Description of a new flower fly species of the Copestylum vagum group (Diptera: Syrphidae) from pristine Amazonian rainforests of Colombia and Suriname

The adult stage of a new flower fly species, Copestylum enriquei sp. nov. (Diptera: Syrphidae) is described based on a single male collected in pristine rainforest in the Amazonian region of Colombia (type-locality: Florencia, Caquetá) and two females from a conserved forest in Suriname (Para and Brokopondo). Copestylum enriquei sp. nov. belongs to the C. vagum species group and is similar in appearance to Copestylum vagum (Wiedemann), C. musicanum (Curran), C. tenorium Ricarte & Rotheray, and C. chapadensis (Curran) from which it differs by the gena and face separated by a very broad brown vitta; scutum orange except for the wide medial vitta, which is dark and metallic, ending before the prescutellar region, with the apical margin M-shaped; tibiae dark-brown, except yellow on basal 1/4. The male genitalia of C. enriquei sp. nov. are unique and striking among the C. vagum species group, characterized by the epandrium and cercus black, contrasting with the colour of hypandrium and surstylus, which are orange; epandrium with a dorsal extension, a novel character among this species group, in addition to the L-shaped surstylus, with two pairs of rounded ridges in the dorsal edge, similar to a small deer antler in velvet. Images of type material, including photographs of male genitalia are provided. A comparison of the diagnostic characters is provided as well as modifications to the previous keys to distinguish C. enriquei sp. nov. from the other species of the C. vagum group. The species Copestylum araceorum Ricarte & Rotheray and C. tenorium Ricarte & Rotheray are recorded for the first time in the Amazonian rainforest in Colombia.

A New Species of Vietnamophryne with an Extended Description of Vietnamophryne orlovi

We describe Vietnamophryne cuongi sp. nov., a new species of microhylid frog from northern Vietnam, based on morphological and molecular differences. Although superficially similar to remaining Vietnamophryne members, the new species differs by a number of diagnostic morphological characters, such as body size, habitus, head dimensions, finger and toe morphology, skin texture, as well as colour pattern. Phylogenetic analyses based on a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S gene place the new species to be sister to V. orlovi, from which it differed by 2.4% genetic divergence. We also describe the first female known of V. orlovi, collected in the forest of Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park, Cao Bang Province. The latter species, for which we provide an extended description herein, was recently described based on the single male type specimen only from the same site in northern Vietnam. Vietnamophryne cuongi sp. nov. is only known from three specimens, two adult females and a juvenile, from the evergreen tropical forest of Ba Vi National Park, Hanoi. As such, it is likely to be at high risk of habitat loss. Considering its high ecological specialization and the small known distribution range of the new species, we propose Endangered as IUCN Red List status.

Rediscovery of Laura’s glassfrog Nymphargus laurae (Anura: Centrolenidae) with new data on its morphology, colouration, phylogenetic position and conservation in Ecuador

We report the rediscovery of Laura’s Glassfrog, Nymphargus laurae Cisneros-Heredia & McDiarmid, 2007, based on two specimens collected at the Colonso-Chalupas Biological Reserve, province of Napo, Ecuador. The species was described and known from a single male specimen collected in 1955 at Loreto, north-eastern Andean foothills of Ecuador. Limited information was available about the colouration, systematics, ecology, and biogeography of N. laurae. We provide new data on the external morphology, colouration, distribution and comment on its conservation status and extinction risk. We discuss the phylogenetic relationships of N. laurae, which forms a clade together with N. siren and N. humboldti. The importance of research in unexplored areas must be a national priority to document the biodiversity associated, especially in protected areas.

Dynamics of DNA replication during male gametogenesis in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Malaria parasites undergo a single phase of sexual reproduction in their complex lifecycle, during which they cycle between mosquito and vertebrate hosts. Sexual reproduction occurs only at the point when parasites move into the mosquito host. It involves specialised, sexually committed cells called gametocytes, which develop very rapidly into mature gametes and then mate inside the mosquito midgut. The gamete development process is unique, involving unprecedentedly fast replication and cell division to produce male gametes. A single male gametocyte replicates its ~23Mb genome three times over to produce 8 genomes, segregates these into newly-assembled flagellated gamete cells and releases them to seek out female gametes, all within ~15 minutes. Here, for the first time, we use fluorescent labelling of de novo DNA synthesis to follow this process at the whole-cell and single-molecule levels, yielding several novel observations. Firstly, we confirm that no DNA replication occurs before gametogenesis is triggered, although the origin recognition complex protein Orc1 is abundant even in immature gametocytes. Secondly, between repeated rounds of DNA replication there is no detectable karyokinesis - in contrast to the repeated replicative rounds that occur in asexual schizonts. Thirdly, cytokinesis is clearly uncoupled from DNA replication, and can occur even if replication fails, implying a lack of cell cycle checkpoints. Finally the single-molecule dynamics of DNA replication are entirely different from those in asexual schizonts.

Compteromesa Sӕther (Diptera, Chironomidae, Prodiamesinae) newly recorded in China with the description of a new species

Compteromesa haradensis Niitsuma et Makarchenko, 1997 is redescribed based on the male adults, pupae and larvae collected from China. Supplemental data are provided here for emending the previous inaccurate descriptions. In addition, a new species, Compteromesa biramosa Tang et Niitsuma, sp. n., is described based on a single male with peculiar morphological features from Yunnan Province, China, tentatively as a member of Compteromesa, which is characteristic in having bare wings and bilobed gonostyli.

