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The zoological collection of the National Museum, Prague (NMP) contains spirit (juvenile) as well as dry (mostly adult) specimens of horseshoe crabs (Xiphosura). Living horseshoe crabs are of immunological importance due to clotting agents present in their hemolymph. Here we summarize basic data about the mechanism of the immune system of these marine animals and its use in practice – the Limulus Amebocyte Lysate test – including the laboratory assays and handling with the animals. In the NMP collection, 82 specimens (16 dry and 66 spirit) of all four currently recognised living species of horseshoe crabs are present. They were collected in Indonesia, USA and Vietnam in 1872–1998; Limulus polyphemus from the USA is the most numerous species in the NMP. The collection contains no type specimens but three historical mounted ontogenetic series are present. The largest part of the horseshoe crab collection is 55 spirit specimens from the collection of Václav Frič (1839–1916) whose preparations were intended mostly for educational purposes.
Coilodes Westwood, 1846 is a Neotropical genus of Hybosorinae. Despite being a morphologically homogeneous genus, it presents a great deal of intraspecific variation, especially with reference to the colour of integuments. This makes identification of species even more difficult, since the majority of original descriptions present the colour as the main diagnostic character. To solve this problem, the first taxonomic revision of Coilodes is presented. The genus now comprises 13 species. Redescriptions of C. castaneus Westwood, 1846, C. fumipennis Arrow, 1909, C. humeralis (Mannerheim, 1829), C. niger (Mannerheim, 1829), C. ovalis Robinson, 1948, C. parvulus Westwood, 1846, and C. punctipennis Arrow, 1909 are presented. Coilodes niger (Mannerheim, 1829) has its status revalidated and three new synonyms are proposed: C. gibbus (Perty, 1830) and C. chilensis Westwood, 1846 with C. humeralis, and C. nigripennis Arrow, 1903 with C. castaneus. Biological and geographical distribution data are expanded. Lectotypes are designated for C. humeralis and C. niger. Six new species are described: C. bezerrai Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. edeiltae Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. lunae Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. mayae Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., C. ravii Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov., and C. skelleyi Basílio & Vaz-de-Mello sp. nov. An identification key for the males of the species is presented.
A large, newly collected material of the genus Aquattuor from the Udzungwa Mts, Tanzania, has been studied. Two new species are described, viz., A. mollilobus sp. nov. from the Udzungwa Mts and A. nguruensis sp. nov. from the Nguru Mts, Tanzania. Aquattuor claudiahempae Enghoff & Frederiksen, 2015, is recorded as new for the Udzungwa fauna. Characters from the first pair of male legs are illustrated for all Aquattuor species and are shown to be useful for species discrimination. A new gonopodal difference between A. submajor Enghoff, 2015 and A. udzungwensis Enghoff, 2015 is described and illustrated. Intrageneric relationships and distribution patterns are discussed. A distribution map and a key to all Aquattuor species are presented.
A new polynoid, Webbnesia maculata gen. et sp. nov., was discovered during benthic surveys conducted around the Canary Islands. Its generic characters (absence of cephalic peaks, ventrally inserted lateral antennae, reduced notopodium and chaetae all stout) place it close to Antinoe Kinberg, 1856, Hermadion Kinberg, 1856 and Malmgrenia McIntosh, 1874, but the combination is unique and justifies the erection of a new genus. The new genus and species are described, figured and discussed in detail. An updated list of taxa and an identification key to all genera of Polynoinae Kinberg, 1856 sensu lato currently reported from the extended Northeast Atlantic are given.
Susamyia Ziegler & Gilasian gen. nov. and its type species Susamyia mira Ziegler & Gilasian gen. et sp. nov. are described from southwestern Karkheh National Park and southeastern Jazmourian Wetland of Iran. Drawings of terminalia and head of the male as well as images of habitus, head and egg are provided. Susamyia gen. nov. is incorporated into the identification key to the Palearctic tachinid genera of Tschorsnig & Richter (1998). The systematic position of Susamyia gen. nov. in the tribe Goniini (Exoristinae) is discussed in light of molecular analyses based on the ribosomal genes 16S, 18S and 28S, and the egg type of females. The morphology of the microtype eggs was studied and compared with that of other Goniini, but proved too unreliable to be included in the phylogenetic analysis. Susamyia gen. nov. is believed to be most closely related to the goniine genera Gymnophryxe Villeneuve, 1922, Palesisa Villeneuve, 1929 and Prosopodopsis Townsend, 1926.
Ampharete oculicirrata sp. nov. (Annelida: Ampharetidae) is described from samples collected by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Marine Scotland Science, in the West Shetland Shelf NCMPA in the NE Atlantic. This species is characterised by a very small body size, thin and slender paleae, twelve thoracic and eleven abdominal uncinigers, presence of eyes both in the prostomium and the pygidium, the latter provided with a pair of long lateral cirri. The external micro-morphology of the new taxon was studied using scanning electron microscopy and compared with species described or reported from the North Atlantic. Two complementary keys to all species of Ampharete in the area are also provided.
