Morphological variability of Betula pendula Roth leaves under conditions of technogenic transformation of the environment

The paper analyzes morphological characters variability of Betula pendula Roth leaves growing in the gradient of technogenic soil transformation. Biological material was collected in natural phytocoenoses and in the Pritagilskaya zone of the Middle Urals technogenically contaminated with heavy metals. In the gradient under study, a change in the shape of the leaf blade is observed: it is rounded, the base is straightened and the top is stretched. The sizes of leaf blades of Betula pendula are smaller under conditions of an average level of pollution than in the background and maximum polluted areas. The largest leaves are typical for B. pendula from the most polluted area. In the studied gradient of the technogenic transformation of the environment, four types of leaf blades forms were distinguished: 1) ovate with a rounded-wedge-shaped base and with a pointed apex; 2) triangular-broadly ovate with a rounded-wedge-shaped base and a pointed apex; 3) triangular-broadly ovate with a truncated base and a pointed apex; 4) triangular-broadly ovate with a truncated base and an elongated pointed apex. By the factor analysis the authors have identified the factors that explain 60% of the total variance of the leaf shape trait. The variables have large factor loads for the first factor (length and width of the leaf blade, length of the petiole, the distance from the tip of the leaf blade to the widest part) (42%) and smaller loads for the second one (leaf index) (18%). On the basis of these features, a discriminant analysis was carried out, the results of which indicate that the leaves of plants from the impact area differ from the rest. On the basis of the ratio of the general and consistent variability, morphological features were identified that are ecological indicators the distance between the bases of the first-second and second-third lateral veins of the first order, the distance from the widest part to the base of the leaf blade, IF (shape index sheet). The high overall and low consistent variability of these characteristics is determined to a greater extent by the influence of environmental factors. The analysis of changes patterns in the level of leaves morphological integration in the gradient of soils technogenic transformation showed that Betula pendula is characterized by a protective-stress developmental strategy.

Four new species of isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda) from South Korea

Four new isopods, Amakusanthura intermediasp. nov., Apanthura laevipedatasp. nov., Idarcturus trispinosussp. nov., and Neastacilla paralongipectussp. nov., are reported from the sublittoral zones in Korean waters. Amakusanthura intermediasp. nov. differs from its congeners by the following features: the uropodal exopod is sinuous distally and with pointed apex; the maxillipedal endite is present and reaching to the distal end of fused palp articles I and II; and the propodal palm of pereopod I is stepped. Apanthura laevipedatasp. nov. can be distinguishable from its related species by the following characteristics: the eye is lacking; the propodal palm of pereopod I is not stepped; and the uropodal exopod is not sinuous. Idarcturus trispinosussp. nov. is diagnosed by the following features: the cephalon has three dorsal spines and a pair of lateral spines; pereonite IV has two pairs of small dorsolateral spines, four pairs of dorsal spines, and one posterior spine; and the pleotelson has three pairs of wings laterally. Neastacilla paralongipectussp. nov. can be distinguished by the following characteristics: the body is smooth and lacking dorsal spines or tubercles; pereonite IV is approximately 5.4× longer than pereonites II and III together; and the pleotelson has two pairs of lateral wings. In this paper, detailed descriptions and illustrations of the four species are presented. A key to the genera of the family Arcturidae and keys to the species of the four genera are also provided.

Polypedilum (Cerobregma) paracyclus sp. n., a new species from Oriental China (Diptera: Chironomidae)

Polypedilum (Cerobregma) paracyclus sp. n. Qi & Song is described based on male imagines collected by light trap in Oriental China. The description is supported by both morphological and DNA barcode evidences. The new species is distinguished from its related congeners in having some atypical morphological characters: tibia and femur dark brown, knees yellow; abdominal segment VII distinctly triangular and tapered towards base; tergite IX broadly sub-trapezoidal, tapering posteriorly, anal tergite bands ending with a characteristic sub-oval area; superior volsella sickle-like shaped with pointed apex; inferior volsella with orally directed dorsal setae; distal inner margin of gonostylus without shortly branched setae.

Comparative gross anatomical studies on the shoulder girdle of crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) and brown wood owl (Strix leptogrammica)

The shoulder girdle gives strength and range of motion to the wings of birds and plays a functional role in flight mechanism of birds. The present study was designed to compare the morphological features of shoulder girdle bones in crested serpent eagle and brown wood owl. The shoulder girdle comprised of the scapula, coracoid and fused clavicle i.e. furculum in both species. The proximal extremities of bones of shoulder girdle formed a foramen triosseum in both the species for tendon of supracoracoideus muscle. The proximal end of the scapula of crested serpent eagle presents a pneumatic foramen which was absent in the brown wood owl. The coracoid of crested serpent eagle presents a large pneumatic foramen at the medial surface of the acrocoracoid process. A piercing type of foramen was characteristic in the coracoid of both species. Procoracoid process was triangular in shape with a broad base in both the species with pointed apex in brown wood owl and short apex in crested serpent eagle. The clavicle was thin, slender and highly curved in crested serpent eagle, whereas it was slender and rod-like in brown wood owl. Numerous pneumatic foramina were present in the proximal extremity of the clavicle of the crested serpent eagle, which were few in brown wood owl. The distal extremity of both clavicle fused to form a hypocleideum in crested serpent eagle, which was absent in brown wood owl.

