufficient amount of mosquito larvae, the researcher managed to study the chromosome structure, rearrangements and possible peculiarities of the separate Caucasian populations, in order to compare them.

Additionally, he analysed their relations to earlier known populations from Europe, Siberia, Kazakhstan and North America.

Amongst the curious peculiarities Karmokov identified in the chromosome structure of the studied larvae were some rearrangements which appear unique to Caucasus. Furthermore, he found that despite the close geographic proximity, the genetic distance between the Caucasian populations is quite significant, even While not enough to determine them as separate species, it could prove them as separate subspecies.

In conclusion, the scientist notes that the obtained data confirm that the Caucasian populations of the studied species have complex genetic structure and provide evidence for microevolution processes in the region.

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Original source:

Karmokov MKh (2018) Karyotype characteristics and chromosomal polymorphism of Chironomus “annularius” sensu Strenzke (1959) (Diptera, Chironomidae) from the Caucasus region. Comparative Cytogenetics 12(3): 267-284. https://doi.org/10.3897/CompCytogen.v12i3.25832

How many sharks, chimaeras, skates, and rays inhabit Mexico?

Worldwide, Mexico is well-known for a lot of things: its cuisine, tequila, mariachis, pyramids, and beaches, as well as being the country with the most Spanish-speaking residents (more than 120 million people).

In contrast, however, little is known for the country’s chondrichthyan fauna: a class of fishes containing the sharks, chimaeras, rays, and skates.

To fill the gap in the knowledge of the Mexican marine fauna, scientists from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional – Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (IPN-CICIMAR) conducted a multidisciplinary study on the extant species of the country’s Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) and, as a result, reported a total of 217 extant chondrichthyan species. Their findings are published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

In their updated taxonomic list, the team of Dr. José De La Cruz-Agüero, Dr. Jorge Guillermo Chollet-Villalpando, and Venezuelan graduate students Lorem González-González and Nicolás R. Ehemann report eight chimaeras, 111 sharks and 98 ray and skate species. These numbers equate to 18% of the world’s chondrichthyans.

Split between the Mexican coasts there are 92 species recorded from the Mexican Pacific and the Gulf of California, whereas 94 fishes are identified for the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Additionally, 31 species are known from both coasts.

“The species richness will undoubtedly continue to increase, due to the current investigations in progress, as well as the exploration of deep-water fishing areas in the EEZ,” comment the scientists.

Considered to be primitive fishes, sharks, skates, chimaeras, and rays are believed to have been inhabiting the planet for the last 420-450 million years. To put it in perspective, the earliest evidence of our species – Homo sapiens – is pretty ‘young’ at 315,000 years.

Not only do these species are peculiar with their lack of a bony skeleton when compared to the more recently evolved fishes, but they also have an unusual digestive system, featuring a spiral valve, where the lower intestine is twisted like a corkscrew to increase the surface area. They don’t have a swimming bladder either. Further, there are about 650 extant species, whereas the known bony fishes are estimated to be over 35,000.

Most of the chondrichthyans are considered either ‘Critically Endangered’ (a classification a step below ‘Extinct’) or ‘Endangered’, according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The majority are also featured in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

As if to make matters worse, these fishes are also particularly susceptible to overfishing and have a low rate of growth and fecundity (females give birth to between 1 and 25 pups a year).

Original source:

Ehemann NR, González-González LV, Chollet-Villalpando JG, Cruz-Agüero JDL (2018) Updated checklist of the extant Chondrichthyes within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Mexico. ZooKeys 774: 17-39. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.774.25028

Described 28 years post-collection, new grass species makes a strong case for conservation

Originally collected 28 years ago in Ecuador, new species Poa laegaardiana has been just described, only to find out its prospects for surviving in its type location seem bleak nowadays. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

When roaming in the Cordillera de los Andes of Ecuador, near the village of Facundo Vela, little did Smithsonian scientist and author, Dr. Paul M. Peterson, know that a small grass specimen will not only turn out to be an intriguing new species, but will also make a big statement on the importance of conservation.

Scientific drawing showing what makes new species P. laegaardiana distinct from its congeners

Almost three decades after its original collection the new species P. laegaardiana has finally emerged from its herbarium collection, but the story took an unexpected twist.

It took the authors a single Google Earth search to find out that what used to be the natural habitat of the newly found densely tufted bunchgrass, is now occupied predominantly by small farms.

Heavy agricultural use of the terrain, poses a good possibility for P. laegaardiana to have already been extirpated from this location. With the species currently known only from this area, chances are that this newly described species, might in fact turn out to be already extinct.

“Further studies are needed to search the area and browse collections for specimens from different locations,” explains Dr. Peterson. “But, in fact, it may well be that with our study we are documenting a possible extinction of a species, happening in the space of just 30 years. The story of P. laegaardiana serves to show how human-induced habitat loss can indeed be a major threat to the survival of life on Earth.”

The new species was named after renowned Danish botanist Simon Laegaard, who has made extensive collections in South America, Greenland, Ecuador, and Bolivia (accompanied by the authors) contributing to the documentation of the flora to make informed conservation and management plans.

Google Earth image comparison between the area of collection in 2011 and today. With the area having been plowed, chances of the grass still existing there are small, however it may still be found along the margins of the fields. CREDIT Left: @2018DigitalGlobe; Right: @2018Google @2018CNES/Airbus

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Original Source:

Peterson PM, Soreng RJ (2018) Poa laegaardiana, a new species from Ecuador (Poaceae, Pooideae, Poeae, Poinae). PhytoKeys 100: 141-147. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.100.25387