A new species of Epeolus Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae)—E. emiliae Onuferko and Sheffield, new species—is described from North America west of the Great Plains. It is morphologically most similar to Epeolus autumnalis Robertson, 1902, a species known exclusively from east of the Rocky Mountains. DNA barcode sequences from representatives of E. autumnalis and E. emiliae share a barcode index number (i.e., BIN: BOLD:AAF2361), but the two species exhibit marked and consistent differences in integument coloration and the patterns of pubescence on the metasoma, and their distributional ranges, based on known specimens, show no overlap. This discovery increases the number of species of Epeolus confirmed in Canada to 14, and North America north of Mexico to 44. Modifications to existing identification keys to Canadian and all North American species of Epeolus are provided, as well as a differential diagnosis, to enable the identification of E. emiliae. Additionally, three new provincial records are reported for species of Epeolus occurring in Canada: E. interruptus Robertson, 1900 from Alberta and Quebec and E. scutellaris Say, 1824 from Saskatchewan.
ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:811B569E-9BF6-4319-B1FA-DD7A357B0847
Ten new species of Thinophilus Wahlberg, 1844 from the Afrotropical region are described and illustrated: T. saegeri sp. nov. from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, T. medvedevi sp. nov., T. longicercus sp. nov., T. cataractae sp. nov. and T. manambato sp. nov. from Madagascar, T. gallagheri sp. nov. and T. deemingi sp. nov. from Oman, T. sigwalti sp. nov. from Senegal, T. subpalpatus sp. nov. from South Africa, and T. fluvialis sp. nov. from Tanzania. Type material for 13 previously described Afrotropical species is examined. The genus Paralleloneurum Becker, 1902 is newly synonymized with Thinophilus (syn. nov.). As a result, the following new combinations are here established: Thinophilus cilifemoratus (Becker, 1902) comb. nov. and T. pygmaeus (De Meijere, 1916), comb. nov. The following new synonyms are proposed: Thinophilus annulitarsis Parent, 1936 with T. calopus Loew 1852; T. bipunctatus Curran, 1926 and T. maculatus Parent, 1929 with T. indigenus Becker, 1902. New records are given for some known species. Thinophilus argyropalpis Becker, 1910 and T. spinitarsis Becker, 1907 are reported from the Afrotropical Region for the first time. The number of species of the genus, known from continental Africa, Oman, Yemen and Madagascar, has increased to 30. An identification key to 29 Afrotropical species is compiled. Thinophilus versutus Haliday, 1851 and T. cilifemoratus (Becker, 1902), type species of the former genera Schoenophilus Mik, 1878 and Paralleloneurum Becker, 1902, are subsequently also included into the key, because the two species inhabit northern Africa.
The cleptoparasitic bee genus Triepeolus Robertson, 1901 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is revised for species occurring in South America. A total of nine species are confirmed from the continent, of which T. tuberculifer Onuferko, Rightmyer & Roig-Alsina sp. nov. is newly described. Four new synonymies are proposed: T. aguilari Moure, 1955 syn. nov. and T. megadelphus Cockerell, 1914 syn. nov. under T. buchwaldi (Friese, 1908); T. bilineatus Cockerell, 1949 syn. nov. under T. flavipennis (Friese, 1916); and Epeolus merus Brèthes, 1909 syn. nov. under T. nemoralis (Holmberg, 1886). Males of T. alvarengai Moure, 1955 and T. rufotegularis (Ashmead, 1900) and females of T. atoconganus Moure, 1955 and T. cecilyae Packer, 2016 are described for the first time. Lectotypes are designated for the following (all originally described under Epeolus Latreille, 1802 but now recognized as Triepeolus): E. buchwaldi, E. flavipennis, E. osiriformis Schrottky, 1910 and its junior synonym E. luteipes Friese, 1916, and E. rufotegularis. Diagnoses and complete descriptions/redescriptions are provided for all species, along with a fully illustrated dichotomous identification key (with Portuguese and Spanish versions available as supplementary material) to distinguish them based on external morphological features. Additionally, known collection records and information about the ecology of the treated species are presented.
Ants of the Tetramorium solidum group occur in Africa, with the vast majority of species endemic to the arid regions of southern Africa. The first revision of the genus was published more than 30 years ago and ant surveys have since considerably expanded the number of specimens available for study. The revision of this group reveals five new species, expanding the total number to 19. Almost all the species in this group occur in the southern parts of the Afrotropical region, with the exception of T. setuliferum Emery, 1895 and T. rothschildi (Forel, 1907). These two species have broad distributions within African grasslands and savannas, with T. setuliferum occurring in southern Africa and T. rothschildi in East Africa and the Sahel. Five new species are described in this revision: T. aisha sp. nov., T. brigitteae sp. nov., T. duncani sp. nov., T. lerouxi sp. nov. and T. margueriteae sp. nov. An illustrated key is presented and descriptions of new species are provided, supported by montage images and distribution maps.