They examined material from the Korea National Insect Collection, the Korea National Arboretum in Pocheon, the Department of Entomology at Kyungpook National University, the R.M. Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis, and the Entomology Research Museum at the University of California, Riverside. Japanese Zeyanus specimens were borrowed from the Laboratory of Entomology at Meijo University in Nagoya. Most specimens deposited in the Korea National Arboretum and Kyungpook National University collections had been collected with Malaise traps, while Anagrus atomus was collected by sweeping.

The study used specimen morphology, diagnostic images and DNA sequences for selected females. The checklist reveals that knowledge of Korean fairyflies developed through scattered revisions and rearing studies rather than a sustained national survey. Jong Cheol Paik’s first 1974 report listed five genera, but the authors could not locate the voucher specimens.

Paik’s 1978 list included three identified and three unidentified species, and many records from the 1980s and 1990s concerned fairyflies reared from rice-feeding leafhoppers or planthoppers. Voucher material associated with the 1984 examination of Anagrus and Gonatocerus collected in the 1970s and early 1980s is also missing. These gaps matter because an observation cannot be reassessed securely when its physical basis is unavailable, and several historical identifications were later shown to conflict with the known distributions of the named species.

One South Korean record of Anagrus nigriventris was treated as a misidentification because the species is restricted to the New World, and another record of A. flaveolus was also excluded for the same biogeographic reason. The specimens formerly identified as A. nigriventris most likely belonged to A. incarnatus, although that replacement was not certain. The Korean identification of Anaphes gauthieri requires confirmation, and a later taxonomic review raised concerns about South Korean specimens identified as A. regulus, including a possible confusion with A. flavipes.

Elsewhere in the checklist, some Anaphes regulus distribution records may also require confirmation or represent misidentifications. The authors note that the true identity of that nominal species cannot be settled conclusively without molecular analysis of the dry-mounted lectotype, if DNA can be recovered from it at all. The study adds South Korean records for Mymar ermak, M. maritimum and M. pulchellum, all members of a genus that had previously been recorded in the country through the species Mymar taprobanicum.

DNA was extracted non-destructively from females of the three Mymar species, and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, or COI, sequences were generated. The reported GenBank accessions were PZ377445, PZ377446 and PZ377447 for M. ermak, PZ377448 for M. pulchellum and PZ377449 for M. maritimum. The authors also cautioned that records of M. pulchellum outside the Palearctic region need confirmation through molecular methods.

A female of Dicopomorpha koreana collected in Xitou Forest, Nantou County, Taiwan, in 2017 constitutes a new record for Taiwan and for the genus Dicopomorpha. The species was described from South Korea in 2003 and had also been reported from India. The Taiwanese specimen was deposited in the National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung.

This range extension was based on a single female, so it adds a confirmed locality rather than a comprehensive account of the species’ distribution in Taiwan. Together with the three Mymar records, the finding expands the country-level checklist from the 31 species previously recognized to 36 species in 15 genera. The slide-mounted holotype came from a deciduous forest at Yawata, Asahi, Aichi Prefecture, on Honshu Island, Japan, where it was collected in 1998.

A Japanese paratype was collected at Katabira, Kani, Gifu Prefecture, in 2004, and two South Korean paratypes came from Gwangneung Forest in Gyeonggi-do. The species is distinguished by body coloration, antenna proportions, the number and arrangement of multiporous plate sensilla on the antennal segments, forewing microtrichia and the proportions of the ovipositor and metatibia. The dry-mounted holotype measured 1,750 micrometres in body length and 2,005 micrometres after slide mounting, while the dry-mounted paratypes ranged from 1,340 to 1,420 micrometres.

The male remains unknown. Zeyanus sunayez had the larger specimen series. Its South Korean holotype was collected at Gwangneung Forest in 2015 and is deposited at the National Institute of Biological Resources in Incheon.

Additional female specimens were collected in Gangwon-do, Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do, while a male paratype came from Mount Yui on Amami Oshima in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Dry-mounted females measured 1,540 to 1,907 micrometres in body length, and ethanol-preserved females measured 1,683 to 1,997 micrometres. The holotype measured 1,866 micrometres before slide mounting and 2,091 micrometres afterward.

A COI sequence from a female paratype was deposited as PZ653912, and the species name is a reversed spelling of the genus name. Triapitsyn and colleagues updated their identification key for female Zeyanus to include all recognized species and both newly described taxa. Z. knuz was separated from Z. kweishuilini, a species known from southern Taiwan, partly through antennal sensilla, the dimensions of the antennal club and the number and position of forewing microtrichia.

Z. sunayez was distinguished from the Oriental species Z. asulcifrons by relatively longer funicular segments, different numbers of multiporous plate sensilla, a complete cubital row of forewing microtrichia and differences in body coloration. The molecular work was limited to a female paratype of Z. sunayez, and no COI data were reported for Z. knuz. Host information was unavailable for both new species, and the authors did not establish their hosts or ecological effects in South Korea or Japan.

Zeyanus is known from the Afrotropical, Oriental and eastern Palearctic regions, but its documented biology remains sparse. The only host association reported for the genus involved an unidentified Zeyanus species reared in Chonburi Province, Thailand, from an unidentified Ledra leafhopper attacking chili. The large body size observed in many Zeyanus species has been associated with the comparatively large leafhoppers of Ledrinae, but the authors explicitly describe this as a correlation and note that further rearings from Ledrinae would be needed to confirm the relationship.

Because the two new species were not recovered from hosts, the study provides no evidence that either is an effective biological control agent.

Subject of Research: Taxonomic inventory of South Korean fairyflies and descriptions of two new Zeyanus species

Article Title: Checklist of Korean Mymaridae ( Hymenoptera , Chalcidoidea ) with new records and descriptions of two new species of Zeyanus from South Korea and Japan

Article References: Triapitsyn, S. V., Kim, S., & Kang, I. (2026). Checklist of Korean Mymaridae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) with new records and descriptions of two new species of Zeyanus from South Korea and Japan. ZooKeys, 1295, 129-159. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1295.200780

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1295.200780

Keywords: fairyflies, Mymaridae, Zeyanus knuz, Zeyanus sunayez, South Korea, Japan, taxonomy, biodiversity, COI sequencing, parasitoid wasps, Checklist, Korean

The review is a synthesis of published records rather than a new field survey or laboratory experiment. The authors began with larval foodplant lists from major European butterfly references, including Tshikolovets, Tolman and Lewington, and added or updated information for Aporia crataegi, Pieris rapae and the genus Melitaea. They then searched the scientific literature for records concerning the species in the initial list. Where possible, primary sources were preferred, particularly records in which larvae were found using a plant in the wild. Records based only on breeding experiments were generally excluded unless no other information was available, and entries judged to be incorrect were removed.

Plant nomenclature was standardized using version 4 of the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, with additional checks through Plants of the World Online, the World Checklist itself, GBIF, the World Flora Online and consultation with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The procedure addressed accepted names, synonyms, homotypic synonyms, names with differing authorities and suspected typographical errors. A database constraint prevented duplicate relationships when an original source listed both an accepted name and a synonym. The resulting set expanded from an initial 1,977 relationships to 4,080 records.

