Notes on the little known moss Fissidens firmus Mitt. (Fissidentaceae)

Abstract

Fissidens firmus is revised, described, illustrated and a distribution is provided. It is compared to Fissidens hollianus, Fissidens pseudofirmus, Fissidens sedgwickii and Fissidens touwii. It is provisionally distinguished from F. firmus sensu auct. Fissidens multiflorus is reduced to F. hollianus. Lectotypes are designated for Fissidens multiflorus and Fissidens giesenhagenii. The collection that was reported from India as F. firmus appears to be F. hollianus. Thus, the present Western Ghats collection is effectively the first Indian record of F. firmus.     

Notes on Fissidens VII–IX

Abstract

Note VII: Fissidens ah-pengae and F. aristifer spp. nov. are described and figured. The first is known from La Réunion, the second from Madagascar and La Réunion. Both belong to subgenus Aloma.

Note VIII: Fifteen new synonyms are proposed: Fissidens bryoides Hedw. var. glaucus Brid. is subsumed under F. crassipes Wilson ex Bruch & Schimp., F. comorensis Müll.Hal. under F. crispulus Brid., F. sigmocarpoides P.de la Varde under Fissidens erosulus (Müll.Hal.) Paris, F. atroviridis Besch., and F. luridus Renauld & Cardot under F. flaccidus Mitt., Moenkemeyera rarotongae Dixon and Fissidens jonesii Bizot ex Pócs under F. lagenarius Mitt. var. lagenarius, F. onraedtii Bizot nom. nud. under F. madecassus Schimp. ex Müll.Hal., F. bryum var. terrestris P.de la Varde under F. metzgeria (Müll.Hal.) Broth., F. edamensis M. Fleisch. under F. pallidinervis Mitt., F. brunnthaleri var. filipes Dixon & P.de la Varde under F. ramulosus Mitt., F. desertorum (Müll.Hal.) Paris and F. bambariensis Broth. & P.de la Varde under F. reflexus Hampe, F. usambaricus var. acutifolius P.de la Varde under F. usambaricus Broth. and F. glauculus var. circinicaulis (Cardot) P.de la Varde under F. weirii Mitt. Fissidens gedehensis M. Fleisch. is re-instated as a good species.

Note IX: Fifty-five new country and state records including F. anguste-limbatus Mitt. new to Africa. Fissidens pocsii Bizot & Dury ex Pócs is the first record of an epiphyllous species of this genus. The African distributions of F. flaccidus and F. pallidinervis are amended.     

Lectotypification of Bryum moravicum Podp. (Bryopsida: Bryaceae)

Abstract

The occurrence of subspecies pallidicaulis of Fissidens taxifolius in West Scotland and South-West Ireland is reported.     

Fissidens saülensis (Fissidentaceae), a new species from central French Guiana

Fissidens saülensis Pursell & Buck is described from central French Guiana. It is most closely related toF. subulatus Mitt. but differs in the broader leaves, smaller laminal cells, and larger stature.     

A comparison of the species of Fissidens subgenus Aneuron in Australia

Abstract

An illustrated comparison is made of the three species, Fissidens nymanii, F. splachnoides and F. dealbatus in the subgenus Aneuron in Australia.     

Plagiochila atlantica F. Rose,sp. nov.—P. amhagiosa auct.

Abstract

The Irish plant which, following Mitten, has commonly been referred to as Plagiochila ambagiosa Mitt. is specifically different from the type of P. ambagiosa, and is therefore described as Plagiochila atlantica F. Rose, sp. nov. It is now known from very restricted areas in Western Ireland, Western Scotland and North-western France.     

Potential impact of the native hyperparasitoid Conura albifrons (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) on the exotic biological control agent Diadromus pulchellus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

The solitary pupal parasitoid Diadromus pulchellus was released in 2010 as a classical biological control agent against leek moth, Acrolepiopsis assectella, an important new pest of onion crops, Allium spp. in Eastern North America. Post-release monitoring using sentinel leek moth pupae revealed that the facultative hyperparasitoid Conura albifrons was attacking leek moth and potentially D. pulchellus as well. We used laboratory choice and no-choice tests to assess the potential impact of C. albifrons on leek moth and D. pulchellus. C. albifrons is capable of developing in newly formed leek moth pupae and leek moth pupae containing first instar D. pulchellus, as well as in fully developed D. pulchellus pupae. Survivorship of both leek moth and D. pulchellus exposed to C. albifrons was significantly lower than that of unexposed controls. In choice trials, prior host experience significantly influenced host choice by C. albifrons. These results suggest that C. albifrons could impact the establishment of D. pulchellus through both competition and intraguild predation, and that the impact has the potential to change as the relative frequency of the two hosts shifts in field populations.     

Cheilolejeunea cedercreutzii (H.Buch & Perss.) Grolle on Madeira Island

Abstract

Fissidens henryae sp. nov. which appears to be closely related to Moenkemeyera australiensis Dix., is fully described and illustrated.     