Two new species of Helicopsyche Siebold 1856 (Insecta: Trichoptera: Helicopsychidae) from Pará State, northern Brazil

Two new species of Helicopsychidae from Pará State, Brazil, are described and illustrated: male of Helicopsyche (Feropsyche) carajas n. sp. is characterized by segment X having 8 pairs of subequal megasetae distributed in a pair of longitudinal rows; the primary branch of each gonocoxite, in lateral view, with its basal half nearly as broad as its median part and parallel-sided, its posterior apex directed slightly ventrad and slender and strongly pointed; the dorsal lobes of the endotheca posteriorly protruding, and the lateral lobes of the endotheca well developed. Helicopsyche (Feropsyche) inflata n. sp. is characterized by the hind wings each having very long fringes along the anal border; the primary branch of each gonocoxite having a pointed apex in lateral view and its basimesal lobe being triangular in lateral and ventral views and bearing eight megasetae; and the dorsal lobe of the endotheca being very well developed in lateral view.

Trichoptera of Serra da Jibóia, Bahia, Brazil: new species of Helicopsyche (Helicopsychidae) and new records

Located in Northeast Region of Brazil, Bahia state, Serra da Jibóia is a mountain range situated between the Atlantic Forest and semiarid Caatinga ecoregions. In the present work the diversity of the caddisfly fauna from Serra da Jibóia was investigated during a seven-year period. We collected 3,472 adults, identifying 40 caddisfly species belonging to 26 genera and 11 families, of which 8 species are new records for the state. In this inventory we present the composition, abundance, and sex ratios of the species identified in the study. We also described a new species, Helicopsyche (Feropsyche) guariru n. sp., recognized by having the inferior appendage elongate, tapering to a pointed apex, and its basomesal lobe reduced to a small process bearing one or two short spine-like setae apically.

A new species of false spider crab of the genus Elamena H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae), from Davao Gulf, Philippines

A new species of hymenosomatid crab of the genus Elamena H. Milne Edwards, 1837, is described from the island of Samal, in the Davao Gulf, Mindanao, southern Philippines. Elamena samalensis sp. nov. belongs to the Elamena truncata species-group and is most similar to E. simplidenta Ng & Chuang, 1996, in the general form of the carapace and in the presence of only one subdistal tooth on the ambulatory dactyli. It can be distinguished from this species, however, by its more projecting rostrum, relatively longer and more slender ambulatory legs, and by the pointed apex of the female ple-otelson.

Paradasycera – a new genus of the broad-winged moths (Lepidoptera, Oecophoridae) from the Russian Far East

A new eastern-palaearctic monotypic genus of the broad-winged moths, Paradasycera gen. nov., is described. It is related to the European genus Dasycera Stephens, 1829, from which differs by the very short ovipositor in female and slightly pointed apex of the fore wing. The type species of the genus, Paradasycera insignis (Christoph, 1882), comb. nov., is redescribed.

Comparative Foliar Epidermal Studies in Coix lacryma-jobi L. andCoix aquatica Roxb. (Poaceae)

As micromorphological knowledge was not available for Coix aquatica Roxb., the foliar epidermal studies were carried out for Coix lacryma-jobi L. and Coix aquatica Roxb. with the aim of determining the patterns of variation in their epidermal characteristics and assessing their value in species identification. Comparative foliar analysis was carried out by using light microscopy, after following routine scraping method. The characters of diagnostic importance in the identification of C. aquatica are the sparsely distributed prickle hairs with long pointed apex in the abaxial epidermis and dumbbell shaped silica cells in both the epidermises. The diagnostic characters for C. lacryma-jobi are the cross shaped silica cells and dumbbell shaped on the abaxial and adaxial epidermis respectively. The observed differences in certain micromorphological characters helps in identification of presently studied two species of Coix.

Lethenteron ninae, a new nonparasitic lamprey species from the north-eastern Black Sea basin (Petromyzontiformes: Petromyzontidae)

Lethenteron ninae sp. n., a nonparasitic lamprey, is described from rivers of western Transcaucasia in Russia and Abkhazia. It is distinguished from the other species of Lampetrinae in Europe and west Asia (Black Sea basin) by the combination of the following character states: adults with a dark blotch near the apex of the second dorsal fin; exolaterals absent; posterials either absent or more commonly present in a single incomplete row of 3–7 teeth (a toothless gap in the middle); transverse lingual lamina with 9–15 unicuspid teeth, the median one markedly enlarged; supraoral lamina with two unicuspid teeth separated by a toothless bridge; 1–2 rows of anterials, usually 2; first row of anterials with 5–7 unicuspid teeth; oral fimbriae, 69–99; trunk myomeres in both ammocoetes and adults, 56–62; and in ammocoetes, trunk not mottled and tongue precursor bulb clearly triangular, with a wide base and a pointed apex bearing few cirri.