Mohan planthopper (Metaurus mohanensis), new species based on mitochondrial genome and geographic distribution

NEWS - A new species, Mohan planthopper (Metaurus mohanensis) from Yunnan, China, was distinguished from the species Metaurus Stål, 1866 (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Dictyopharidae) based on analysis of geographical distribution and mitochondrial genome data.

Metaurus Oriental shows a continental distribution in Southeast Asia, restricted to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and southwest China. M. ramusitis Song & Liang 2012 is known from Laos and was found by only one female from Yunnan, China. The new species in this study was also collected from Yunnan.

Global distribution 748 species in 160 genera, family Dictyopharidae Spinola 1839 is a medium-sized taxon within Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha. Dictyopharidae are herbivorous insects known to feed on more than 25 families. Several dictyopharid species are known to be economically significant agricultural pests.

Dictyopharidae is classified into 19 tribes, plus two fossils divided between Dictyopharinae Spinola 1839 and Orgeriinae Fieber 1872. The genus Metaurus Stål 1866 was originally placed in Dictyopharini Spinola 1838, but was moved to Orthopagini Emeljanov 1983 by Emeljanov (2011) and later revised by Song and Liang (2012).

The species of Metaurus are externally similar to the species of Centromeria Stål 1870, a more diverse genus of Orthopagini with 14 species known to date, but with a wider Southeast Asian distribution consistent with the Oriental zoogeographic region.

This study describes M. mohanensis based on morphology and mitogenome. The new species in males has BL 17.3-17.1 mm, HL 3.6-3.7 mm, HW 1.7-1.8 mm, FWL 12-12.1 mm. The epithet “mohanensis” refers to the collection site in Mohan town.

The new species resembles M. ramusitis Song & Liang, but differs by the shape of the base of the base and segment X. The dorsal apical lobe of the base is formed in a pair of long lobes, directed posteriorly in lateral view and two lobes above it, the base extending forward to form a leaf-like projection in dorsal view (vs. not in M. ramusitis).

Segment X in dorsal view is relatively narrow with a maximum length to width ratio near the base of about 2.3:1. The ventral margin projects ventrally into a large rounded process at the base in lateral view and is slightly concave, not incised medially (vs. segment X is relatively wider in dorsal view and with irregular incisions medially in lateral view in M. ramusitis).

Original research

Zheng Y-L, Bourgoin T, Yang L, Chen X-S (2024). A new species of Metaurus Stål, 1866 (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Dictyopharidae), supplemented with mitogenome data from China. ZooKeys 1215: 53-64, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1215.128976

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...

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...

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,...

Dlium