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1. Female terminalia morphology and cladistic relations among Tok‐Tok beetles (Tenebrionidae: Sepidiini)

   https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12510  

   Kamiński, Marcin J. ; Gearner, Olivia M. ; Raś, Marcin ; Hunsinger, Elliot T. ; Smith, Amelia L. ; Mas‐Peinado, Paloma ; Girón, Jennifer C. ; Bilska, Aleksandra G. ; Strümpher, Werner P. ; Wirth, Christopher C. ; et al ( July 2022 , Cladistics)

   Tok‐tokkies are one of the most iconic lineages within Tenebrionidae. In addition to containing some of the largest darkling beetles, this tribe is recognized for its remarkable form of sexual communication known as substrate tapping. Nevertheless, the phylogenetic relationships within the group remain poorly understood. This study investigates the usefulness of female terminalia morphology for delimiting Sepidiini and reconstructing relationships among it. Data on the structure of the ovipositors, genital tubes and spicula ventrali have been generated for >200 species representing 28 Pimeliinae tribes. This dataset was used in a comparative analysis at the subfamilial level, which resulted in recognition of several unique features of tok‐tokkie terminalia. Additionally, new features linking phenotypically challenging tribes also were recovered (Cryptochilini + Idisiini + Pimeliini). Secondly, 23 characters linked to the structure of female terminalia were defined for tok‐tok beetles. Cladistic analysis demonstrates the nonmonophyletic nature of most of the recognized subtribes. The morphological dataset was analysed separately and in combination with available molecular data (CAD, Wg, cox1, cox2, 28S). All obtained topologies were largely congruent, supporting the following changes: Palpomodina Kamiński & Gearnersubtr.n.is erected to accommodate the generaNamibomodesandPalpomodes;ArgenticrinisandBombocnodulusare transferred from Hypomelina to Molurina; 153 species and subspecies previously classified withinPsammodesare distributed over three separate genera (MariazofiaKamińskinom.n.,Piesomerastat.r.,Psammodessens.n.).Psammodes sklodowskaeKamiński & Gearnersp.n.is described. Preliminary investigation of the ovipositor ofMariazofiabasuto(Koch)comb.n.was carried out with the application of microcomputed tomography, illuminating the muscular system as a reliable reference point for recognizing homologous elements in highly modified ovipositors.

    

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2. Pterobdella occidentalis n. sp. (Hirudinida: Piscicolidae) for P. abditovesiculata (Moore, 1952) from the Longjaw Mudsucker, Gillichthys mirabilis, and Staghorn Sculpin, Leptocottus armatus, and Other Fishes in the Eastern Pacific

   https://doi.org/10.1645/22-76  

   Goffredi, Shana K. ; Appy, Ralph G. ; Burreson, Eugene M. ; Sakihara, Troy S. ( April 2023 , Journal of Parasitology)

   Pterobdella occidentalis n. sp. (Hirudinida: Piscicolidae) is described from the longjaw mudsucker, Gillichthys mirabilis Cooper, 1864, and the staghorn sculpin, Leptocottus armatus Girard, 1854, in the eastern Pacific, and the diagnosis of Pterobdella abditovesiculata (Moore, 1952) from the ‘o‘opu ‘akupa, Eleotris sandwicensis Vaillant and Sauvage, 1875, from Hawaii is amended. The morphology of both species conforms with the genus Pterobdella in possessing a spacious coelom, well-developed nephridial system, and 2 pairs of mycetomes. Originally described as Aestabdella abditovesiculata, P. occidentalis (present along the U.S. Pacific Coast), can be distinguished from most congeners by its metameric pigmentation pattern and diffuse pigmentation on the caudal sucker. Based on mitochondrial gene sequences, including cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit I (ND1), P. occidentalis forms a distinct polyphyletic clade with Pterobdella leiostomi from the western Atlantic. Based on COI, ND1, and the 18S rRNA genes, other leech species most closely related to P. occidentalis include Pterobdella arugamensis from Iran, Malaysia, and possibly Borneo, which likely represent distinct species, and Pterobdella abditovesiculata from Hawaii, one of only a few endemic fish parasites in Hawaii. Like P. abditovesiculata, P. arugamensis, and Petrobdella amara, P. occidentalis is often found in estuarine environments, frequently infecting hosts adapted to a wide range of salinity, temperature, and oxygen. The physiological plasticity of P. occidentalis and the longjaw mudsucker host, and the ease of raising P. occidentalis in the lab, make it an excellent candidate for the study of leech physiology, behavior, and possible bacterial symbionts. 

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3. Schizaraeus fouquei sp. nov., the first record of Schizaraeus from Peru (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Stenosini)

   https://doi.org/10.37520/aemnp.2020.006  

   Giraldo-Mendoza, Alfredo E. ; Flores, Gustavo E. ( January 2020 , Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae)

   null (Ed.)

