First Record of the Soil-feeding Higher Termites (Isoptera: Termitidae) from Okinawa Island, the Central Ryukyus, Japan

Some of termites have been introduced outside their native ranges, and it has been suggested that both wood-eating and wood-nesting lifestyles are critical for the transportation of propagules. Here, we present the first record of the soil-feeding and soil-nesting termite Pericapritermes nitobei (Isoptera: Termitidae) in the Motobu Peninsula on the northern part of Okinawa Island in the Central Ryukyus. The fact that the previous extensive surveys of termites in the Ryukyu Archipelago did not detect P. nitobei in the Central Ryukyus, including the Motobu Peninsula, and its discontinuous distribution, indicate that P. nitobei has been recently introduced into the Motobu Peninsula of Okinawa Island from the Yaeyama Islands, similar to the fungus-growing and soil-nesting termite Odontotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Termitidae). Together with O. formosanus in the southern part of Okinawa Island, our findings in this study raise the possibility that non-wood-feeding and non-wood-nesting termites can be introduced and established outside their native ranges by human activities.

Xanthochroina Ganglbauer, 1881, a new genus of Oedemeridae for the Italian fauna (Coleoptera)

In this paper is reported for the first time with certainty the presence in Italy of the genus Xanthochroina, exhibiting a Holarctic discontinuous distribution. The Mediterranean species X. auberti is recorded from western Liguria and information on the range of the species is updated.

New Records of Syscia Roger, 1861 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dorylinae) in South America

There are 11 genera of Dorylinae in the Neotropics, but Syscia Roger, 1861 is the only one with a discontinuous distribution between the Nearctic, Neotropical and Indomalayan regions. The present study reports a new record of Syscia in northern Brazil and confirms its distribution in South America, in accordance with previous reports. The Syscia specimens corresponds to an undescribed species and were collected along the margins of the Madeira River, in the National Forest of do Jamari, in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon.

Geographic distribution analysis of the genus Xenodacnis (Birds: Thraupidae) using ecological niche modeling

Xenodacnis is a monotypic thraupid genus restricted to the tropical high Andes of Peru and Ecuador. Its only species, X. parina has a large discontinuous distribution from central Ecuador to southern Peru. To date, three subspecies are recognized, all separated by geographical barriers that clouded promote allopatric events. The taxonomic affinities of the Ecuadorian population have not been assessed since its discovery in the 1970s at the Cajas National Park in Azuay province. I studied the environmental affinities between the distribution of the described subspecies and the Ecuadorian population bias ecological niche modeling. I found a distinctive ecological niche in the distribution of each of the analyzed populations and also for the southern Arequipa population. These different environmental niche conditions come apart by deep Andean valleys playing a role as geographical barriers for the isolation of these populations that need further taxonomic analysis.

Répartition du mollusque gastéropode nudibranche Dendrodoris limbata (Cuvier, 1804) le long des côtes métropolitaines françaises : apport de l’outil de sciences participatives BioObs

We show distribution of the sea slug Dendrodoris limbata (Cuvier, 1804) (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Nudibranchia) along metropolitan French coasts. 82 records between 2010 and 2017 were extracted from the citizen science database BioObs. This species native to Mediterranean shows a discontinuous distribution, on one hand along Mediterranean coast from Var to Pyrénées-Orientales, mainly in Lagune de Thau; on the other hand in the Golfe Normand-Breton of the English Channel where it is introduced. We discuss the potential role of oyster transfer between shellfish ponds as a vector of this discontinuous distribution.

The actual problems of the study of the recent platform structures (on the example of the East European platform and the adjacent partof the Scythian plate)

The actual problems of the study of recent tectonics of the East European Platform and the Scythian Plate: development of cover formations of neotectonic structures, discontinuous distribution and bad of safety of correlative deposits, different views on the type of structural forms - block or bending, the nature and type of boundaries between structural forms, a change in the structural plans for the latest phase, the conditions and sources of stress in the formation of new structures.

Recent confirmed records of the Oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus) in the department of Antioquia, Colombia

The oncilla or little spotted cat (Leopardus tigrinus) is the smallest and one of the more cryptic and little known wild felids species found in the Neotropics. Leopardus tigrinus has a discontinuous distribution from Costa Rica and Panamá, through Colombia and Ecuador in high elevation areas, with some records in the Cordillera of Mérida in Venezuela (evidence from three specimens from the NMNH) down to eastern Brazil, Bolivia and northern Argentina