The checklist records plant species where possible, while plant records that could not be identified beyond a genus are retained at generic level. It treats butterfly subspecies outside Europe as out of scope and otherwise uses species-level treatment; plant subspecies are not separately recorded. Among the 1,506 plant species listed, 86 records were identified only to genus, across 40 genera, mostly grasses. The full scientific names, plant families and orders, and supporting references are provided in the supplementary spreadsheet accompanying the paper.

Poaceae was the most frequently represented plant family, with larval foodplants recorded for 150 butterfly species. Fabaceae followed with 93 species, Rosaceae with 52, Cyperaceae with 45 and Brassicaceae with 31. Among individual plant species, Festuca ovina was recorded for 68 butterfly species, Festuca rubra for 40 and Poa annua for 39. These totals describe the frequency of records in the compiled checklist; they do not measure the quality of the foodplants for larval development.

Foodplant breadth varied substantially among the 471 species with known diets. More than half, or 255 species, used no more than five recorded foodplant species, and 92 were classified as monophagous, meaning they fed on one plant species throughout their range. Pieris rapae had 82 recorded foodplant species in Europe and Vanessa cardui had 77. For plant-family use, 331 butterfly species were recorded using one family, 84 using two and 29 using three. Celastrina argiolus had the broadest recorded spread, with plants in 19 families.

The review identifies substantial limitations in the underlying evidence. Reference quality varied, and the authors state that many records cannot be verified except when another source provides the same information. Plants may also be difficult to identify accurately from vegetative material alone, sometimes requiring flowers, fruits or seeds. Ambiguous plant names without authorities can prevent inclusion: a record naming Vicia angustifolia for Leptidea sinapis could not be assigned because it might refer to Vicia lathyroides or Vicia sativa, while Vicia setifolia has a South American distribution and was excluded from that possibility.

Taxonomic and geographic complications also limit interpretation. The separation of Polyommatus icarus from P. celina complicates attribution of foodplant records, while sympatric species such as Leptidea juvernica, L. sinapis and L. reali may share, partly share or differ in their foodplants. The authors cite research proposing splits of Muschampia proto, Zegris eupheme and Hyponephele lupina, and provide regional references for the proposed species while those taxonomic changes remain under investigation. For the five endemic Canary Island graylings, the only available foodplant information came from breeding experiments, so the single grass recorded for them is explicitly noted as requiring confirmation of use in the wild.

The authors caution that a list of foodplants does not show where a species uses different plants in different regions, which plants support high larval survival, or whether occasional use represents a preference. A species classified as oligophagous may use one plant in one habitat and several in another, making regional lists important for identifying plants used locally. The authors recommend that future records specify full scientific plant names, verify them against the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, and document the date, location, altitude, abundance, larval stage and methods used to identify larvae and plants. The checklist is therefore a provisional research resource that consolidates current evidence while making its unresolved records and gaps explicit.

Subject of Research: Literature review of European butterfly larval foodplants

Article Title: A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants

Article References: Clarke, H. E. (2022). A provisional checklist of European butterfly larval foodplants. Nota Lepidopterologica, 45, 139-167. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.45.72017

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DOI: 10.3897/nl.45.72017

Keywords: butterflies, larval foodplants, European fauna, host plants, taxonomy, conservation, biodiversity, plant nomenclature, literature review, provisional, checklist, European

The review covers five families represented in Switzerland: Georissidae, Helophoridae, Hydrochidae, Hydrophilidae and Spercheidae. Epimetopidae is the only Hydrophiloidea family absent from the country. Worldwide, the superfamily includes more than 3,300 species, most belonging to Hydrophilidae, and its members are chiefly associated with freshwater, although the families and species span aquatic, shoreline, soil and terrestrial habitats.

To compile the national inventory, the authors examined Hydrophiloidea material held in 22 Swiss museum collections. They also used material from three foreign institutions in Manchester, Bolzano and Stuttgart, records supplied by 14 named private collectors and the authors’ own collections, and relevant publications. The resulting dataset contains 30,434 occurrences. Specimen records are presented with locality, date, collector, identifier and deposition information where available, while published records retain the locality wording used in the original source.

The authors applied a documented procedure for deciding whether reported species should be included in the Swiss fauna. Records required sufficiently reliable evidence, such as unambiguous labels and traceable collections. For genera in which male genitalia provide the most reliable identification, including Laccobius and Chaetarthria, only dissected males were counted as verified records; records based solely on females were excluded as unverifiable. Doubtful records were flagged according to problems including unverifiable sources, incorrect identifications, uncertain localities, problematic collections and ecological or geographic inconsistencies.

The accepted fauna comprises 76 Hydrophilidae species, 21 Helophoridae, four Hydrochidae, three Georissidae and one Spercheidae species. The 16 taxa placed in square brackets should not yet be regarded as members of the Swiss fauna because their Swiss documentation is insufficient. These include species supported only by old literature without surviving specimens, records from problematic collections and historical entries that proved to concern other species. Several excluded taxa may nevertheless be found in Switzerland if better evidence emerges.

Seven species were reported for the first time in Switzerland: Cercyon alpinus, C. castaneipennis, C. tatricus, Helophorus montenegrinus, Megasternum immaculatum, Pachysternum capense and Paracymus scutellaris. The C. alpinus records came from old museum material found in Alpine localities, where the specimens had been overlooked or confused with other Cercyon species. C. tatricus, previously known from the Carpathian Mountains and the Eastern Palaearctic, was documented in the eastern Swiss Alps, mainly at 1,800–2,200 metres above sea level.

Records of H. montenegrinus came from Ticino, including material collected in 2018, 2021 and 2023; the species is mainly distributed in the Mediterranean region of Europe. P. capense, native to sub-Saharan Africa and now nearly cosmopolitan, was represented by three specimens collected in southern Ticino in 2015. These are the first Swiss records, while earlier records were reported from Greece, Italy, France, Hungary and Romania. P. scutellaris was documented from one specimen collected in mosses in Geneva in 1961. The checklist also resurrects M. immaculatum following its 2014 separation from M. concinnum, although the authors note that not all Swiss specimens were dissected and that taxonomic revision of the group is needed.

Some accepted species have exceptionally restricted documentation. Helophorus tuberculatus is represented by one specimen collected in a Jura peat bog in 1969 and lives in damp moss rather than directly in water. Laccobius thermarius is known globally from only two thermal localities, including its type locality in Baden, Aargau, where the springs now serve thermal baths; its continued presence in Switzerland is uncertain. Georissus substriatus has several collection records but had not been observed in Switzerland for 40 years. The authors also retained all Swiss records in the H. aequalis–H. aquaticus group under an aggregate because the two species are virtually inseparable without karyotype examination.

The checklist documents a fauna interacting with substantial wetland loss: the authors report that 80%–88% of Swiss wetlands were destroyed over the last century and that 90% of wetland habitat types are on the Swiss red list of habitat types. They state that aquatic beetles may have been heavily affected, while noting that several species appear to be declining and that some, including Hydrophilus aterrimus and L. thermarius, may already be extinct. These are presented as conservation concerns rather than demonstrated population outcomes, and no Swiss red list currently exists for Hydrophiloidea. The authors argue that a red list based on the compiled historical data, recent records and prospective observations is needed. Valid records have been made available through GBIF, and updated distribution maps are provided through the Info Fauna cartographic server.

