The first Western Palearctic record of Euprosthenops Pocock (Araneae, Pisauridae), with description of a new species from Israel

The primarily Afrotropical genus Euprosthenops Pocock, 1897 is recorded in the Western Palearctic for the first time. A diagnosis and an illustrated description of E. insperatussp. nov., based on a single male from southern Israel, are provided. Considering the structure of the male palp, the holotype of E. insperatussp. nov. resembles males of two widespread African species, E. australis Simon, 1898 and E. proximus Lessert, 1916; it differs from them by colouration pattern as well as by the different shapes of the retrolateral tibial apophysis and the palpal sclerites. A short survey of the regional insect and spider genera of the paleotropical origin is also presented.

Phylogenetic placement of the spider genus Taczanowskia (Araneae:Araneidae) and description of a new species from Ecuador

The genus Taczanowskia Keyserling, 1879 is one of the rarest groups of spiders in the orb-weaving family Araneidae, with only five species described and 17 specimens cited in publications. Our study provides new insights into the evolutionary relationships and diversity of Taczanowskia. Using morphological data, we tested the evolutionary relationships of the genus within the family Araneidae and propose the first phylogenetic hypothesis depicting the relationships among species of Taczanowskia. Our results place Taczanowskia as sister to Mastophora Holmberg, 1876, and confirm the monophyly of Taczanowskia. We describe the first species of Taczanowskia from Ecuador, collected at a Waorani community on the River Curaray basin, Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador. The new species can be easily diagnosed from all other species of Taczanowskia by having two tubercles in the opisthosoma; a distinct patchy dark–light colouration pattern with dark spots concentrated towards the anterior margin and on the lateral tips; small bundles of white setae forming a reticulum across the dorsal part of the opisthosoma, and the first two femora thick but lacking teeth on the margin. ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:46B8C1F7-A474-4DC3-90BC-940F84AC099D

A new species of Deuveia Minet, 2002 (Lepidoptera, Epicopeiidae) from China

A new epicopeiid species, Deuveia panda sp. n., is described from northeastern Sichuan, China. The new species differs from the sole congeneric species, D. banghaasi (Hering, 1936), in the remarkable black and white colouration pattern of the wings, the shape of the wings and the shape of the valva, juxta and aedeagus. The new species is geographically isolated from all known localities of D. banghaasi by highlands of the Min Mountains.

Two new species of Anomaloglossus (Anura: Aromobatidae) of the stepheni group from Suriname

Anomaloglossus is a species-rich genus of frogs endemic to the Guiana Shield that still harbours several unnamed species. According to a recent integrative taxonomic survey, the A. stepheni species group includes five valid nominal species and at least four putatively unnamed species, two in Brazil and two in Suriname. In this paper, we describe the two species from Suriname based on adult and tadpole morphology as well as their calls and natural history. Both have exotrophic tadpoles transported by the male to small water bodies. These two new species differ from each other and from other congeners in body size, colouration pattern, call characteristics and breeding sites. Both have narrow distributions and should be considered Endangered according to IUCN criteria.

Reproductive behavior and larval development of the striped blenny Meiacanthus grammistes

This study aims to describe aspects of reproductive behavior and larval development for the striped blenny, Meiacanthus grammistes. Altogether 8 broodstock fish (8.5 cm to 10 cm) were maintained in two 400 l tanks. The first spawning occurred 45 days in one tank and 65 days in another tank after fish acquisition. Egg clutches were only found attached to inside walls of the 50 mm capped PVC pipes with a single 25 mm reduce entry hole while the male took full responsibility for egg care. The fish spawned routinely every 8–10 days in both tanks throughout experimental period. The fecundity ranged from 500–4,200 eggs per spawning with an average of 1837 ± 1197 eggs/clutch. Newly extruded eggs were spherical and incubation period lasted 203–207 h at 27 ± 1oC. Newly hatched larvae measured 3.11 ± 0.14 mm in standard length (SL) and 0.87 ± 0.08 mm in body depth (BD) with average mouth-gape height and width at 272.42 ± 61.03 µm and 187.50 ± 36.46 µm, respectively. Under such a feeding regime, most of larvae had settled out water column onto the bottom around 23 DPH but not yet displayed the full colouration pattern of adults. In period of 24 to 29 DPH, the colouration pattern developed with alternating black and yellow stripes running through the entire length of body and the newly settled juvenile measured 12.91 ± 0.35 mm in SL and 3.36 ± 0.12 mm in BD around 30 DPH.

