Shun river diatom (Ulnaria shun-biseriata Bacillariophyta) with mostly striae biseriata from Hunan

NEWS - A new species, Shun river diatom (Ulnaria shun-biseriata), was discovered in Hunan Province, southern China, described based on light and scanning electron microscopy observations with the characteristics of lanceolate valve lines, apical valve crests, slightly wavy valve margins, mostly biseriate striae, variable central areas, and closed valvocopules.

The specific epithet shun-biseriata is a combination of the Shun River and the adjective biseriate to reflect the type locality and the character of the mostly biseriate striae. The new species is only known from the type locality with a relative abundance of about 1%. Samples were scraped from rock surfaces collected in the Shun River.

This benthic epilithic species is related to Gyrosigma kuetzingii (Grunow) Cleve, Encyonema appalachianum Potapova, Pinnularia subgibba Krammer, P. borealis Ehrenberg, Gomphonema berggrenii Cleve, Epithemia spp., Nitzschia spp., Iconella spp., and others. Environmental parameters with conductivity = 70.1 ± 0.1 μS cm-1; pH = 8.5 ± 0.1 and water temperature = 24.5 ± 0.1C.

U. shun-biseriata is most similar to U. oxybiseriata D.M. Williams & Bing Liu because both species have overlapping valve dimension ranges and are characterized by apical apices and biseriate striae. However, U. shun-biseriata has wider valves and wavy valve margins (vs. straight or non-wavy valve margins, linear lanceolate valves and lines).

Original research

Zheng Y, Liu B, Rioual P, Long J-Y, Zhou M (2024). Ulnaria shun-biseriata sp. nov. (Bacillariophyta) from the Shun River in Hunan Province, China. PhytoKeys 246: 315-327, DOI:10.3897/phytokeys.246.130942

Dlium theDlium

Laniger bat tick (Ixodes lanigeri), new hard tick species (Ixodidae) from mouse-eared bats (Myotis) in Vietnam

NEWS - Researchers have identified Ixodes ticks from Vietnam based on morphological and molecular characteristics of females, nymphs and larvae as a new species, laniger bat tick ( Ixodes lanigeri ), which like other members of the Ixodes ariadnae complex appears to show a preference for vesper bats as a typical host. Historically, for more than a century and a half, only one species has been called the “long-legged bat tick”: Ixodes vespertilionis Koch. However, over the past decade, it has been molecularly recognized that long-legged ixodid ticks associated with bats may represent at least six species. Host associations and geographic separation may explain the evolutionary divergence of the new species from its closest living relative Murina hilgendorfi Peters in East Asia, Japan, as no Myotis or Murina spp. have overlapping distributions between Vietnam and the Japanese mainland. On the other hand, assuming that I. lanigeri may be present in other myotine bats and knowing that s...

Purhepecha oak (Quercus purhepecha), new species of shrub oak endemic to the state of Michoacán, Mexico

NEWS - In Mexico, several Quercus shrubby species are taxonomically very problematic including 8 taxa with similar characteristics. Now researchers report the purhepecha oak ( Quercus purhepecha De Luna-Bonilla, S. Valencia & Coombes sp. nov.) as a new tomentose shrubby white oak species with a distribution only in the Cuitzeo basin in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Quercus Linnaeus (1753) subdivided into 2 subgenera and 8 sections of which section Quercus (white oaks) has the widest distribution in the Americas, Asia and Europe. This section is very diverse in Mexico and Central America with phylogenomic evidence indicating recent and accelerated speciation in these regions. The number of shrubby oak species in Mexico is still uncertain. De Luna-Bonilla of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and colleagues found at least 3 taxa in the TMVB, specifically Quercus frutex Trelease (1924), Quercus microphylla Née (1801) and Quercus repanda Bonpland (1809). In 2016,...

Pundak scoliid (Scolia clypeata)

Pundak scoliid ( Scolia clypeata ) is an animal species in Scoliidae, arboreal insects, elongated body, blackish blue wings, round head, long legs, spending time perched on leaves in the shade in the bush, medium-sized trees in the forest and agricultural land. S. clypeata has a round, red head and a pair of large black eyes on the face. A pair of large antennae, red, jointed, black base and blunt tip. The neck is narrow and black. The back is dark brown and rough. The front shoulders on the right and left sides have a red plot color. The stomach is cylindrical, elongated, with long hair, droplet-shaped tips and shiny black color. A pair of elongated wings with multiple veins, rounded tips, blackish blue and shiny, piled together to cover the entire abdomen at rest. The legs are several joints and have long hair. Pundak scoliid live in forests or agricultural fields, spending much of their time perched on leaves in low shrubs or medium-sized trees, in shade and more solitary. King...

Dlium