Subject of Research: Annotated national review of Swiss Hydrophiloidea beetle diversity and distribution records

Article Title: Annotated checklist of the Hydrophiloidea of Switzerland ( Coleoptera )

Article References: Cosandey, V., Chittaro, Y., & Sanchez, A. (2023). Annotated checklist of the Hydrophiloidea of Switzerland (Coleoptera). Alpine Entomology, 7, 167-184. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.7.111147

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DOI: 10.3897/alpento.7.111147

Keywords: Hydrophiloidea, Swiss fauna, beetle checklist, biodiversity records, museum collections, taxonomic revision, aquatic insects, wetland conservation, GBIF, Annotated, checklist, Switzerland

At least 25 ant taxa had been reported from Kamchatka in publications extending back more than a century, but the historical lists disagreed about which species were present. The researchers reviewed 14 literature sources containing substantial information about ants in the region and divided records into two reliability categories. Twelve species were classified as reliable because they were supported by at least two independent sources, including sources published within the previous two decades. These species belonged to four genera: Camponotus, Formica, Leptothorax and Myrmica.

The other 13 reported species and the genus Lasius were classified as questionable. Their records came from either single or dated sources and were contradicted by more recent work. The study noted that disagreements in older lists could reflect incorrect collection information, taxonomic revisions or misidentifications, but the evidence did not establish which explanation applied to each disputed record.

Manual fieldwork in 2016 at eight localities found nine ant species from sea level to approximately 1,000 metres above sea level. The ants occurred in lowland meadows, stone birch forests, larch and birch forests and the dwarf-pine zone. No ants were observed in alpine tundra or plantless habitat above 1,200 metres. Larch and birch forests at intermediate elevations contained the largest number of species, whereas low-elevation stone birch forests contained only three observed species. Among the nine field-collected taxa, three had Holarctic, three trans-Palearctic and three East Palearctic distributions.

For the genetic component, the researchers generated mitochondrial COI barcodes for 47 specimens and combined them with 10 previously published sequences, producing a dataset of 57 sequenced specimens. High-quality barcodes distinguished all nine species with a clear barcode gap. Interspecific raw genetic distances ranged from 2.3% between Formica candida and F. gagatoides to 22.5% between Camponotus herculeanus and Leptothorax acervorum.

Genetic variation within most species was low. Six of the nine species had only one COI haplotype, while Formica lemani and Myrmica displicentia had two each. L. acervorum was the exception: its seven sequenced specimens each had a different haplotype, two haplogroups were detected, and within-species raw distances ranged from 0.15% to 2.13%. One specimen belonged to a haplogroup previously known only from North America. The authors presented a long-term refuge in Kamchatka and long-distance dispersal of the species’ small sexual castes as possible explanations, not established causes.

Comparisons with the Barcoding of Life Data System showed that every Kamchatka haplotype except one had not been recorded elsewhere in the database at the time of the analysis. The exception was the sole haplotype found in Formica lugubris, which also occurred in Finland. Closely related sequences were found for the three Holarctic species in North America, or in both Europe and North America, indicating a closer genetic association across Beringia than between western and eastern Palearctic populations for those taxa. By contrast, the East Asian Myrmica species M. displicentia and M. kamtschatica had their closest available matches in unidentified Myrmica specimens from the Russian Far East.

A separate morphometric analysis examined 110 Formica specimens to determine whether Kamchatka workers that resembled F. fusca or F. lemani represented one or both species. The analysis included 34 Kamchatka workers, 33 European F. lemani and 43 European F. fusca. A published discriminant placed the Kamchatka workers between the European reference groups: 68% produced negative values, as European F. fusca, and 32% produced positive values, as European F. lemani. These values were results of the composite discriminant and did not directly measure the presence or absence of pronotal setae.

The study classified the Kamchatka ants as F. lemani, with the qualification that a future treatment of the taxa as one species would give priority to the older name F. fusca. Specimens assigned to both morphologies occurred in the same nests, and no nest contained only workers with the F. lemani pattern. All but one sequenced colony shared the same COI haplotype, while the remaining sequence differed by one nucleotide, or 0.15%. All three available Kamchatka gynes had discriminant values and a shiny first tergite consistent with F. lemani; in F. fusca, that tergite is covered by dense pubescence and appears matt. Two of the gynes shared nests with workers assigned the F. fusca pattern. Previous work using nuclear microsatellites, mitochondrial COI and Cyt-b had also not separated the two taxa, leaving their taxonomic relationship unresolved.

The authors cautioned that the checklist of 12 reliable species is conservative because Kamchatka is large and most of it remains poorly explored. The study was also geographically and temporally limited: field sampling covered eight localities in one year, while the DNA analysis represented nine species and 57 specimens. Its clearest conclusions are therefore the separation of reliable from questionable records, documentation of nine species across the sampled habitats, the distinct barcodes among those nine taxa and the limited genetic diversity observed within most of them.

Subject of Research: Taxonomic, ecological and mitochondrial genetic assessment of ants in Kamchatka

Article Title: Ants of Kamchatka: checklist, DNA-barcoding and key ( Hymenoptera , Formicidae )

Article References: Schär, S. (2024). Ants of Kamchatka: checklist, DNA-barcoding and key (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Alpine Entomology, 8, 19-28. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.8.114185

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DOI: 10.3897/alpento.8.114185

Keywords: Kamchatka ants, species checklist, DNA barcoding, COI haplotypes, Formica taxonomy, Leptothorax acervorum, Myrmica, ant biogeography, field survey, Ants, Kamchatka, checklist

The researchers compiled 43,770 Swiss occurrence records. Of these, 72% were based on specimens deposited in museums, 8% came from the literature and 20% came from private collectors, volunteer observers, research institutes or ecology offices. The review examined material in Swiss natural history museum collections, consulted four museums outside Switzerland and incorporated records from private collections, institutional datasets and professional and amateur entomologists. Relevant Swiss literature was also assessed, and the authors followed the nomenclature and systematics of the Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera.

Targeted field surveys covered 361 km² and contributed 4,327 occurrences over five years. The researchers assessed whether records provided sufficiently reliable evidence of presence for inclusion on the national checklist, considering unambiguous labelling, reliable collections and other supporting information. They distinguished species that currently or formerly formed populations in Switzerland from 53 taxa placed in square brackets because the available evidence did not establish that they belonged to the Swiss fauna pending new data.

Within the 139-species list, Dytiscidae accounted for 113 species, Haliplidae for 16, Gyrinidae for seven, Noteridae for two and Hygrobiidae for one. The review removed seven taxa retained in earlier checklists: Deronectes opatrinus, Graptodytes flavipes, Gyrinus urinator, Hydaticus continentalis, Hygrotus parallelogrammus, Hyphydrus aubei and Stictonectes lepidus. The exclusions reflected evidence such as misidentifications, incomplete labels, unreliable collection histories or unverifiable literature records.

