A new freshwater turtle: Elseya flaviventralis

Australian snapping turtles are combined in the genus Elseya. There are only eight species and all of them are found in river systems in northern and northeastern Australia and throughout the river systems of New Guinea. 

These turtles are mainly herbivorous, with specialized mouth structures for eating fruits. However, if they get a chance they will not say no to a snack of fish or other animals.

The name flaviventralis is a combination of the Latin words flavus, meaning yellow, and ventralis, meaning belly. 

For the experts: The genus Elseya has had a checkered taxonomic history, but is now restricted to species characterized by an alveolar ridge on the triturating surfaces of the jaw. The Australian forms were once regarded as a single widespread species extending from the Mary River of south-eastern Queensland to the Fitzroy River of north Western Australia, but a number of Australian species have now been identified based on a combination of molecular and morphological data—Elseya dentata, E. irwini, E. lavarackorum and E. albagula. The genus is represented in New Guinea by E. branderhorsti, E. novaeguineae, E. schultzii, and E. rhodini. One additional Australian taxon first identified in 1981 and subsequently established as a distinct taxon by molecular studies, is described here. It is a large chelid turtle that can be distinguished from all other Australian members of the genus Elseya by the distinctive cream or yellow plastron, free of the dark streaking, blotches or suffusing present in other species; an extensive bridge with little or no abrupt angle between the bridge and the ventral surface of the plastron; a head shield broken into a series of small plates rather than a single unit; flat uncornified temporal scales; and a narrower, less robust skull. Osteologically, it can be distinguished from Elseya dentata by the contact of the vomer and the pterygoids. The carapace is typically a light to medium brown in color whereas the carapace of Elseya dentata is typically dark brown to almost black in color. Distribution is the Mary, South Alligator, East Alligator, Goyder and Mann River drainages of the north east of the Northern Territory, Australia. It does not appear to be in sympatry with any other member of Elseya. It is, however, in sympatry with three species of Chelodina, at least two species of Emydura, Myuchelys latisternum and Carettochelys insculpta.

A new chigger mite: Helenicula naresuani

Mites of the family Trombiculidae are also called berry bugs or harvest mites. The best known representatives are perhaps the chiggers. These are the species  that bite their host in their larval stage and cause irritation, usually with severe itching and dermatitis.

Chiggers attach to the host, pierce the skin, inject enzymes into the bite wound that digest cellular contents, and then suck up the digested tissue through a tube. They do not burrow into the skin or suck blood, as is commonly assumed. Itching from a chigger bite may not develop until 1-2 days after the bite, so the victim may not associate the specific exposure with the bite itself.

The new species was discovered as part of a broad sampling effort across 11 provinces in Thailand, and it was found on rodents. There are now 99 known species of chiggers in Thailand. This chigger is named after Naresuan, the king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (in what is now modern Thailand) from 1590 to 1605.

For the experts: Chigger mites of Thailand were studied on the basis of larvae collected from 19 small mammal species (17 species of Rodentia, 1 species of Erinaceomorpha, and 1 species of Scandentia) and revision of published data. Samples of 38 trombiculid species were collected from 11 provinces. Three new species were described: Trombiculindus kosapani sp. nov., Helenicula naresuani sp. nov., and Walchia chavali sp. nov. Ten species were recorded in Thailand for the first time: Leptotrombidium sialkotense Vercammen-Grandjean and Langston, 1976; Leptotrombidium subangulare Wen and Xiang, 1984; Leptotrombidium tenompaki Stekolnikov, 2013; Leptotrombidium turdicola Vercammen-Grandjean and Langston, 1976; Leptotrombidium yunlingense Yu, Yang, Zhang and Hu, 1981; Lorillatum hekouensis Yu, Chen and Lin, 1996; Helenicula pilosa (Abonnenc and Taufflieb, 1957); Gahrliepia xiaowoi Wen and Xiang, 1984; Walchia minuscuta Chen, 1978; and Walchia ventralis (Womersley, 1952). In all, 99 chigger mite species were considered; the presence of 93 species was established in Thailand by original data or properly documented records in the scientific literature. Evidence for 64 species records of 147 from a previous checklist of Thai chiggers (Tanskul 1993) remains unknown. Distribution of chigger species by geographical regions of Thailand is discussed.

A new frog: Guibemantis diphonus

The vast majority of Madagascar's 305 currently known frogs are endemic to the island. In fact an entire frog family (Mantellidae) is endemic to Madagascar. While the majority of the mantellid treefrogs belong to the genus Boophis, several other arboreal species are included in the genus Guibemantis and are in fact more closely related to terrestrial genera than to tree frog genera such as Boophis.

The new species was found in the Manombo Special Reserve in southeastern Madagascar by an old friend of mine. The species name is derived from the Greek root word “phon” meaning “sound” and the prefix “di-” meaning “two”. In phonetics, a diphone is an adjacent pair of phones. The advertisement call of Guibemantis diphonus is characterized by the distinct combination of two note types.

For the experts: We describe a new species of arboreal frog of the genus Guibemantis, subgenus Guibemantis, from low altitude rainforest in Manombo Special Reserve, south-eastern Madagascar. Previously published phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences have placed Guibemantis diphonus sp. nov. sister to G. timidus. The new species is distinguished from G. timidus and all other species in the subgenus by a substantial genetic differentiation (≥ 4.4% uncorrected p-distance in the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene), strongly divergent advertisement call, and some limited morphological differences. It is the smallest known species in the subgenus, with 34−36 mm snout-vent length in adult males. Its advertisement call is unique among other species in the subgenus in being composed of two distinctly different note types (only one note type in the other species).

