More Like this

1. Two new species of Clystopsenella Kieffer from Belize and Peru (Hymenoptera: Scolebythidae)

   https://doi.org/10.31184/M00138908.1593.4193  

   Engel, Michael S (July 2023, Entomologist's Monthly Magazine)

   Two new species of the scolebythid wasp genusClystopsenellaKieffer (Scolebythidae: Scolebythinae) are described and figured.Clystopsenella mayasp. n., is reported from Belize, representing the northernmost extant occurrence for the genus.Clystopsenella kampasp. n., is described from the southwestern Amazonian region of Madre de Dios, Peru, and intermingles traits of bothC.pacificaLepeco & Melo andC.longiventrisKieffer. A revised key is presented to the species of the genus. 

   more » « less
2. Systematics, distribution patterns and historical biogeography of the Central America wandering spider genus Kiekie Polotow & Brescovit, 2018 (Araneae: Ctenidae)

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17242  

   Hazzi, Nicolas; Hormiga, Gustavo (January 2024, PeerJ)

   KiekiePolotow & Brescovit, 2018 is a Neotropical genus of Ctenidae, with most of its species occuring in Central America. In this study, we review the systematics ofKiekieand describe five new species and the unknown females ofK. barrocoloradoPolotow & Brescovit, 2018 andK. garifunaPolotow & Brescovit, 2018, and the unknown male ofK. verbenaPolotow & Brescovit, 2018. In addition, we described the female ofK. montanensewhich was wrongly assigned asK. griswoldiPolotow & Brescovit, 2018 (both species are sympatric). We provided a modified diagnosis for previously described species based on the morphology of the newly discovered species andin situphotographs of living specimens. We inferred a molecular phylogeny using four nuclear (histone H3, 28S rRNA, 18S rRNA and ITS-2) and three mitochondrial genes (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I or COI, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA) to test the monophyly of the genus and the evolutionary relationships of its species. Lastly, we reconstruct the historical biogeography and map diversity and endemism distributional patterns of the different species. This study increased the number of known species ofKiekiefrom 13 to 18, and we describe a new genus,Eldivowhich is sister lineage ofKiekie. Most of the diversity and endemism of the genusKiekieis located in the montane ecosystems of Costa Rica followed by the lowland rainforest of the Pacific side (Limon Basin).Kiekieoriginated in the North America Tropical region, this genus started diversifying in the Late Miocene and spread to Lower Central America and South America. In that region,Kiekiecolonized independently several times the montane ecosystems corresponding to periods of uplifting of Talamanca and Central Cordilleras. 

   more » « less
3. A new species of Duckeanthidium Moure & Hurd (Megachilidae: Anthidiini) from Colombia, with notes on D. thielei Michener in Panama

   https://doi.org/10.17161/jom.vi130.23313  

   Guevara_Farías, Diego Alexander; Gonzalez, Victor; Ospina, Rodulfo; Roubik, David (February 2025, Journal of Melittology)

   A new species of the Neotropical genus Duckeanthidium Moure & Hurd is described and illustrated from the Amazon basin in Colombia. Duckeanthidium silvicola Guevara & Gonzalez, new species, is known from the female and exhibits intermediate features between the Central American species D. thielei Michener and the Amazonian species D. atropos (Smith). In addition, we report long-term observations on D. thielei from Panama for the first time, along with notes on nesting and sex ratio.  

   more » « less
4. A reference genome for the nectar-robbing Black-throated Flowerpiercer ( Diglossa brunneiventris )

   https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkab271  

   Hiller, Anna E; Brumfield, Robb T; Faircloth, Brant C (September 2021, G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics)

   Sethuraman, A (Ed.)

   Abstract Black-throated Flowerpiercers (Diglossa brunneiventris) are one species representing a phenotypically specialized group of tanagers (Thraupidae) that have hooked bills which allow them to feed by stealing nectar from the base of flowers. Members of the genus are widely distributed in montane regions from Mexico to northern Argentina, and previous studies of Diglossa have focused on their systematics, phylogenetics, and interesting natural history. Despite numerous studies of species within the genus, no genome assembly exists to represent these nectivorous tanagers. We described the assembly of a genome sequence representing a museum-vouchered, wild, female D. brunneiventris collected in Peru. By combining Pacific Biosciences Sequel long-read technology with 10× linked-read and reference-based scaffolding, we produced a 1.08 Gbp pseudochromosomal assembly including 600 scaffolds with a scaffold N50 of 67.3 Mbp, a scaffold L50 of 6, and a BUSCO completeness score of 95%. This new assembly improves representation of the diverse species that comprise the tanagers, improves on scaffold lengths and contiguity when compared to existing genomic resources for tanagers, and provides another avenue of research into the genetic basis of adaptations common to a nectivorous lifestyle among vertebrates. 

   more » « less
5. Species delimitation, biogeography, and natural history of dwarf funnel web spiders (Mygalomorphae, Hexurellidae, Hexurella) from the United States / Mexico borderlands

   https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1167.103463  

   Monjaraz-Ruedas, Rodrigo; Mendez, Raymond Wyatt; Hedin, Marshal (June 2023, ZooKeys)

   The rarely encountered spider genusHexurellaGertsch & Platnick, 1979 includes some of the smallest mygalomorph spiders in the world, with four poorly known taxa from central and southeastern montane Arizona, southern California, and northern Baja California Norte. At time of description the genus was known from fewer than 20 individuals, with sparse natural history information suggesting a vagrant, web-building, litter-dwelling natural history. Here the first published taxonomic and natural history information for this taxon is provided in more than 50 years, working from extensive new geographic sampling, consideration of male and female morphology, and sequence capture-based nuclear phylogenomics and mitogenomics. Several new species are easily diagnosed based on distinctive male morphologies, while a complex of populations from central and northern Arizona required an integrative combination of genomic algorithmic species delimitation analyses and morphological study. Four new species are described, includingH. ephedrasp. nov.,H. uwiiltilsp. nov.,H. xericasp. nov., andH. zassp. nov.Females ofH. encinaGertsch & Platnick, 1979 are also described for the first time. It is predicted that additional new species will ultimately be found in the mountains of central and northwestern Arizona, northern mainland Mexico, and the Mojave Desert of California. 

   more » « less