Records from problematic sources, including the Charles Maerky collection, were treated with particular caution. Other doubtful records involved incorrect identifications, uncertain localities, confusion over collection or original localities, potentially foreign place names and ecological or chorological inconsistencies. For some Haliplus species and highly similar Agabus species, reliable identification required examination of male genitalia; records based exclusively on female specimens were therefore excluded as unverifiable. Species supported by fewer than 30 valid observations were documented individually, including the examined material and published records used to justify inclusion.

Recent collection and field work also clarified the status of several taxa. A male Rhantus suturellus collected in a peat bog in the canton of Neuchâtel confirmed its presence in Switzerland, and the recently described Boreonectes alpestris was documented from Ticino. The researchers reported rediscoveries of Agabus brunneus, Haliplus mucronatus, Ilybius crassus, Hydaticus transversalis, Hydroporus figuratus, Hydroporus longicornis and Nebrioporus assimilis after intervals of at least 25 years without reported Swiss records. Dytiscus circumcinctus was found in 2022 and 2023 after more than 50 years without data. The surveys did not uncover a species new to Switzerland.

Updated occurrence maps showed the highest recorded species richness in lowland and thermophilous areas, although several localized species occurred at high elevations. Ilybius crassus was recorded from a small number of peat bogs in the Jura and northern Alps, while Ilybius erichsoni was associated with isolated alpine ponds at high elevations. Agabus congener and A. lapponicus occurred in overlapping Alpine regions but were not found together in the same ponds. These maps represent documented occurrences and the coverage of the compiled data, not a complete census of every aquatic habitat in Switzerland.

The authors also compared species-level occurrence patterns between 1964–1993 and 1994–2023. For species known from more than five localities during both periods, they compared the relative proportion of 5 × 5 km areas occupied in each period. The steepest reported reductions included Agabus paludosus at 62%, A. biguttatus at 60%, Hydroporus melanarius at 44% and H. nigellus at 42%. The comparison concerned the relative proportions of occupied grid areas rather than raw counts of areas, and it was limited to species meeting the stated locality threshold.

Sixteen of the 139 species had not been found during the five-year survey. Examples included Hydaticus grammicus, last recorded in Switzerland in 1942, and Dytiscus latissimus, last recorded in 1948. The authors described several such populations as probably extinct, while regarding other long-unsighted species as potentially present but requiring confirmation. They concluded that Swiss knowledge of Hydradephaga was sufficiently substantial to support a consolidated national list and revised distribution maps, and said that some assessments in Switzerland’s 1994 red list required revision. The principal limitation is that the checklist depends on historical collection access, recording practices and survey coverage; it does not directly estimate abundance throughout the country.

Subject of Research: Faunistic checklist of Swiss aquatic beetles in the group Hydradephaga

Article Title: An updated checklist of the Hydradephaga of Switzerland ( Coleoptera )

Article References: Cosandey, V., Chittaro, Y., & Sanchez, A. (2024). An updated checklist of the Hydradephaga of Switzerland (Coleoptera). Alpine Entomology, 8, 87-119. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.8.124813

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DOI: 10.3897/alpento.8.124813

Keywords: Swiss fauna, aquatic beetles, Hydradephaga, taxonomic checklist, biodiversity records, museum collections, distribution maps, species richness, faunistic review, Coleoptera, updated, checklist

Researchers rebuilt the inventory by examining relevant material in 18 museum collections in Switzerland and two major collections abroad: the Natural History Museum in London and the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart. They also incorporated specimens from the authors’ collections and nine named private collections, together with all available literature relevant to Switzerland and treatments of neighbouring regions in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Alsace and South Tyrol. A record was retained only when its data were considered sufficiently reliable, with unambiguous labels, credible collection history and appropriate diagnostic evidence.

Verified records were then compiled into distribution maps and made available through the CSCF cartographic server and GBIF. The analysis demonstrates that a national checklist is not simply a catalogue of names: it must also track changing taxonomy and the evidential quality of every occurrence. Ancistronycha violacea was renamed A. tigurina under the treatment adopted by Silfverberg, while Malthodes lucernensis, once described as a Swiss species, was synonymised with M. maurus after examination of abundant material.

Malthodes icaricus was elevated from subspecies of M. penninus to a separate species, M. transeuropaeus was synonymised with M. europaeus, and Malthodes trifurcatus atramentarius was subsumed under M. trifurcatus. The checklist also restored Silis ruficollis as the valid name for Crudosilis ruficollis and transferred Silis nitidula to the genus Autosilis. The newly accepted Swiss taxa are Cantharis fibulata, C. liburnica and C. paradoxa; Malthinus rubricollis and M. sordidus; Malthodes facetus, M. holdhausi, M. kahleni, M. stolzi, M. umbrosus and M. vincens; and Rhagonycha pedemontana.

More intensive surveying produced many of these additions, while others followed taxonomic splits that separated species previously treated as one, including the revalidation of Cantharis fibulata. Conversely, Malthodes montanus was removed after examination showed that the cited Swiss specimens were misidentified M. spathifer, M. cyphonurus or M. hexacanthus. M. boicus, which had been added after the 1979 checklist, was also deleted after its Swiss voucher specimens were found to be M. umbrosus.

Male terminalia proved decisive in many of the revisions. Reliable identification of numerous Malthodes, Malthinus and Rhagonycha species depends on anatomical features that cannot be assessed confidently from external appearance, so the authors counted only dissected males as verified records where females were not reliably identifiable. Systematic examination of the Cantharis quadripunctata and C. montana complex showed that the Swiss males previously assigned to the former belonged to C. montana, leaving a single anatomically confirmed Swiss specimen of C. quadripunctata, collected in far eastern Grisons in 2017.

Dissection also confirmed the presence of both C. pagana and C. fibulata in Switzerland, while numerous specimens recorded as Rhagonycha femoralis were reassigned to R. fuscitibia. Several exclusions arose from weak labels, problematic collection histories or geographical confusion. The Charles Maerky collection at Geneva contains insects from several sources, often without their original labels, and has long been treated as problematic.

A claimed Cantharis liburnica specimen from Mendrisio came from that collection and was not retained, although a second, undated specimen supported a new country record. The supposed Swiss locality for Autosilis nitidula was Macugnaga, which is in Italy near the border, while two other specimens bore only the imprecise label “Schweiz.” Malthodes bifurcatus was removed because its cited specimen could not be found and the remaining specimens from the same locality were identified as M. spretus. A vague 1856 literature citation was the only evidence for M. dimidiaticollis, so that species was also excluded.

Some confirmed records represent conspicuous extensions of known ranges. Malthodes stolzi had been considered a rare endemic of the Bergamasque Prealps in northern Italy, but a voucher collected at Bruzella in southern Ticino in 1980 extends its documented Swiss and Italian range by about 50 kilometres. M. kahleni, described from Tyrol and regarded as a possible relict species with a broad but sparse European distribution, is represented in Switzerland by one specimen from Hasle im Entlebuch in Lucerne, found in riparian woodland.

M. crassicornis is provisionally retained on the strength of a single specimen from Tannino near Chiasso, collected in 1930 and subsequently dissected to confirm its identity. The authors stress that further sampling is needed before the extent and status of these occurrences can be regarded as secure. Even with 26,208 occurrences compiled, the distribution picture remains uneven.