Additional records of the Grant’s rockling, Gaidropsarus granti(Actinopterygii: Gadiformes: Lotidae), from the Ionian Sea

Two specimens of the Grant’s rockling Gaidropsarus granti (Regan, 1903) were caught in the Ionian Sea, just south of the Strait of Messina (Italy) in December 2016. Their body colouration pattern is consistent with that reported in the literature for this species. These specimens were des-cribed and illustrated.

Taxonomic revision proves Trachusa pubescens (Morawitz, 1872) sensu lato to be a complex of allopatric and sympatric species in South-Eastern Europe and Western Asia (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Anthidiini)

Trachusapubescens(Morawitz, 1872) s. l. has a distribution extending from south-eastern Europe over Anatolia and the Caucasus to Iran and Turkmenistan, and was formerly regarded as a species with high intraspecific variation. By means of an examination of 208 specimens from all parts of the distribution area, covering structural features of the head (mandibles, clypeus), the apical terga and the genitalia, the colouration pattern as well as a morphometric analysis of 26 body measurements with multivariate statistical methods (Principal Component Analysis, Discriminant Analysis), it was possible to assign the material to five species of which two are new to science (Trachusabalcanicasp. n.andT.hakkariensissp. n.). Two taxa which had previously been described as “variations” or subspecies are elevated to species rank:T.verhoeffi(Mavromoustakis, 1955),stat. n.andT.maxima(Friese, 1931),stat. n.Additionally, some populations can be distinguished by their colouration pattern or by subtle differences in size or body shape, but these features are apparently of no taxonomic significance at the species level.Trachusabalcanicasp. n. andT.verhoeffihave distribution areas which do not overlap with any of the other members of the species group and can thus be characterised as allospecies. By contrast, the distribution areas of the other three species,T.pubescens,T.maximaandT.hakkariensissp. n., overlap to a certain extent and they co-exist at least to some degree in sympatry. While they have been found in the same region, they have so far never been found together at exactly the same location and it is suggested that species divergence occurred in parallel with ecological differentiation. Niche partitioning such as flower preferences is a mechanism which may be invoked to explain this. Some specimens with intermediate characters were found, particularly in contact zones, and it is thought that some hybridisation may occur. A partly melanistic individual ofT.balcanicasp. n.was found, which is probably the first described melanistic individual in the tribe Anthidiini.

The study of larval tail morphology reveals differentiation between two Triturus species and their hybrids

In amphibians, morphological differentiation and disparity at the larval and post-metamorphic ontogenetic stages can diverge, owing to various contrasting environments and different selective pressures. In the monophyletic clade of nineTriturusnewt species, five different morphotypes can be recognized, but information on larval morphology is limited. Here we explore divergence of larval morphology inTriturus ivanbureschi,T. macedonicus, and their F1 hybrids. These two genetically and morphologically distinct crested newt species hybridize in nature and form a relatively wide hybrid zone in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. Using a geometric morphometric approach and multivariate statistics, we evaluated differences of tail size and shape, colouration pattern, and the presence of a tail filament at the mid-larval stage in larvae reared under controlled laboratory conditions. We chose the tail as the main propulsive organ crucial for locomotion, feeding, and escaping predators. We found thatTriturus ivanbureschiandT. macedonicuslarvae differ in tail shape, but not in tail size. Two groups of F1 hybrid larvae (obtained from reciprocal crossing) were similar to each other, but differed from the parental species in size and shape of the tail, colouration pattern, and the presence of a tail filament. Our results indicate that, like adults, larvae diverge morphologically and hybrid larvae do not exhibit intermediate morphology of the parental species.

Avian predators avoid attacking artificial aposematic millipedes in Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Avian predators may represent an important selective pressure favouring the evolution of aposematic colouration in millipedes that present chemical defences. However, the role of their warning colouration in predator avoidance remains poorly explored under field conditions, especially in Neotropical forests. Thus, to evaluate the hypothesis of the predator avoidance, we conducted a factorial experiment utilizing artificial replicas of millipedes constructed from plasticine and placed in the natural habitat of Odontopeltis aleijadinho (Polydesmida, Chelodesmidae), an Atlantic Forest endemic aposematic millipede. We assessed patterns of attack to aposematic and non-aposematic replicas applied with repugnant fluid extracted from living millipedes and two control treatments, distributed as a total of 300 replicas exposed for 48 h on the forest floor. The average percentage of replicas attacked was nearly 10-fold higher on those non-aposematic control replicas (13.3% ± 3.3%) than on aposematic replicas (1.3% ± 0.9%). In 24 replicas attacked by avian predators, no effect of millipede repugnant fluid was found, but the effect of colouration pattern was statistically significant. Our data support the hypothesis that a warning colouration pattern involving yellow spots symmetrically distributed along the millipede body can mediate avian predator avoidance.