Acicularia? weisswasserensis n. sp. and Terquemella? microsphaera n. sp., two new Dasycladales from the Upper Cretaceous (Late Turonian-Santonian) of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Gosau Group, Austria)

Two new dasycladalean algae are described from the Gosau Group of the Northern Calcareous Alps in Austria. The tiny spicules of Acicularia? weisswasserensis n. sp. were found in foraminiferal wacke- to packstones associated with rudist limestones of the Weisswasser locality (Middle Coniacian), Lower Austria. The small globulous Terquemella? microsphaera n. sp. occurs in marls to marly limestones of the Pletzachalm locality (Upper Turonian), Tyrol, and Russbach locality (Upper Santonian), Lower Austria. The Terquemella-Acicularia group requires taxonomic revision; the two forms described herein, however, are clearly distinct from other species, and belong to the smallest representatives of these genera. In addition, Acicularia? aff. magnapora Kuss and morphologically similar forms interpreted as gametophores of unknown larger dasycladales are described.     

A new species of Zygina from Papua New Guinea,and records of some leafhopper and planthopper species (Homoptera: Cicadelloidea and Delphacidae)

Abstract

Zygina medioborealis n.sp. is described from silver beet and carrots from Papua New Guinea. Indications are that this species, along with its close allies from Australia, New Zealand, and Norfolk Island, forms an incipient genus radically different from Palearctic and Nearctic Zygina Fieber. A few species of leafhopper and planthopper are listed, with their hosts; Cofana nigrilinea (Stål) is a new record for this locality.     

The habitat range of Dicranum leioneuron Kindb.

Abstract

The hepatic Nardia insecta Lindb. is reported from a streamside locality in the Kielder district of South Northumberland, new to Britain. It was first collected in 1964 when herbarium specimens were initially referred to N. geoscyphus. Plants of N. insecta were refound in 1993 at the same locality where it has persisted while conifer plantations have developed in the surrounding catchment. N. insecta from Northumberland is described and illustrated, and a chromosome count of n = 18 is reported. It is compared with N. geoscyphus which has been found to be represented in the British Isles by two forms that differ in morphology and geographical distribution.     

Hippotraginae (Bovidae,Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Tuva

Fossil remains of Late Miocene (Baode, NMU10-NMU11) horse antelopes from Tuva (Russia) are described, including Tragoreas sp., Protoryx tuvaensis sp. nov. from the Taralyk Cher locality and Quirliqnoria sp. from the Kholu locality. A new species, Protoryx tuvaensis Dmitrieva et Serdyuk, is described. These taxa compose a Late Miocene antelope assemblage of a new eastern geographical point (Russia, Tuva, Baode, NMU10-MN11).     

New click beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) from the cretaceous of Russia and Kazakhstan

A new tribe, two new genera, and seven new species of click beetles are described: Pollostelaterini, trib. nov., Pollostelater baissensis, gen. et sp. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous of Transbaikalia (Baisa locality), five new species in the genus Cryptocoelus Dolin et Nel C. sinitshenkovae, sp. nov. (Romanovka locality), C. shcherbakovi, sp. nov., C. baissensis, sp. nov., C. lukashevichae, sp. nov., C. dolini, sp. nov. (all from Baisa locality), and Turonelater giganteus, gen. et sp. nov. from the Turonian of Southern Kazakhstan (Kzyl-Dzhar locality).     

Some American Austrolimnius (Coleoptera: Elmidae)

A key is given to the North American species of Austrolimnius, one of which is described as new. A new species from Venezuela is described, and new locality records in North and South America are listed for previously described species.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ardea sytchevskayae</Emphasis> sp. nov., a new heron species (Aves: Ardeidae) from the Middle Miocene of Mongolia

A new heron species, Ardea sytchevskayae sp. nov., from the Middle Miocene Sharga locality is described. The new species is represented by an almost complete coracoid and a few partial coracoids, partial scapula, and caprometacarpus. A. sytchevskayae was a relatively large heron, of the same size as A. alba, and intermediate in morphology between A. alba and other species traditionally included in this genus. In addition, the Sharga locality has yielded a large bittern and a medium-sized heron of uncertain taxonomic position.     