The authors regard the general foundation as solid by comparison with available knowledge for many other countries, but targeted collecting and anatomical examination remain necessary for difficult Malthodes, Malthinus and Rhagonycha species. Species known from adjacent regions may also be present but undiscovered in Switzerland, particularly in Ticino. Research cited by the checklist reported distinct mitochondrial lineages within species then treated as single taxa, including Cantharis terminata, C. tristis and Malthodes mysticus, indicating that additional cryptic diversity may remain concealed within named species.

The updated maps therefore provide a baseline for testing future records rather than a claim that every distributional gap represents true absence. The checklist also exposes major gaps in ecological knowledge. Adults of Cantharidae can be encountered by sweeping herbaceous vegetation, beating trees and shrubs or searching flowers, but Swiss larval ecology remains fragmentary for most species.

Malthinus and some Malthodes larvae are predators in rotting wood, whereas larvae of other cantharid genera are reported as predators in soil and leaf litter; the source does not establish species-specific larval ecology for most Swiss taxa. Several included beetles are rare at European scale or have restricted ranges, among them Malthodes kahleni, M. bertolinii, M. vincens and M. stolzi. Yet apparent scarcity may reflect short adult periods, small body size and difficult identification rather than genuine rarity, while conversely an undetected decline could occur because little is known about habitat requirements.

The final list consequently identifies both the present evidence for Swiss occurrence and the sampling, taxonomic and ecological work still required.

Subject of Research: Taxonomy, occurrence and distribution of Swiss Cantharidae and Lycidae

Article Title: An updated checklist of the Cantharidae and Lycidae of Switzerland ( Coleoptera , Elateroidea )

Article References: Chittaro, Y., Sanchez, A., & Geiser, M. (2021). An updated checklist of the Cantharidae and Lycidae of Switzerland (Coleoptera, Elateroidea). Alpine Entomology, 5, 77-94. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.5.67808

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/alpento.5.67808

Keywords: Cantharidae, Lycidae, Swiss fauna, beetle checklist, taxonomic revision, museum collections, species distribution, male genitalia, biodiversity monitoring, coleopterology, updated, checklist

The family Pottiaceae is notoriously difficult taxonomically. Many of its members are small, morphologically reduced plants whose features have been shaped by convergent evolution in response to stressful environments, which can blur the boundaries between species. Molecular studies have further complicated matters by revealing that some traditionally recognized subfamilial and generic relationships within the family require cautious interpretation. Yet the ecological importance of these mosses is hard to overstate. Most Pottiaceae species are desiccation-tolerant, capable of recovering rapidly after rehydration, and they thrive in soil crusts, rock surfaces, gravel slopes, and disturbed open substrates. These traits make them especially relevant in Mongolia, where aridity, strong solar radiation, wind abrasion, and episodic water availability act as powerful ecological filters on the flora.

Bryological exploration on the Mongolian Plateau began in the mid-nineteenth century, when foreign missionaries and experts collected plants that included only scattered moss specimens. Systematic study of Mongolian bryophytes did not begin until the 1970s, when Abramova and Tsegmed surveyed major mountain systems such as the Khangai, Khentii, and Mongolian Altai between 1976 and 1994, publishing foundational accounts. Tsegmed provided the first national checklist in 2001, listing 27 genera and 79 species of Pottiaceae. A multinational expedition to the Gobi Altai in 2004 documented 44 species in 17 genera, and the most comprehensive national treatment, the Moss Flora of Mongolia published in 2010, recognized 24 genera and 81 taxa. Subsequent collecting has steadily added new records, underscoring that the national list remains dynamic and in need of periodic, voucher-based updating under current taxonomic concepts.

To build the revised checklist, the researchers analyzed specimens from the Herbarium of Inner Mongolia University, the Herbarium of the Botanic Garden and Research Institute, and the Herbarium of the Missouri Botanical Garden, alongside published literature. Records were included only if they offered reliable taxonomic evidence, such as a voucher specimen or published identification, and specified locality information to at least the province level. Administrative names were standardized using a controlled vocabulary, spelling variants and diacritics were corrected, and duplicate entries representing the same taxon in the same sum were merged so that each accepted taxon contributed at most one sum-level occurrence per administrative unit. To avoid artificially inflating species counts, the team used a species-unit approach in which a province or sum with records of only one variety of a species was treated as harboring the parent species for richness calculations, while the infraspecific name was retained in the checklist for taxonomic detail.

The resulting picture of taxonomic diversity is strongly long-tailed, with a few large genera dominating the flora. Didymodon is by far the most species-rich genus, with 27 species and two varieties, representing 29.3 percent of all taxa. Syntrichia follows with 12 species and one variety, and Tortula with 11 species, while Bryoerythrophyllum contributes six species. The remaining 22 genera contain only one to five taxa each. The 26 genera are arranged into four subfamilies: Timmielloideae with a single genus, Trichostomoideae with five, and Barbuloideae and Pottioideae with ten each. The authors retained a morphology-based framework for generic circumscription, keeping Timmiella within Pottiaceae even though molecular phylogenies have proposed segregating it into a separate family, in order to maintain consistency with the principal floristic treatments used for specimen identification.

Geographically, the richest provinces are Khövsgöl with 53 species, Govi-Altai with 48, and Khovd with 45, followed by Bayankhongor and Töv with 40 and 36 species respectively. But the study also reveals a striking pattern of documentary unevenness. Sampling intensity, measured as the number of verified occurrence records, varies enormously among provinces, and observed richness tracks collecting effort remarkably closely: the correlation between the two is exceptionally strong, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.961. Provinces such as Darkhan-Uul and Dundgovi are represented by very few verified records, and Orkhon and Govisumber have no verified sum-level records at all in the new database. At the sum level, the median richness is just 4.0 species, and 46 of the 160 sums contain only a single species. The richest sums are Renchinlkhümbe in Khövsgöl with 40 species, Bulgan in Khovd with 30, and Bogd in Bayankhongor, also with 30.

Occupancy patterns are strongly right-skewed at both provincial and sum levels. Nineteen species, or 20.4 percent of the flora, are found in only one province, and 23 species occur in just two or three. At the finer scale, 18 species are known from a single sum. Only a small subset of taxa is widespread, occurring in eight or more provinces. The most ubiquitous species are Bryoerythrophyllum recurvirostrum, recorded from 20 provinces and 83 sums, and Syntrichia ruralis, found in 18 provinces and 76 sums, both consistent with their broad ecological tolerance and frequent occurrence in open, disturbed, and drought-prone habitats. The authors caution that low occupancy in specimen-based datasets requires careful interpretation: a taxon recorded from a single province may be genuinely restricted, or it may simply reflect limited collection effort or the difficulty of detecting small, ephemeral, or morphologically variable plants.