   A new species of Stenosini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Pimeliinae), Schizaraeus fouquei sp. nov. is described from southern Andes of Peru: Apurímac and Cusco regions. Prior to this study, Schizaraeus Kulzer, 1955 was monotypic with one species, S. acuticosta Kulzer, 1955 from Catamarca Province in Argentina. We present habitus photographs of both species, scanning electron micrographs of external morphology of the new species, a distribution map, and a comparison of the characters of both species of the genus. 

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4. Climate and the Global Famine of 1876–78

   https://doi.org/10.1075/JCLI-D-18-0159.1  

   Singh, D. ( September 2018 , Journal of climate)

   From 1875 to 1878, concurrent multiyear droughts in Asia, Brazil, and Africa, referred to as the Great Drought, caused widespread crop failures, catalyzing the so-called Global Famine, which had fatalities exceeding 50 million people and long-lasting societal consequences. Observations, paleoclimate reconstructions, and climatemodel simulations are used 1) to demonstrate the severity and characterize the evolution of drought across different regions, and 2) to investigate the underlying mechanisms driving its multiyear persistence. Severe or record-setting droughts occurred on continents in both hemispheres and in multiple seasons, with the ‘‘Monsoon Asia’’ region being the hardest hit, experiencing the single most intense and the second most expansive drought in the last 800 years. The extreme severity, duration, and extent of this global event is associated with an extraordinary combination of preceding cool tropical Pacific conditions (1870–76), a record-breaking El Niño (1877–78), a record strong Indian Ocean dipole (1877), and record warm North Atlantic Ocean (1878) conditions. Composites of historical analogs and two sets of ensemble simulations—one forced with global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and another forced with tropical Pacific SSTs—were used to distinguish the role of the extreme conditions in different ocean basins. While the drought in most regions was largely driven by the tropical Pacific SST conditions, an extreme positive phase of the Indian Ocean dipole and warm NorthAtlantic SSTs, both likely aided by the strong El Niño in 1877–78, intensified and prolonged droughts in Australia and Brazil, respectively, and extended the impact to northern and southeastern Africa. Climatic conditions that caused the Great Drought and Global Famine arose from natural variability, and their recurrence, with hydrological impacts intensified by global warming, could again potentially undermine global food security. 

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5. Resolving taxonomic and nomenclatural problems in the genus Caligus O.F. Müller, 1785 (Copepoda: Caligidae)

   https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5360.4.5  

   Boxshall, Geoffrey A ; Bernot, James P. ( October 2023 , Zootaxa)

   Supplementary descriptions are provided for six poorly known species of Caligus, based on a study of type and other material carried out by the late Roger F. Cressey but never published. As part of that study new illustrations were produced by Hillary Boyle Cressey who has kindly made these previously unpublished drawings available to this paper. The present account also contains critical re-assessments of the validity of several other species of Caligus Müller, 1785. It is proposed to recognise that: C. glacialis Gadd, 1910 and C. raniceps Heegaard, 1943 are junior subjective synonyms of the type species C. curtus Müller, 1785 and we consider the published geographical locality given for C. raniceps by Heegaard (1943) to be erroneous; C. guerini Guiart, 1913 is a junior subjective synonym of C. elongatus von Nordmann, 1832; C. mordax Leigh-Sharpe, 1934 is a junior subjective synonym of C. coryphaenae Steenstrup & Lütken, 1861; C. lessonius Risso, 1826 is not a caligid and is probably a junior synonym of the pandarid Demoleus heptapus (Otto, 1821); C. clavatus Kirtisinghe, 1964 is a junior subjective synonym of C. sphyraeni Pillai, 1963; C. rotundigenitalis Yü, 1933 is a junior subjective synonym of C. torpedinis Heller, 1865; C. hyalinae Heegaard, 1966 is a junior subjective synonym of C. chelifer Wilson, 1905; C. biseriodentatus, Shen, 1957 is a junior subjective synonym of C. pauliani Nuñes-Ruivo & Fourmanoir, 1956; and C. cornutus Heegaard, 1962 can be formally treated as a junior subjective synonym of C. lobodes (Wilson, 1911) because the name C. cornutus belongs with the male holotype; the female allotype collected by Heegaard (1962) remains unidentified. We also conclude that C. mebachii Marukawa, 1927 was based on a young male of Euryphorus brachypterus (Gerstaecker, 1853) and a male of Caligus coryphaenae Steenstrup & Lütken, 1861 which was mistakenly identified as the female. A lectotype is designated for C. mebachii and this species is treated as a synonym of Euryphorus brachypterus. It is noted that C. hamatus Heegaard, 1955 is conspecific with, and has priority over, C. undulatus Shen & Li, 1959. However, given that C. undulatus is a high profile and well known species, frequently recorded from across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, a case has been submitted to the ICZN to grant precedence of C. undulatus over C. hamatus. We reject the transfer of Chalimus tenuis Leidy, 1889 to Caligus by Fowler (1912) on the basis of lack of evidence supporting the transfer, and return it to Chalimus, where it can be treated as a species inquirendum within a genus that is no longer considered as valid. We consider that C. alalongae Krøyer, 1863 and C. gracilis Dana, 1852 are species inquirenda. Caligus truttae is a nomen nudum because Giard (1890) provided no morphological information or illustration associated with the new name. 

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