A new flea beetle: Notomela joliveti

Flea beetles are small, jumping beetles of the leaf beetle family (Chrysomelidae). They are similar to other leaf beetles, but characteristically the femur of their hindlegs is greatly enlarged. This allows for the springing action of these insects when disturbed hence the name flea beetles.

These beetles feed on plants, eating the surface of the leaves, stems and petals. Some larvae are root feeders.

Today's new species was found on São Tomé and Principe, an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. The authors say about the name of the new species: With great pleasure we name the new species after our friend Pierre Jolivet, the “Great Old Man” of all the chrysomelid workers around the world.

For the experts: The Afrotropical flea beetle genus Notomela Jacoby, 1899 is reviewed. Notomela joliveti sp.n. from Principe Island is described. The following new synonymies are established: N. cyanipennis Jacoby, 1899 = N. viridipennis Bryant, 1941, syn. n. = N. cyanipennis macrosoma Bechyné, 1959, syn. n. In addition, the new combination is established: Notomela fulvofasciata Jacoby, 1903 is transfered to Amphimela [A. fulvofasciata (Jacoby, 1903), comb. n.]. Micrographs of male and female genitalia, scanning electron micrographs of some diagnostic morphological characters, a key to identification, and distributional data for all species of Notomela, are provided.

A new cuckoo wasp: Chrysis borealis

Cuckoo wasps are also called gold wasps. They are usually small, metallic, and heavily armored, the latter for a very good reason. The wasps are parasites in the nests of other wasps or bees. The female slips into the nest of the host, laying an egg inside. After the egg hatches, the cuckoo wasp’s larva eats either the rightful inhabitant or in many cases the food stored in the nest. 

These wasps have no stinger, so when they are attacked they curl into a ball for defense which is very effective given their string armor.

The species name borealis is a Latin word derived from the Greek word boreas which means north and refers to the known species distribution in the Nordic and Baltic countries and north-western Russia.

For the experts: The Chrysididae are a group of cleptoparasitic and parasitoid aculeate wasps with a large number of rare and endangered species. The taxonomy of this group has long been confusing due to the similarity of species and extensive intraspecific variation. We present for the first time a comprehensive dichotomous key for all 74 species found in the Nordic and Baltic countries. In addition to diagnostic characters, information on the distribution and biology of each species is also presented. A new species, Chrysis borealis Paukkunen, Ødegaard & Soon, sp. n. is described on the basis of specimens collected from Fennoscandia. Chrysis gracillima Förster, 1853 is recorded as new to the Nordic and Baltic countries.

A new ostracod: Bairdoppilata scaura

Ostracods are often called seed shrimp which is in reference to their body shape. Their bodies are flattened from side to side and protected by a mussel-like, chitinous or calcareous valve or "shell". The hinge of the two valves is in the upper region of the body. 

Some 70,000 species have been described but the majority of them is long extinct but the fossil record is rich and Ostracods are bar far the most common arthropods found in fossils. About 13,000 extant species have been found so far, most of them are marine living animals.

Our species of the day was found in the French Frigate Shoals. French Frigate Shoals is an atoll, consisting of a 32-km long, crescent-shaped reef and lagoon on an almost submerged seamount in the Hawaii-Midway chain, 900 km northwest of Honolulu and about the same distance southeast of Midway Island. The species name scaurus, meaning with swollen ankles or club-footed refers to the short antennal claws of the animal.

For the experts: Bairdoppilata scaura, n. sp. and five species of Bairdoppilata and Paranesidea in open nomenclature are described from encrusting communities on French Frigate Shoals and Kane’ohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. Some poorly documented anatomical traits (carapace setae, hingement, antennal claws, genitalia) are examined for their potential taxonomic significance, in order to confirm the coherence of the Genus Bairdoppilata and to explore its diversity. 

A new tachinid fly: Linnaemya bergstroemi

Tachinid fly larvae are parasitoids and their hosts are almost exclusively insects although for many tachinid species the hosts are unknown. They may glue their eggs to their host or lay their eggs on foliage where the host larvae will eat them. Some have ovipositors with which they inject their eggs directly into the unsuspecting host’s body. The true diversity of the family Tachinidae is likely many thousands of species higher than the 10,000 currently described, making this family perhaps the most speciose family of Diptera and without question the most successful with a parasitic way of life.

Today's new species was found in Finnish Lapland. It was named after Christer Bergström (Uppsala, Sweden) as an acknowledgment of his life-long work on the Nordic Tachinidae. 

For the experts: A new tachinid species, Linnaemya bergstroemi n. sp., is described from the Finnish Lapland. The new species closely resembles the Nearctic species Linnaemya anthracina Thompson, but can be readily distinguished from it by the characters described in this paper. The taxonomic placement of the two species is discussed in the light of morphological and CoI sequence similarities with Linnaemya Robineau-Desvoidy species in the subgenera Ophina Robineau-Desvoidy and Bonellimyia Townsend. Known aspects of the new species’ biology and distribution are reviewed.