The revision also reshuffles the national inventory itself. The update adds one genus, Pseudosymblepharis, and 20 taxa new to Mongolia, comprising 16 species and four varieties. Among the newly recorded species are Anoectangium aestivum, several Bryoerythrophyllum species including B. sollmanianum, Didymodon rivicola, Molendoa hornschuchiana, Oxystegus daldinianus, Pseudosymblepharis angustata, Stegonia pilifera, several Syntrichia taxa including S. calcicola and S. handelii, Timmiella crassinervis, Tortula capillaris, and two Weissia species. Each new record is anchored to examined specimens with full locality and collector details. Conversely, nine previously reported taxa were excluded from the Mongolian flora after critical reassessment, including Bryoerythrophyllum alpigenum, Pseudocrossidium revolutum, Syntrichia princeps, and Timmiella anomala, while three further names, among them Didymodon luridus, remain doubtful pending voucher confirmation.

Compared with the 2010 monograph, which recognized 24 genera and 81 taxa, the new checklist records 26 genera and 99 taxa, a substantial expansion driven by both new fieldwork and the reconciliation of synonyms and misapplied names with current taxonomic concepts. The authors emphasize that the database was assembled as a reproducible occurrence synthesis rather than a repeated collection-event dataset, so it is best used to identify survey gaps rather than for formal beta-diversity comparisons among provinces. They recommend that future work reconstruct collection-event data and apply species accumulation curves or other coverage-based approaches to determine how much additional sampling each province requires.

Beyond its administrative summaries, the checklist points to a broader environmental mosaic likely to underlie Pottiaceae diversity across Mongolia. Northern and central mountainous regions, especially around Khövsgöl and the Khangai range, combine elevational heterogeneity, contrasting slope exposures, rocky substrates, and locally buffered moisture, creating microsites for both xerophytic and montane taxa. The Gobi and drier steppe regions probably favor a different subset of species adapted to strong aridity and episodic water availability, with diversity structured by the fine-scale availability of exposed soil, gravel, rock crevices, and temporary moisture-retaining microsites. The western mountains, including the Mongolian Altai, compress multiple habitat types into small areas, potentially promoting local coexistence of cold-desert, steppe, and montane elements. The authors stress that these biogeographic interpretations should be treated as working hypotheses, since collecting intensity remains highly uneven, but the checklist now provides the standardized, voucher-anchored baseline needed to target future field surveys, integrative taxonomic revisions, biodiversity inventories, and conservation assessments across Mongolia and adjacent regions of Central Asia.

Subject of Research: Taxonomic revision and distribution of the moss family Pottiaceae in Mongolia

Article Title: A revised checklist of Pottiaceae ( Bryophyta ) in Mongolia

Article References: Enkhjargal, E., Feng, Q., Qi, Q., & Zhao, D. (2026). A revised checklist of Pottiaceae (Bryophyta) in Mongolia. PhytoKeys, 275, 191-208. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.275.197551

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.275.197551

Keywords: Pottiaceae, mosses, bryophytes, Mongolia, checklist, biodiversity, taxonomy, herbarium specimens, drylands, species occupancy, biogeography, PhytoKeys

The archipelago’s geography explains much of its biological distinctiveness. The islands sit atop two shallow carbonate platforms, the Turks Bank to the east and the Caicos Bank to the west, separated by the Turks Island Passage, a narrow but deep channel exceeding 2,000 meters that has never been bridged by land. During the last glacial period, roughly 8,000 to 25,000 years ago, both banks stood above sea level as large contiguous landmasses; rising seas since then have fragmented each bank into today’s island configuration. The total land area is only about 500 square kilometers, with a maximum elevation of roughly 50 meters, and the fauna is largely derived from Hispaniola, some 130 kilometers to the south, following ocean currents and hurricane tracks that likely facilitated over-water dispersal.

Among the most alarming findings is the status of the Turks Islands Skink, Spondylurus turksae, assessed as Critically Endangered and now likely restricted to a single population on Cotton Cay, a privately owned island of about 113 hectares. Field surveys between 2008 and 2024 located skinks nowhere else: searches on Grand Turk, Gibbs Cay, Long Cay, Salt Cay, and East Cay all failed, with the most recent survey in March 2024 finding nine individuals on Cotton Cay alone. Barbour noted as early as 1916 that skinks were rare on Grand Turk, suggesting a long decline tied to intensive human land use. The species is morphologically distinguishable from its Caicos Bank congener Spondylurus caicosae by lateral black stripes that continue to the hindlimbs, a higher lamellae count of 211 versus 196, and significant phylogenetic divergence despite their superficial similarity.

The Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana, Cyclura carinata, tells a parallel story of range collapse. The smallest of the nine recognized Cyclura species, with adult males reaching 400 millimeters snout-vent length and 1.2 to 2.8 kilograms, the iguana has been extirpated from 90 percent of its former range, including most major islands. The largest remaining populations, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 individuals, occur on Big and Little Ambergris Cay at the southeastern edge of the Caicos Bank. Conservation efforts spanning more than 30 years have included cat eradication on Long Cay in 1999, followed by successful reintroduction from Big Ambergris Cay, with juvenile recruitment now observed. Feral cats remain the primary threat, preferentially preying on juveniles and effectively preventing recruitment, while semi-feral goats and donkeys degrade habitat by eliminating ground cover and nesting substrate.

The checklist also delivers a taxonomic correction with nomenclatural weight. Six subspecies of the Turks and Caicos Curlytail, Leiocephalus psammodromus, had been described across the two banks, but molecular genetic analysis of 259 individuals from 13 islands revealed two reciprocally monophyletic lineages, one on each bank, that do not correspond to the morphologically defined subspecies. Acting as First Reviser under ICZN Article 24.2.2, the author gives precedence to L. p. apocrinus for Caicos Bank populations, placing L. p. cacodoxus, L. p. hyphantus, and L. p. mounax as new synonyms, while L. p. psammodromus retains priority for the Turks Bank by date of publication. The species itself, a medium-sized diurnal omnivore that curls its tail upward in social signaling, is assessed as Vulnerable and is considered extirpated from Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, and Cotton Cay.

Not all species are in decline. The Turks and Caicos Anole, Anolis scriptus scriptus, the most widely distributed native lizard in the territory, is assessed as Least Concern, thriving in xeric scrub, coppice, tropical dry forest, and urban gardens alike. The species became famous in evolutionary biology when Donihue and colleagues documented rapid, directional morphological selection following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017: post-hurricane survivors on Water Cay and Pine Cay had significantly larger toe pads than pre-hurricane individuals, a heritable trait rather than a plastic response. Two dwarf geckos, Sphaerodactylus caicosensis of the Caicos Bank and S. underwoodi of the Turks Bank, are likewise Least Concern, both small insectivores that tolerate disturbed habitats and human presence, frequently sheltering in building crevices and under surface rocks.

The boa Chilabothrus chrysogaster chrysogaster, endemic to the territory as a subspecies, has become one of the best-monitored reptiles in the Caribbean. Between 2007 and 2025, ongoing surveys marked over 2,500 boas on Big Ambergris Cay, yielding a population estimate of 9,935 plus or minus 740 individuals, a density of roughly 25 boas per hectare. A 20-month radiotelemetry study of 19 adult females showed mean home ranges of 1.83 hectares with substantial overlap. The species is mainly saurophagous, slowly searching rock crevices for sleeping lizards and stalking active prey such as the Caicos Croaking Gecko on rock walls, with large females capable of consuming juvenile rock iguanas up to 1.5 kilograms. Coloration is highly variable, with striped morphs comprising about 15 percent of the Big Ambergris population, and neonates are born orange before transitioning to gray within one to two years.

