New species Polyphrix misa and Polyphrix tullu from Peru

NEWS - Researchers report and describe new species of insects: Polyphrix misa and Polyphrix tullu during the project “Discovery new species and Amazon Cam” funded by the “Programa Nacional de Innovación para la Competitividad y productividad - Innóvate Perú”.

Polyphrix Townes 1972 is a small neotropical genus consisting of four species with P. varians Townes 1970 and P. stellata Tedesco & Santos 2009 previously recorded. Both species have been reported from Peru. P. varians is the type species and was first described from Brazilian specimens, but the generic description was reported from Peru.

These species show a triangular mandibular morphology, the apex width of the mandible is less than 0.5 of the base width. No epomia. Hindwings with 1-Cu veins almost as long as the cross veins cu-a.

Propodeum with concave anterior margin and sculpted surface behind anterior transverse carina with strong and widely spaced transverse wrinkles. Thyridium is longer than wide and the tip of the ovipositor ends in a long and narrow point.

Polyphrix can be distinguished from other genera of Cryptini by the combination of characters the dorsal margin of the pronotum is strongly and uniformly swollen. Areolete is transversely rectangular, transverse groove at base of propodeum is very wide, shallow and almost entirely smooth. Propodeum with strong and straight transverse wrinkles.

P. misa can be distinguished from all other species by mesosoma entirely orange, metasomal tergites 2-8 black with apical white line and hind femur is black. Very similar to P. varians, the difference being that the hind femur is black and the genal orbit is pale yellow and interrupted in the middle of the gena.

New species Polyphrix misa and Polyphrix tullu from Peru 2

P. tullu can be distinguished from all other species by its mostly black pronotum and mesoscutum, black metasomal tergites 2-8 with a white line at the tip and orange hind femur. This species is very similar to P. stellata, the difference being the metasoma with black tergites 2-8 with white tips and the pronotum with a black upper edge.

Lita Inga and Mabel Alvarado from the Department of Entomology, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima showed that in Peru, especially the Loreto and Madre de Dios Departments, is a previously overlooked Polyphrix hotspot.

Original research

Lita Inga dan Mabel Alvarado (2024). Two new species of the genus Polyphrix Townes 1972 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae) from Peru. Zootaxa 5497 (2): 267–275 DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5497.2.6

Elephant bell gourd (Trichosanthes tricuspidata)

Elephant bell gourd ( Trichosanthes tricuspidata ) is a plant species in the Cucurbitaceae, stems grow elongated to propagate or climb, many branches, cylindrical in shape and green in color. T. cochinchinensis has stem tips or branches that twist to attach themselves to a support or other plant. It grows to climb to cover a support, usually on another plant, up to several meters and creeps along the ground to reach another support. Arrow-shaped leaves, split base, sharp apex and two wings at an acute angle, have many veins ending at a sharp edge, green and have a long petiole. Single flower is white. The fruit is round to oval, ends with a tail, young green and turns red with maturity, thin skin, thick flesh and reddish yellow, has a short stalk and hangs. The seeds are in the middle of the fruit. Seeds are white, oval and flat. Black coated seeds. Elephant bell gourd grows wild in primary and secondary forests, agricultural land, roadsides, watersheds, especially on slopes, damp a

Yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) use thermal infrared to navigate hosts

NEWS - Aedes aegypti transmits the viruses that cause dengue, yellow fever, Zika and other diseases every year, while Anopheles gambiae transmits the parasite that causes malaria. Their capacity to transmit disease has made mosquitoes the deadliest animals. Moreover, climate change and global travel have expanded the range of A. aegypti beyond tropical geography. The mosquitoes are now present in subtropical climates that were previously unheard of just a few years ago. Male mosquitoes are harmless, but females need blood for egg development. There is no single cue that these insects rely on to feed; they integrate information from many different senses across a wide range of distances. " A. aegypti very adept at finding human hosts. This work provides a new insight into how they achieve this. Once we got all the right parameters, the results were clear and undeniable," says Nicolas DeBeaubien of the University of California at Santa Barbara UCSB. The researchers added

Banded dragonfish (Akarotaxis gouldae) diverged from Akarotaxis nudiceps 780,000 years ago

NEWS - A new species of dragonfish, Akarotaxis gouldae or banded dragonfish, off the western Antarctic Peninsula by researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point, the University of Oregon at Eugene, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, highlights the unknown biodiversity and fragile ecosystems of the Antarctic. A. gouldae was named in honor of the Antarctic Research and Supply Vessel (ARSV) Laurence M. Gould and crew. The larval specimen was collected while trawling for zooplankton and was initially thought to be the closely related Akarotaxis nudiceps hundreds of thousands of years ago. DNA comparisons with A. nudiceps specimens held in collections at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Yale University, and the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris showed significant variation in mitochondrial genes that suggested the larval sample was a distinct species. Andrew Corso of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and colle

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis

Dlium