Recent Bryological Literature, 62

Abstract

Fissidens gymnogynus Besch., F. mangarevensis Mont. and F. obscurirete Broth. et Par. are reported new to the Philippine moss flora. Their discoveries greatly strengthen the continental Asiatic affinity of the local moss flora.     

A contribution to the moss flora of the Cape Provinces (South Africa)

Abstract

Several first records of mosses are reported for continental sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Africa or the Cape Provinces as well as the occurrence of subterranean tuberous stolons in Pleuridium ecklonii and rhizoidal tubers in four acrocarpous mosses, viz. Archidium globiferum, Ditrichum difficile, Fissidens beckettii and Pleuridium nervosum.     

浙江乌岩岭国家级自然保护区凤尾藓属物种多样性研究

报道了浙江省乌岩岭国家级自然保护区12种凤尾藓属(Fissidens)植物,其中内卷凤尾藓济州岛变种(F.involutus Wilson ex Mitt.var.jejuensis Y.-J.Yoon,B.C.Tan&B.-Y.Sun)为中国首次报道,该变种此前只分布在日本和韩国,其特征是背翅基部明显下延,鞘部细胞的...     

Resistance in cattle againstRhipicephalus appendiculatus with an assessment of cross-resistance toR. pulchellus (Acari: Ixodidae)

A comparison of the yield of engorged nymphs ofRhipicephalus appendiculatus andR. pulchellus was carried out between cattle highly resistant toR. appendiculatus but susceptible toR. pulchellus, and cattle and rabbits susceptible to both species.Resistant cattle yielded fewer and smallerR. appendiculatus nymphs than either susceptible cattle or rabbits. More nymphs of both tick species dropped from susceptible cattle but no differences were detected in the mean weight of engorgedR. pulchellus nymphs fed onR. appendiculatus-resistant and susceptible cattle, although resistant animals yielded more nymphs ofR. pulchellus than ofR. appendiculatus.An acute inflammatory reaction, accompanied by intense pruritus and grooming, was observed in the ears of the resistant cattle infested withR. appendiculatus, but no reaction was detected in the opposite ears whereR. pulchellus was feeding.The low cross-resistance between these two closely related tick species suggests that different antigens may be involved in the development of resistance in cattle to different tick species.     

Index

Abstract

Two new species of Fissidens from Queensland, Australia, both in subgenus Fissidens Section Semilimbidium, are described and illustrated. Fissidens oblatus I. G. Stone &; D. G. Catcheside is characterised by a mixture of bipapillose and unipapillose lamina cells, a broad limbidium and a wide zone of oblate cells in the vaginant laminae. Fissidens badyinbarus I. G. Stone has unipapillose lamina cells and although elimbate appears to be closely related to some of the semilimbate unipapillose species.     

Physcomitrium,eurystomum Sendtn. in Britain

Abstract

Key to the genera Marchesinia, Dicranolejeunea and Lopholejeunea. D. johnsoniana (Mitt.) comb.nov. from Macaronesia is figured and described in detail. The South African Marchesinia chrysophylla is transferred to Dicranolejeunea and is regarded as conspecific with D. atra (Mitt.) Vanden Berghen, syn.nov. from Central Africa.     

Spatial Distribution,Food and Activity of Gomphus pulchellus SELYS 1840 (Insecta; Odonata; Gomphidae) from a Still Water Habitat

Distribution patterns of Gomphus pulchellus larvae in different sediments with different density of prey organisms were studied in the field in a small gravel pit lake in the south of Germany. Larval burrowing behaviour at different temperatures as well as food preference, consumption rates and activity were studied in laboratory experiments. In the study lake G. pulchellus larvae lived exclusively in places where macrophytes were present and in fine sediments (mean grain size <3 mm) with detritus cover. There was a significant positive correlation between larval density and density of food organisms suggesting that abundance of food is one of the determinants of larval distribution. In late autumn larvae migrated to deeper places probably to survive the winter. Low temperatures simulated in laboratory experiments did not induce larvae to burrow deeper. Larvae were always found in a sediment depth of 0.59–0.74 cm. Experiments with mixed prey showed that G. pulchellus larvae preferred tubificid worms and chironomid larvae over gammarids and ephemerid larvae. However, chironomid larvae which stayed in their tubes had a higher survival rate than those outside of tubes. Single-prey experiments showed that G. pulchellus larvae can prey not only on benthic species but also on Daphnia from the open water. Functional-response experiments showed that one G. pulchellus larva consumes a maximum of 2 to 3 tubificid worms or chironomid larvae per day, which corresponds to a maximum biomass (freshweight) of 5 to 30 mg per day. Video recordings of activity showed that G. pulchellus larvae cover long distances of up to 52 m per night on the substrate surface and that activity on the substrate surface started after midnight and ceased before sunrise. Consumption of Zooplankton prey and high activity above the substrate is interpreted as an adaptation of G. pulchellus larvae to the life in still water habitats.     

chromosome studies on some British and Irish mosses. II

Abstract

Diphyscium mucronifolium Mitt., D. involutum Mitt. and D. malayense M. G. Manuel sp. nov. are reported from Malaya. The Malayan record of D. rupestre Dozy &; Molk. is shown to be incorrect.