Taxonomic assessment of the termite genus Neotermes (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in the Ryukyu-Taiwan Island arc, with description of a new species

Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4604 (3) ◽  
pp. 549 ◽  
Author(s):  
TOSHIHISA YASHIRO ◽  
YOKO TAKEMATSU ◽  
NAOKI OGAWA ◽  
KENJI MATSUURA

The Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan is a recognized global biodiversity hotspot with many endemic species. However, our knowledge of the termite fauna of the Ryukyu Archipelago is insufficient. Here, we report a new species of endemic drywood termite (Kalotermitidae) from the Ryukyu Archipelago. Our systematic study of the genus Neotermes (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) from the Ryukyu–Taiwan Island arc using molecular and morphological methods found that N. koshunensis had also been composed of a second cryptic species, N. sugioi sp. nov. These two species are distributed allopatrically in the Ryukyu–Taiwan Island arc, with the former only in Taiwan and the latter only in the Ryukyu Archipelago. Our discovery of a new drywood termite species from the Ryukyu Archipelago suggests that both morphological and molecular assessments of the species now considered to be distributed widely in the Ryukyu–Taiwan Island arc are needed to clarify the termite fauna of the Ryukyu Archipelago. [Species Zoobank registration: http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E8C9693A-E24F-445D-8445-320564565964] 

Phytotaxa ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 286 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
VANESSA ROJAS-PIÑA ◽  
LEONARDO O. ALVARADO-CÁRDENAS

Beaucarnea olsonii is described and illustrated from tropical deciduous forests of SW Puebla, Mexico. The new species can be distinguished from other Beaucarnea species by its massively swollen base that abruptly tapers into slender branches, by its conspicuously long stigma, and by its pedicel articulation that occurs at 2/3 of the length of the pedicel below the flower. With this new addition, the total number of endemic species of Beaucarnea for Mexico increases to 10, making this country the greatest center of diversification and endemism for the genus. We also provide a distribution map and a conservation status recommendation for the new species, as well as a key to the Beaucarnea species of southern central Mexico.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4927 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-208
Author(s):  
FRANCESCO BALLARIN ◽  
TAKESHI YAMASAKI ◽  
YONG-CHAO SU

Representatives of some poorly known spider species collected in the rainforest litter of the Orchid Island (Taiwan) are illustrated and discussed here. A new species, Brignoliella tao sp. nov. (Fam. Tetrablemmidae), endemic to Orchid Island, is described based on both sexes. The previously unknown female of Theridiosoma triumphale Zhao & Li, 2012 (Fam. Theridiosomatidae), is described for the first time. Zoma taiwanica (Zhang, Zhu & Tso 2006) comb. nov., from the same family, is illustrated and its transfer from the genus Theridiosoma O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879 to Zoma Saaristo, 1996 is proposed on the basis of morphological characters. Habitus and genitalia of the endemic species Gongylidioides angustus Tu & Li, 2006 (Fam. Linyphiidae) are also illustrated. 


Zootaxa ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2410 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
DENIZ SIRIN ◽  
OTTO VON HELVERSEN ◽  
BATTAL CIPLAK

The Chorthippus biguttulus group distributed in the west Palaearctic, while intensively examined in Europe, is poorly known in the glacial refugia such as Anatolia. This produces constraints in making accurate statements about evolution and the biogeography of the group. The C. brunneus subgroup of this lineage is examined using large amounts of morphological and song data from Anatolia (Asian Turkey) and representatives from Europe. Song and morphology in combination suggested three species to be found in Anatolia. The first is C. bornhalmi Harz which is also known from south-east Europe. The other two are new species: Chorthippus antecessor sp. n. and Chorthippus relicticus sp. n.. Morphologically, C. antecessor sp. n. is the most aberrant species of the C. brunneus subgroup, but is similar to C. bornhalmi in song. The specific song and morphology (the aberrant number of stridulatory pegs) define C. relicticus as a new species and both also indicate that it is closely related to C. brunneus and C. jacobsi. A song and morphology based phyloylogenetic assumption for C. brunneus subgroup suggests C. antecessor, C. bornhalmi and C. miramae to constitute one clade and C. brunneus, C. jacobsi and C. relicticus another. The scenario suggested for their evolution assume the following steps: (i) divergence of C. bornhalmi from a C. antecessor like ancestor, (ii) derivation of an ancestral population (which later give rise to C. brunneus + C. jacobsi + C. relicticus) from a C. bornhalmi like ancestor, and (iii) later fragmentation of this ancestral population to result in the present three species (C. brunneus + C. jacobsi + C. relicticus). All of these events seem to be correlated with the climatic cycles during Pleistocene. The conclusion is that the two new species are range-restricted, vulnerable species as is the case for many other taxa present in the Mediterranean Taurus biodiversity hotspot.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 364 (3) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
CASSIO RABUSKE DA SILVA ◽  
JOSIMAR KÜLKAMP