The Caicos Trope, Tropidophis greenwayi, a small nocturnal constrictor endemic to the Caicos Bank, is assessed as Vulnerable and faces a history of exploitation. The subspecies T. g. greenwayi is restricted to Big Ambergris Cay, where only the two type specimens collected in 1936 were known until an additional individual was found in March 2009; six individuals have been observed between 2010 and 2025. The more widespread T. g. lanthanus is relatively mesophilic, abundant inside the walls of old stone wells where Cuban Treefrogs breed. The species exhibits autohemorrhagy, self-induced bleeding from the mouth, eyes, or cloaca, as a defensive behavior, and was at one time collected for the international pet trade, with a former government official reportedly permitting dealers to remove thousands of individuals from North Caicos.

The pattern that emerges across species and islands is remarkably consistent: populations historically distributed across both banks have been extirpated from islands with long histories of human disturbance and now persist primarily on smaller, more remote cays. The primary driver is the introduction of feral cats and rats, which prey on native reptiles and prevent juvenile recruitment. Habitat loss from development and vehicle mortality represent additional threats, and at least twelve introduced reptilian species are now established or documented, including the tropical house gecko Hemidactylus mabouia, which may competitively displace the endemic Caicos Croaking Gecko, and the Brahminy Blindsnake, which could displace the native Caicos Blindsnake, a fossorial species restricted to the Caicos Bank.

The future of the native herpetofauna will depend on continued enforcement of wildlife protection laws, expansion of feral mammal eradication programs to additional islands with suitable habitat, improved biosecurity at ports of entry to prevent new introductions, and sustained research on species for which basic natural history data remain limited. For the Turks Islands Skink, the recommendations are specific and urgent: removal of rats and any remaining goats on Cotton Cay should be the top conservation priority, followed by establishing additional populations on predator-free islands. Long-term monitoring programs, now spanning over 18 years for the boa and over 30 years for the iguana, provide the baseline data necessary to detect trends and inform management, while growing public awareness through ecotourism and the designation of the rock iguana as a natural symbol of the territory offers a foundation for the conservation action plans these species now require.

Subject of Research: Evolutionary biology

Article Title: An annotated checklist and species accounts of the native terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Article References: Reynolds, R. G. (2026). An annotated checklist and species accounts of the native terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos Islands. ZooKeys, 1290, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1290.198843

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1290.198843

Keywords: Turks and Caicos Islands, reptiles, conservation, endemic species, ZooKeys, herpetology, Caribbean biodiversity, annotated, checklist, species, accounts, native

The research team conducted extensive fieldwork campaigns during the vegetation seasons of 2015 through 2017, sampling 218 plots across seven distinct regions of Georgia. These regions included the Kolkheti Lowland, the Javakheti Plateau, mountainous Adjara, the Kazbegi region, the Iori River Gorge, Upper Imereti, and the Shida Kartli Lowland and Alazani Valley. The study areas were selected using topographic maps from the Soviet period, which detailed mires and swamps, and were verified using RapidEye satellite multispectral imagery to determine location and morphology with five-meter accuracy. This rigorous selection process ensured that the sampled sites represented a diverse range of climatic conditions, from the maritime climate of the Black Sea coastal zone to the dry continental climate of inland lowlands and high plateaus.

The resulting checklist includes 270 plant species belonging to 80 families and 183 genera, offering a detailed snapshot of the region’s wetland flora. Angiosperms form the core of this floristic composition, accounting for 252 species, or 93.3% of the total. Bryophytes are represented by 10 species, Pteridophytes by 8, and Gymnosperms by just one. The most species-rich families are Cyperaceae with 39 species, followed by Poaceae with 29, Rosaceae with 19, Asteraceae with 17, and both Fabaceae and Juncaceae with 11 species each. Each species in the checklist is annotated with specific data, including life form, wetland indicator status, phytogeographical distribution, and the specific study regions where they were recorded. This level of detail allows researchers to assess the ecological roles and geographical ranges of these plants with greater precision.

Phytogeographically, the flora of Georgian wetlands is dominated by Palaearctic species, which make up 20.4% of the checklist. This is followed by Holarctic species at 17.1%, Euro-Mediterranean species at 11.5%, Cosmopolitan species at 11.5%, and Euro-Siberian species at 10.03%. The endemism rate in these wetlands is relatively low at 4.8%, with 13 endemic species identified, four of which are unique to Georgia and nine to the Caucasus region. In contrast, the proportion of invasive and naturalized plants is higher, at 8.5%, with 23 non-native species recorded. This disparity suggests that while wetland vegetation is often considered azonal with wide distributions, the presence of non-native species indicates significant ecological pressure and potential disruption to native communities.

The study also assessed the wetland indicator status of each species, a critical metric for monitoring habitat health. Obligate wetland plants, which almost always occur in wetlands, and facultative wetland plants, which usually occur in wetlands, together comprise 52.1% of the total species. Specifically, 92 species are classified as Obligate Wetland (OBL) and 48 as Facultative Wetland (FACW). Facultative plants, which are equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands, account for 25.3% of the species, while Facultative Upland plants, which usually occur in non-wetlands, make up 23.1%. The high proportion of OBL and FACW species, particularly from the families Cyperaceae and Juncaceae, confirms the strong wetland affinity of the flora, although the presence of upland species among the most frequent finds signals ongoing habitat fragmentation.

Frequency analysis revealed that half of the 270 species were found in only one or two sites, highlighting the localized nature of many wetland plants. The most frequent species included Alnus glutinosa subsp. barbata, found in 69 sites, and Molinia caerulea, found in 56 sites. Other common species were Juncus effusus, Carex vesicaria, and Phragmites australis. Notably, the presence of facultative upland species among the ten most frequent plants indicates that many wetlands are currently fragmented and invaded by species not characteristic of healthy wetland environments. This finding underscores the need for targeted conservation strategies to restore and protect these habitats from further degradation and biological invasion.

Statistical analysis using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was performed to understand how species composition varies along geographical gradients. The first axis of the analysis explained 63% of the variation in species distribution and was statistically significant, representing variation in altitude and longitude. Since altitude in Georgia is tightly correlated with mean annual temperature, and longitude serves as a proxy for precipitation, the results suggest that temperature is the primary climatic driver of wetland species composition. Precipitation appears to play a secondary role, as the defining feature of wetlands is waterlogging, which may depend less on total precipitation and more on local hydrology. This insight is crucial for predicting how wetland flora might respond to future climate change scenarios.

The study also documented a significant new finding: the first record of Drosera rotundifolia in the Samegrelo region. This species was found in a unique plant community in the village of Namikolaevo, alongside Rhynchospora alba. This location is not mentioned in the Flora of Georgia or other reviewed literature, making it a novel discovery for the region. However, the habitat is in a poor state due to grazing by domestic animals and fragmentation, posing a serious risk to the survival of this unique community. The discovery highlights both the potential for new scientific findings in well-studied regions and the immediate threats facing fragile wetland ecosystems that require urgent protective measures.

