Longulus soldier beetle (Ichthyurus longulus) is the first of dozens new species to be published

NEWS - Researchers report a new species of Ichthyurus longulus that is widely distributed in Shanxi, Gansu, Hubei, Chongqing, Guizhou and Guangxi in China. This species has some variation in pronotum coloration but can be easily distinguished from all other species.

I. longulus is easily distinguished from all species from China by its uniform black elytra, in contrast to the mixed black and yellow bicolor elytra in other species. Each mesotibia is present with an apical spur in males, while it is absent in other species.

In addition, the terminal abdominal tergite is characterized by a long lateral projection, about 3/5 of the tergite length. Furthermore, the aedeagus has a long setifore extension that is almost as long as the parameres. The legs are slender and the terminal abdominal tergite has a simple lateral projection in males.

The specific name is derived from the Latin word longus meaning long, referring to the long setifore extension. The body length for both sexes is 13.5-14.4 mm (13.5 mm in the holotype), the humeral width for both sexes is 1.9-2.0 mm (1.9 mm in the holotype).

The genus Ichthyurus Westwood (1848) is the largest taxonomic group in the soldier beetle family Ichthyurini, containing about 200 species distributed worldwide. China, with an area of 9,600,000 km2, is an important part of the global fauna, but only 10 species have been reported from this region to date.

Chinese ichthyurus have historically received little attention from specialists, and even some common species are still unknown in this region. Researchers from Hebei University in Baoding and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing have collected a large amount of Ichthyurus material and discovered dozens of new species that are in the process of being published.

Original research

Lin H, Liu H, Yang X, Yang Y (2024). A new and widely distributed species of Ichthyurus Westwood, 1848 (Cantharidae, Chauliognathinae, Ichthyurini) from China. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e131829, DOI:10.3897/BDJ.12.e131829

Dlium theDlium

Giant green leech (Raksasa hijau)

Lintah raksasa or giant green leech ( Raksasa hijau ) is a species of animal in Salifidae, large green leeches, carnivores, not hematophagic, can grow to lengths of more than 50 cm, the front is perfectly tubular, but it is getting bigger, wider and flat backward. R. hijau has a front end that ends with a white mouth and has a width equal to the diameter of the front end of the body. The rear end ends with the anus and has a width equal to the diameter of the rear end of the body. The upper surface is whole dark green or leafy green, looks shiny and has no other additional color features. The bottom surface is lighter or brownish green. The skin is wrinkled like tight, elastic joints that make it possible to lengthen the body. Giant green leech moves forward by extending the tip of the front of the body to keep the new location farther away and this movement is then followed by the middle body and gradually the rear where the body moves completely. R. hijau does not suck blo...

Telotaun (Manihot carthagenensis)

Telotaun ( Manihot carthagenensis ) is a plant species in Euphorbiaceae, trees or shrubs 2-10 m tall, erect and fibrous, white latex, leaves varying with the subspecies noted are Manihot carthagenensis ssp. carthagenensis , Manihot carthagenensis ssp. glaziovii and Manihot carthagenensis ssp. hahnii . M. carthagenensis has an erect stem, a tubular shape, a young stem which is bright green and covered in white wax, an old stem that has a thin layer of brown skin. Long leaf stems and white waxy, arranged alternately, growing in all directions, green on the bottom and redish on the top. Leaves have 3-7 fingers each up to 25 cm long and up to 15 cm wide, ellipses become obovoid, sometimes pandurate and apex acute. Each leaf finger has a bone in the middle that moves linearly with some pinnate bones. The upper surface is green and slightly shiny, the lower surface is whitish green. The base of the leaf is centered at the end of the stalk, the pointed end which ends at the head of the sp...

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

Dlium