Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Discoveries of the week - #19

Thirty new spider species of the family Linyphiidae
Nasoonaria circinata

Eight new genera and 30 new species are described: Cirrosus gen. n. (type species Cirrosus atrocaudatus sp. n. (♂♀)), Conglin gen. n. (type species Conglin personatus sp. n. (♀)), Curtimeticus gen. n. (type species Curtimeticus nebulosus sp. n. (♂)), Gladiata gen. n. (type species Gladiata fengli sp. n. (♂)), Glebala gen. n. (type species Glebala aspera sp. n. (♂)), Glomerosus gen. n. (type species Glomerosus lateralis sp. n. (♂)), Smerasia gen. n. (type species Smerasia obscurus sp. n. (♂♀)), Vittatus gen. n. (type species Vittatus fencha sp. n. (♂♀)); Batueta cuspidata sp. n. (♂♀), Capsulia laciniosa sp. n. (♂), Dactylopisthes separatus sp. n. (♀), Gongylidiellum bracteatum sp. n. (♀), Houshenzinus xiaolongha sp. n. (♂♀), Laogone bai sp. n. (♂), L. lunata sp. n. (♂♀), Maro bulbosus sp. n. (♀), Nasoonaria circinata sp. n. (♂♀), Neriene circifolia sp. n. (♂♀), Oedothorax biantu sp. n. (♀), Oilinyphia hengji sp. n. (♂♀), Paikiniana furcata sp. n. (♂♀), Parameioneta bishou sp. n. (♂♀), P. multifida sp. n. (♂♀), P. tricolorata sp. n. (♂♀), Tapinopa undata sp. n. (♂), Theoa bidentata sp. n. (♂♀), Theoa vesica sp. n. (♂♀), Vittatus bian sp. n. (♂♀), V. latus sp. n. (♂♀), V. pan sp. n. (♂♀). The male of Kaestneria bicultrata Chen & Yin, 2000 and the females of Asiagone perforata Tanasevitch, 2014 and Batueta similis Wunderlich & Song, 1995 are described for the first time; photos of Bathyphantes paracymbialis Tanasevitch, 2014 are provided.

Scientists from the Institute of Zoology with the Chinese Academy of Sciences have devoted years of their careers to study the astounding diversity hidden in the depths of the Xishuangbanna tropical rain forests. Xishuangbanna is situated in the southern part of Yunnan with the Lancang (Mekong) River flowing through it. The region is well-known for its rich biodiversity and is one of the few places in China that still maintains large tracts of tropical rain forest, which won its reputation as the Kingdom of Tropical Fauna and Flora.


A new species, Mygdonia milivoji sp. nov. (Coreidae: Coreinae: Mictini) from south-west Madagascar is described, illustrated and compared with widely distributed M. elongata Distant, 1879. A key to Mygdonia species based on females is given and distribution of both Madagascan species is briefly discussed.

This new hemipteran species was named after the collector of the specimen, a friend of the senior author (Miloš Trýzna friends call him ‘Milivoj’).
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A new species of dustywings, Helicoconis tatricus sp. n., is described from the foothills of the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. The new species differs from other species of the subgenus Helicoconis by structure of male genitalia—unfurcated styli and wide and short apophyses. The key for determination of all Palaearctic species of the subgenus Helicoconis is added and the distribution of Palaearctic species is discussed.

This species is a new member of the dustywings, Coniopterygidae, that are a family with some 460 species which belongs to the order Neuroptera. The animals have translucent brownish wings usually covered with a whitish dust of waxy scales, hence the name. The name of the new species refers to the name of type locality, the Tatra Mountains in North Slovakia.
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Dasybasis antillanca
The females of Dasybasis antillanca and Dasybasis collagua, new species, are described from specimens collected in Osorno and Iquique Provinces, south and north Chile, respectively. Their relationships to other Dasybasis species are discussed.

The names of both new tabanid fly species refer to their respective type localities. The specimens examined were collected in the Antillanca, about 1.000 km south of Santiago city; and in the Collagua, 1.900 km north of Santiago city. 
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The paper describes two new species of feather mites collected on Psilopogon virens (Boddaert) (Piciformes: Megalaimidae) in India (Meghalaya): Megalaimobius massarae sp. nov. (Analgoidea: Pteronyssidae) and Picalgoides arbenzi sp. nov. (Psoroptoidea: Psoroptoididae). Males of M. massarae sp. nov. differ from the other three species of the genus by the shape of the transventral sclerite which is much deeper concave. The female of the new species has the external copulatory tub with an acute apex (this structure has a truncated apex in females of other species). Males of Picalgoides arbenzi sp. nov. differ from the closest species P. capitonis Černý, 1974 mainly by the shape of adanal apodemes which are fused into a large arch encircling the anal field. Females of the new species have the hysteronotal shield with acute posterior angles and setae d2 situated on the lateral margins of this shield (in females of P. capitonis the hysteronotal shield has the posterior angles rounded and setae d2 situated at a short distance from the lateral margins of this shield).

Feather mites are very diverse and common ectoparasites of birds. One of the species is named in honor of Dr. Massar, the Principal of the Lady Keane College from Shillong (Meghalaya, India), for her support of the research on ectoparasites of birds. Thesecond species is named in honor of speleologist Thomas Arbenz (Matzendorf, Switzerland), one of the main organizers of the study-related expeditions “Caving in the Abode of the Clouds - Meghalaya, India”.
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Fauveliopsid polychaetes have been collected at dredge disposal sites off Honolulu from 397–507 m depth. We report and describe the first Pacific record of Laubieriopsis cf. cabiochi (Amoureux, 1982), originally described from the North Atlantic. A new species, Laubieriopsis petersenae, n. sp. is described as being the species in the genus with the lowest number of body segments (15). Other distinctive features are the presence of bidentate aciculars on thoracic chaetigers, and unpaired genital papilla present on the right side of chaetiger 6/7. The new species is most similar to the L. brevis complex from the Atlantic and L. hartmanae and L. brevis japonica from the Pacific Ocean, but differs on the combination of the characters cited above. We provide an emended diagnosis for this genus to include the ultrastructure of the acicular with rows of spines, and a key to all described species.

Fauveliopsids are small benthic polychaetes that are mostly found in deeper waters. This species is named after the late Dr. Mary Petersen for her contribution to the study of fauveliopsid polychaetes, including the recognition and description of the genus Laubieriopsis
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