Human impact was assessed for all sampled plots, with 89 sites classified as having high anthropogenic impact, 82 as intermediate, and 46 as low. This high level of human influence is a major concern for the long-term viability of Georgia’s wetlands. The combination of high non-native species rates, the presence of upland species in frequent wetland flora, and significant human pressure indicates that the current status of these ecosystems is challenging. Nevertheless, the remaining undamaged wetlands possess highly diverse vegetation, distinctive relics, and picturesque landscapes that could support organized recreational and touristic activities, provided they are managed sustainably. This checklist serves as a vital baseline for monitoring these changes and guiding conservation policies in the South Caucasus.

Subject of Research: The annotated checklist of plant species that occur in the wetland habitats of Georgia (the Caucasus)

Article Title: The annotated checklist of plant species that occur in the wetland habitats of Georgia (the Caucasus)

Article References: Tedoradze, G., Akobia, I., Janiashvili, Z., Jugeli, T., Lachashvili, N., Megvinetukhutsesi, N., Metreveli, V., Mikeladze, G., & Kikvidze, Z. (2023). The annotated checklist of plant species that occur in the wetland habitats of Georgia (the Caucasus). Caucasiana, 2, 97-107. https://doi.org/10.3897/caucasiana.2.e101677

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/caucasiana.2.e101677

Keywords: annotated, checklist, plant, species, occur, wetland, habitats, Georgia, Caucasus, scientific research

Cusuco National Park, situated within the Merendon mountain range, is designated as one of the 137 most irreplaceable protected areas in the world. Despite its high conservation status, the park faces severe threats from deforestation and land conversion for subsistence agriculture. The study focused on an elevational range primarily between 1170 and 2030 meters above sea level, where the forest transitions from broadleaf evergreen trees to upper montane rainforest characterized by dense mosses, ferns, and bromeliads. This vertical gradient creates distinct microhabitats that support a rich diversity of ant species, many of which are specialized to specific elevational zones and are vulnerable to climate change and habitat loss.

The research team pooled data from two distinct projects: the Leaf Litter Arthropods of MesoAmerica (LLAMA) project and the Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation (BINCO) MyrmEcoDex workgroup. LLAMA, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, conducted standardized transect-based sampling in 2010, focusing on leaf litter-dwelling arthropods. In contrast, the MyrmEcoDex group participated in volunteer-funded expeditions from 2018 to 2019, employing a broader range of techniques including pitfall trapping and hand collection across a wider elevational spectrum. By integrating these datasets, the researchers were able to capture a more complete picture of the ant fauna, revealing that different sampling methods target different subsets of the community.

The study reported a total of 162 ant species belonging to nine subfamilies and 60 genera. The subfamily Myrmicinae was the most diverse, accounting for 54% of the recorded species, followed by Ponerinae and Dorylinae. Among the notable findings, five species were recorded for the first time in Honduras, including Pheidole natalie and Pseudomyrmex pallens. Additionally, the researchers documented the first collection of male individuals of Pheidole balatro, a species previously known only from workers. These males were found in a nest residing inside a bromeliad plant at 1613 meters elevation, providing valuable morphological data for future taxonomic comparisons.

Biogeographical analysis revealed that seven ant species in the park are regionally restricted to Honduras, with four of these being endemic to Cusuco National Park itself. These include Octostruma leptoceps, Stenamma cusuco, Stenamma atribellum, and Temnothorax altinodus. The presence of such restricted species underscores the park’s importance as a conservation priority. Conversely, the study identified two exotic species, Monomorium pharaonis and Solenopsis invicta, both of which are globally invasive. However, these were found primarily in the buffer zone or at the edges of the core zone, suggesting that the interior of the park remains largely unaffected by these invasive ants, at least for now.

Species accumulation curves and sample coverage analyses indicated that the current inventory likely underestimates the true ant diversity in the park. The asymptotic estimate suggests that the actual species richness could be as high as 257 species, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 204 to 365. Leaf litter extraction proved to be the most efficient method for capturing species richness, accounting for 56% of the total species recorded, while hand collection and pitfall trapping also contributed significantly. The high community sample coverage for leaf litter extraction and baiting suggests that these methods are effectively capturing the common species, whereas Malaise trapping and vegetation beating still have the potential to reveal many more species, particularly those in the arboreal canopy.

The study also highlights significant knowledge gaps in the sampling effort. While the middle elevations were sampled most intensely, the higher mountain peaks and lower buffer zones remain undersampled. The researchers recommend expanding methodological approaches to include more canopy and subterranean sampling, as well as increasing the number of samples at higher altitudes where specialist species are likely to reside. Standardized sampling frameworks across the full elevational gradient would allow for a better understanding of species ecology and the impact of anthropogenic habitat changes on ant communities.

In addition to the species checklist, the authors provided a dichotomous identification key for all ant genera in Honduras. This tool is designed to aid future taxonomic efforts and make the Honduran ant fauna more accessible to researchers. The key was constructed by combining multiple existing works and identification resources, ensuring that it reflects the current state of taxonomic knowledge. By providing this resource, the study aims to stimulate further research in Honduras, a country that has been severely impacted by deforestation within protected areas.

The findings from this study demonstrate that Cusuco National Park harbors a surprisingly rich diversity of ant species, despite its relatively small area. This richness is consistent with patterns observed in other taxa within the park, reinforcing its status as a biodiversity hotspot. The information provided serves as a crucial baseline for future conservation efforts and research in Honduran cloud forests. As these ecosystems face increasing pressure from climate change and human activity, understanding the baseline biodiversity is essential for developing effective management strategies and protecting the unique species that depend on these habitats.

Ultimately, this work underscores the urgent need for continued field surveys in poorly explored yet highly threatened ecosystems. The discovery of new species and the documentation of endemic taxa highlight the potential for further biological discoveries in the region. By establishing a robust baseline for ant diversity in Cusuco National Park, the researchers have laid the groundwork for long-term monitoring and conservation planning. The study serves as a model for how integrating data from multiple projects and employing diverse sampling techniques can reveal the hidden complexity of tropical montane ecosystems, offering valuable insights for global biodiversity conservation efforts.

Subject of Research: Ants in the clouds: A preliminary checklist of the ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) fauna of a Honduran cloud forest ecosystem, featuring a key to country genera

Article Title: Ants in the clouds: A preliminary checklist of the ant ( Hymenoptera , Formicidae ) fauna of a Honduran cloud forest ecosystem, featuring a key to country genera

Article References: De Wint, F. C., Oorts, D., Branstetter, M. G., De Graaf, D., Dekoninck, W., Jocque, M., Martin, T. E., Sudworth, J., Van Osselaer, R., & Hamer, M. T. (2024). Ants in the clouds: A preliminary checklist of the ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) fauna of a Honduran cloud forest ecosystem, featuring a key to country genera. Neotropical Biology and Conservation, 19(2), 157-185. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.19.e119775

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/neotropical.19.e119775

Keywords: Ants, clouds, preliminary, checklist, Hymenoptera, Formicidae, fauna, Honduran, cloud, forest, ecosystem, featuring