The first record of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chleuastochoerus</Emphasis> (Suidae,Artiodactyla) in Russia

A new species, Chleuastochoerus tuvensis, from the Late Miocene Taralyk-Cher locality in Tuva is described. Phylogenetic relationships and lifestyle of Chleuastochoerus, a unique member of the family Suidae, are discussed.     

Studies in African Cyperaceae 35. Kyllinga carinalaevis sp. nov. from west tropical Africa

A minute new species of Kyllinga, i.e. K. carinalaevis Lye & Mesterházy, from Benin in west tropical Africa is described. It is one of three or four annual species of the genus, and the characters separating it from two other annual species are given. The species is ephemeral and occurs in a vegetation type which belongs to a Nanocyperion association. The species is probably critically endangered as it was found in a single locality out of the numerous sites that have been investigated in Benin in recent years.     

Notes on the systematics and distribution of Palaearctic blues (Lepidoptera,Lycaenidae)

Two new species and one new subspecies of blues are described from Central Asia, namely Polyommatus kuronjerus Korb, sp. n. (type locality: Kyrgyzstan, the Suusamyr valley, 7 km E of Suusamyr, 2800 m), Neolycaena turkomana Korb, sp. n. (type locality: Turkmenia, Badkhyz Nature Reserve, the Kyzyldzhar valley) and Satyrium acaudatum balasagyna Korb, ssp. n. (type locality: Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrghyz Mts., Tatyr, Golubinyi Waterfall, 1200 m). A new location for Plebejidea elvira (Eversmann, 1854) is determined for the Boomskoye valley in the Kyrghyz Mts. This new location is related to the late Pleistocene refuge in the Issyk-Kul valley.     

Saxifraga rivularis L. on Beinn Eighe

Summary

A new locality for Saxifraga rivularis is described from Beinn Eighe, Wester Ross. Species lists from the site and from two nearby sites are compared in relation to soil analyses.     

New scorpionflies (Insecta: Mecoptera: Permochoristidae) from the Ufimian of Cisuralia

Two new species of Protopanorpa Carpenter (Mecoptera: Permochoristidae), P. longicubitalis sp. nov. and P. similis sp. nov. from the Ufimian Solikamsk Horizon of the Perm Region (Tyulkino locality) are described. Scorpionflies of Tyulkino are compared with scorpionflies of the Kungurian Chekarda locality (Perm Region) and the Early Kazanian Soyana locality (Arkhangelsk Region).     

Pichia spartinae sp. n. from Louisiana marshland habitats

A new species ofPichia has been described.Pichia spartinae was one of the predominant yeasts isolated from the rhizosphere and tissue of oyster grass,Spartina alterniflora, in the Louisiana marshland. The species occurs in the environment in both the homo- and heterothallic state. This is the first species ofPichia in high densities in an estuarine locality.We wish to express our gratitude to Mr. J. C. Raadschelders for correcting the latin diagnosis.     

Madagascar: an unexpected hotspot of social Anelosimus spider diversity (Araneae: Theridiidae)

