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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...
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Giant golden spider (Nephila pilipes)

Kemlanding or giant golden orbweaver ( Nephila pilipes ) is an animal species in the Araneidae, a web spider with a vertical and asymmetrical mesh, sexually dimorphic with elongated females up to 20 cm in size and has a large investment in egg production and web construction, whereas males only a few millimeters. N. pilipes displays female gigantism and male dwarfism. Females usually have a body size of 30-50 mm, the cephalothorax is 15 mm long and 10 mm wide. The stomach is 30 mm long, 15 mm wide and is mostly tawny with yellow stripes. The female has black or brown, covered in thick hairs. The two rows of eyes stick out towards the back. Plastron is mostly black and brown. The legs are very long, stick-shaped with several joints, black and yellow, lacking of hairs. Males are 5-6.5 mm in size, cephalothorax is 2.5 mm long and 2 mm wide. The stomach is 4 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. The front eye is bigger than the back eye. The legs are light brown with some hair. Yellow carapace with ...
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Large pro rotifer (Proales amplus), new monogonont with large epipharynx from Korea (Rotifera, Proalidae)

NEWS - Large pro rotifer ( Proales amplus ) is the 42nd species in the genus Proales that exhibits unique morphological characteristics on the trophy, especially the unmatched epipharynx that prevents misidentification with other species. The epithet amplus is derived from the Latin word meaning large or wide, referring to the size and shape of the epipharynx. Proalidae Harring & Myers 1924 includes 4 genera and 53 species that are distributed throughout the biogeography and inhabit a variety of environments, including freshwater, saltwater and terrestrial environments. The genus Proales includes 41 species that are characterized by various morphological features. In Korea, the presence of Proalidae has been documented with 5 species: Bryceella perpusilla (Wilts, Martínez Arbizu & Ahlrichs, 2010), B. stylata (Milne, 1886), B. tenella (Bryce, 1897), Proales fallaciosa (Wulfert, 1937) and Proalinopsis caudatus (Collins, 1872). The habitus of P. amplus has some similarities w...
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