Valeriana iganciana, an endemic species from the Serra do Tabuleiro highlands of Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil, is described and illustrated. The new species shares morphological affinities with V. ulei, from which it is distinguished mainly by leaves with entire margin, by the cymose architecture of the inflorescence and by the triquetrous and elliptical fruits with annular to dentate calyx.


Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4254 (5) ◽  
pp. 520 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAZUKI KURITA ◽  
HIDETOSHI OTA ◽  
TSUTOMU HIKIDA

A new scincid lizard, Plestiodon takarai sp. nov., is described from the Senkaku Group, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The Plestiodon lizards in this island group have previously been identified as P. elegans because they all exhibit a patch of enlarged and irregularly arranged scales on the posterior surface of their femurs. However, detailed molecular analyses revealed that the Senkaku population, although closely related to P. elegans and other species in the P. latiscutatus species group, is substantially diverged from all other recognized species. Furthermore, although the Senkaku population largely exhibits the characteristic morphological features of this species group, it can be differentiated from all recognized species by the scutellation and hatchling tail coloration. The biogeographical and conservation implications of these findings are briefly discussed. 


Phytotaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 344 (1) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
ESTRELA FIGUEIREDO ◽  
GIDEON F. SMITH

Centaurea crocata Franco (1984: 474, 572) is the name currently used for a species of Asteraceae that is endemic to a small area in the southwest of Portugal, extending from Monchique (Algarve) to Cercal (Baixo Alentejo). The plant was first collected by Friedrich Welwitsch in 1847, in Monchique, during his residence (1847–1848) in the province of Algarve (Trimen 1873: 3). The following year he collected it again but further north, in Baixo Alentejo. Welwitsch regarded it as a new species and informally named it ‘Centaurea crocea’, as is apparent from the name written on his specimens of this species that are held in LISU (Garcia Jacas & Susanna 1991). However, he never published this name. Later authors working on the flora of Portugal, such as Sampaio (1909: 60, 1947: 597) and Coutinho (1913: 657, 1939: 776) misidentified Welwitsch’s and other collectors’ material as C. prolongoi Boissier ex Candolle (1838: 303, originally published as ‘prolongi’, corrected to ‘prolongoi’ as it commemorates the Spanish botanist Pablo Prolongo y Garcia). It was only much later that Franco (1984), in the second volume of his Flora of Portugal, concurred with Welwitsch’s view that the material belonged to a separate species and described it as C. crocata, using an epithet similar to that of Welwitsch’s unpublished name. Both epithets ‘crocata’ and ‘crocea’ originate from Latin and mean saffron-coloured. Saffron is a product of a species of the genus Crocus Linnaeus (1753: 36), a name with the same origin.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Wahlsteen

Begonia mariachristinae Wahlsteen, a new endemic species from Kachin, northern Myanmar, is described and illustrated. The new species is characterised by its combination of four perianth segments in the female flower, two ovary wings, two locules, two styles and a dioecious breeding system.


Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4985 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
SHAHID ALI AKBAR ◽  
HIMENDER BHARTI ◽  
MARIUSZ KANTURSKI ◽  
AIJAZ AHMAD WACHKOO

Here we describe and illustrate Syllophopsis peetersi sp. nov. from Silent Valley National Park, a biodiversity hotspot region of the Western Ghats of India. The discovery also marks a first native report of the genus from the Indian subcontinent. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis was carried out to elucidate the general morphology and sensilla of the new species. The new species is similar to congeners from Madagascar, but with larger differences from species that occur elsewhere.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document