Abstract. The spider genus Anelosimus Simon, 1891 (Theridiidae) currently contains over forty described species, found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate areas. American Anelosimus are all social, a rare trait among spiders, but social behaviour has not been reported for Anelosimus species elsewhere. Old World Anelosimus are poorly known, both behaviourally and taxonomically, and no Anelosimus species have yet been described from sub-Saharan Africa or Madagascar. Based on a preliminary phylogenetic analysis we predicted sociality in an undescribed Madagascar species because it grouped among social New World species. An expedition to Madagascar then found no less than five undescribed periodic-social (subsocial) Anelosimus species in Périnet reserve. A sixth species from the same locality is known from museum specimens and the Anelosimus diversity of Périnet is comparable with the most diverse single locality in the Americas. Subsocial species play a key role in understanding the evolution of permanent sociality (quasisociality). This increased pool of available subsocial study species demonstrates the utility of phylogenies as predictors of traits in species thus far unstudied. Here, A. andasibe sp.n. , A. may Agnarsson sp.n. , A. nazariani sp.n. , A. sallee sp.n. , A. salut sp.n. and A. vondrona sp.n. are described. Anelosimus locketi Roberts, 1977 from Aldabra Atoll is a junior synonym of A. decaryi ( Fage, 1930 ) comb.n. from Madagascar. Preliminary data on the behaviour of the new species are given, indicating a level of sociality similar to the American A.‘arizona’¹. The phylogenetic analysis supports the monophyly of the Madagascar group and places it as sister to a clade containing the eximius lineage from the Americas, and a pair of undescribed Tanzanian species.     

Alsodes Australis,A New Species of Leptodactylid Frog from the Temperate Nothofagus Forest of Southern Chile and Argentina

A new species of frog, Alsodes australis, is described from the temperate Nothofagus forest of southern Chile and Argentina, based on adults and tadpoles. Up to now, no sympatric occurrence of another congeneric species is known from the type locality. The genus comprises three species groups. From a karyological point of view this species is included in the monticola group, whose species have 26 chromosomes.     

STROTHERIA (COMPOSITAE-TAGETEAE) A NEW MONOTYPIC GENUS FROM NORTH-CENTRAL MEXICO

A new genus Strotheria, containing the single species S. gypsophila, has been described from a locality in north-central Mexico. It is relatively common on gypsum soils at this site, along with several other gypseous endemics. The genus is presumably related to Dyssodia but differs in having succulent, non-glandular foliage and only four florets per head. Its chromosome number was determined as n = 8.     

A new lacewing (Insecta: Neuroptera: Grammolingiidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Mongolia

A new lacewing species, Leptolingia shartegica sp. nov., (Grammolingiidae), from the Upper Jurassic of the Mongolian Shar-Teg locality is described.     

STUDIES IN THE QUERCUS UNDULATA COMPLEX. V. THE TYPE OF QUERCUS UNDULATA

The original material of Quercus undulata Torr. was collected by Edwin James on Major Long's expedition to the Rockies in 1820. The type locality was stated by Torrey as “sources of the Canadian and the Rocky Mountains.” Evidence is here adduced that the type locality is on Ute Creek, a tributary of the Canadian River, in northeastern New Mexico. The site was found to harbor Q, gambelii, Q. grisea, and numerous intermediate hybrid forms. Certain of the latter match the type of Q. undulata quite closely. The type sheet includes three elements—a branchlet regarded as the type, a twig of Q. grisea, and an isolated acorn of Q. havardii. Torrey's new species was illustrated by a figure which does not closely resemble the type, but which is more similar to Q. havardii. The acorn of Q. havardii on the type sheet must have been collected in the Texas Panhandle or western Oklahoma, where Long's party would have encountered this species. In my opinion, Torrey's figure could have been drawn from a specimen collected there, which, except for the isolated acorn, has since been lost.     

The first described Arsinoitherium from the upper Eocene Aydim Formation of Oman: Biogeographic implications

A new fossiliferous locality is discovered from the upper Eocene Aydim Formation, in Dhofar, Southern Sultanate of Oman. A left ulna of Arsinoitherium is described, and cranial and postcranial specimens found in close proximity are referred to the same taxon. The locality is promising for the recovery of additional fossil specimens. Moreover, the presence of Arsinoitherium in Oman is of biogeographic significance; as the Red Sea did not exist during the late Eocene, these large-bodied animals were able to freely travel between what is now the Arabian Peninsula and continental Africa.