A second fossil species of the enigmatic rove beetle genus Charhyphus in Eocene Baltic amber, with implications on the morphology of the female genitalia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Phloeocharinae)

ABSTRACT Phloeocharinae is a small and likely non-monophyletic subfamily of rove beetles. The enigmatic genus Charhyphus Sharp, 1887 has long been placed in Phloeocharinae, whereas recent studies have found it to be phylogenetically very distant from the core members of this subfamily, suggesting the possibility that it actually deserves its own separate subfamily status. So far, the sole definitive fossil record for Charhyphus is known based on a single male from Eocene Baltic amber as represented by †Charhyphus balticus Shavrin, 2020. Here, we describe and illustrate another new Charhyphus species, †Charhyphus serratus sp. nov. Yamamoto & Shavrin, from Baltic amber based on a well-preserved female fossil. Considering the general proportions of the body and the head, this new species is most similar to †C. balticus. The new species differs from all known species by the development of strong serration of the lateral edges of the pronotum and features of the shape of the apical margin of the mesoventrite. By using X-ray micro-computed tomography, we succeeded in visualising not only the general habitus but also each individual body part, recovering a previously undocumented sclerite on the female internal genital segments in the genus. Morphological features of extinct and extant species of Charhyphus are briefly discussed. Figures of all extant Charhyphus species and a key for the genus are also provided. Our study is important for considering possible higher palaeodiversity, more common occurrence, and palaeobiogeography of Charhyphus.

Gender and Pan-Species Democracy in the Anthropocene

There are diverse historical trajectories in human societies’ relationships with the non-human world. While many small place-based groups have tried to retain egalitarian partnerships with other species and ecosystems, larger societies have made major transitions. In religious terms, they have moved from worshipping female, male or androgynous non-human deities, to valorising pantheons of deities that, over time, became semi-human and then human in form. Reflecting Durkheimian changes in social and political arrangements, movements towards patriarchy led to declining importance in female deities, and the eventual primacy of single male Gods. With these changes came dualistic beliefs separating Culture from Nature, gendering these as male and female, and asserting male dominion over both Nature and women. These beliefs supported activities that have led to the current environmental crisis: unrestrained growth; hegemonic expansion; colonialism, and unsustainable exploitation of the non-human world. These are essentially issues of inequality: between genders, between human groups, and between human societies and other living kinds. This paper draws on a series of ethnographic research projects (since 1992) exploring human-environmental relationships, primarily in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand, and on a larger comparative study, over many years, of a range of ethnographic, archaeological, theological, and historical material from around the world. It considers contemporary debates challenging Nature-Culture dualism and promoting ‘rights for Nature’ or—rejecting anthropocentricity to recognize an indivisible world—for the non-human communities with whom we co-inhabit ecosystems. Proposing new ways to configure ethical debates, it suggests that non-human rights are, like women’s rights, fundamentally concerned with power relations, social status, and access to material resources, to the extent that the achievement of ‘pan-species democracy’ and greater equality between living kinds goes hand-in-hand with social, political and religious equality between genders.

Every Single Specimen Counts: A New Docosia Winnertz (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) Species Described from a Singleton

A new species—Docosia caucasica sp. n.—has been described from material collected from the Lesser Caucasus Mountains in Georgia (Sakartvelo). The new species belongs to a group of Palaearctic species characterized by distinct posterolateral processes of gonocoxites and apically modified setae at the posteroventral margin of the gonocoxites medially. Within the group, D. caucasica sp. n. is most similar to D. landrocki Laštovka and Ševčík, 2006 in having a similar outline of the medial process of posteroventral margin of the gonocoxites and the gonostylus. There is also a marked difference within the partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (COI) sequence of D. caucasica sp. n. and other Docosia spp. available in public databases. As the new species is described from a single male specimen only, the adequacy and code compliance of that are discussed.

Serious Suicide Attempt by Hunting Gun with Severely Infectious Wounds and Facial Deformity during COVID-19 Arena; A Case Report

The etiology of suicide among students around the world revolves issues such as communication, education, family problems and parents’ relationship. We intend to report a case with serious recurrent suicide attempt by gun shot during COVID-19 period. We also present psychiatric and clinical evaluation, cosmetic surgery consultation, as well as microbial assessments in this survey. The seventeen-year-old single male student from southwest of Iran with asymmetric deformed face was observed with the loss of parts of the mouse, nose, chin and mandible region .He had experienced a serious suicide attempt by a threatening plan following rejection. The patient had blurred, hypo phonic and hypotonic speech. Following the shooting, the soft and hard palate, facial, frontal bone and sinus had been destroyed and a foreign body was seen in the frontal sinus. After suicide risk as assessment, It was detected multiple predictive risk factors for recent suicide attempt and the possibility of recurrent suicide in future. Finally, reconstructive surgery was performed. We assessed him via face to face interview in order to identify psychiatric disorders. Also, he was evaluated as probability of committing recurrent suicide. It is emphasized that in families which young children are prone to psychiatric disorders or emotional problems, availability of a dangerous device such as a gun can be harmful and it should be removed as soon as possible. We suggest the need for psychiatric evaluation especially suicide phenomenon in adolescents and their families as various conflicts in family context.

Clocks in Dreams: Analysis of a Long Dream Series

Many dream content analytic studies focus on dream characters, animals, social interactions and so on, but they rarely analyze the frequency of everyday objects in dreams. In the present paper, the frequency and phenomenology of clock dreams in a dream series of 12,476 dreams of a single male dreamer was analyzed. The clock dreams (0.74% of all dreams) show a variety of contexts not only related to the time management of the dreamer within the dream. Interestingly, clocks that belong to the dreamer in waking life occurred very rarely in his dreams. Given that keeping time schedules and appointments in waking life is of importance to almost everyone, the low frequency of clock dreams might be explained by novelty, that is, waking-life experiences that repeat themselves regularly do not show up in dreams that often. Thus, studying everyday objects such as clocks in dreams might help refine the current models describing the continuity between waking and dreaming.