The pattern of the mechanosensory lateral line on the caudal fin of the two deep‐water gobiid fishes Deltentosteus collonianus and Deltentosteus quadrimaculatus (Teleostei: Gobiidae)

The most common pattern of the lateral line system on the caudal fin of Gobiidae is characterized by three longitudinal rows of free neuromasts. Deltentosteus collonianus and Deltentosteus quadrimaculatus are two benthic Atlantic–Mediterranean gobiid fishes with additional rows on the caudal fin. In these species the caudal fin is more densely covered by the lateral line system compared to the usual status in Gobiidae. An increase of longitudinal neuromast rows occurs rarely in gobiid fishes and is only known in a few species of Gobiidae with a pelagic lifestyle. Both Deltentosteus species show numbers of neuromast rows on the caudal fin between the plesiomorphic three and the advanced eight rows of pelagic gobies. This intermediate position allows discussion of the existence and the characteristics of an underlying pattern in the increase of the number of longitudinal neuromast rows and adaptation to habitat conditions in Gobiidae.     

Gall‐induction by an Australian insect of the family Thripidae (Thysanoptera: Terebrantia)

Leaf‐fold galls induced by Cyrilthrips cecidis gen. nov. et sp. nov. on Austrosteenisia blackii (Fabaceae) in eastern Queensland, Australia, involve either single or double folds. Single‐fold galls are subject to invasion by two species of kleptoparasitic Phlaeothripidae, to which double‐fold galls are largely immune. This thripid is a member of a southeast Asian lineage of Thripinae in which gall‐induction is possibly recurrent. This lineage includes the genus Chaetanaphothrips in which some species are crop pests but not gall‐inducing. Females of Cyrilthrips have a unique curved spur on the hind coxae, and the ocellar chaetotaxy is also unique among Thripidae.     

Re‐description of the lycosiformis species group of Anyphops Benoit and description of two new species (Araneae,Selenopidae)

Anyphops Benoit is a heterogeneous genus with 62 known species restricted to the Afrotropical region. It is split into four species groups using the number of ventral spine pairs on tibiae I–II. The lycosiformis species group (?=?B‐B1 species group of Lawrence) is characterized by four ventral pairs of spines and includes Anyphops lycosiformis (Lawrence), A. natalensis (Lawrence) and A. parvulus (Pocock). In this paper, I revise this species group and include here A. mumai Corronca, A. lawrencei (Roewer) and two new species: Anyphops ngome n. sp. and A. lucia n. sp. from South Africa. Drawings of the female and male genitalia and some somatic characters are given, in some cases for the first time. A key for the lycosiformis species group and a map showing the distribution of each species are provided.     

Habitat use by the South‐American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) in south‐eastern Brazil

Habitat use affects food intake, reproductive fitness and body temperature control in reptiles. Habitat use depends on both the characteristics of the animal and the environmental heterogeneity. In this study we investigated habitat use in a population of the South‐American rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus, in a cerrado (the Brazilian savanna) remnant, in south‐eastern Brazil. In general, snakes appeared to be thermal generalists. However, they showed substrate temperature preferences in the rainy season, when they selected colder substrates during the day and warmer substrates at night. Individuals were predominantly active on the surface and more frequently found under bushes. Furthermore, in general, the principal component analysis results indicate that rattlesnakes are generalists regarding the microhabitat variables examined in this study. These habitat characteristics, associated with a low thermal selectivity, indicate that rattlesnakes are able to colonize deforested areas where shade occurrence and vegetation cover are similar to those in the cerrado.     

The diet of the Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae) in the Aegean archipelago (Greece)

ABSTRACT

In the present study we investigated the diet of Eleonora’s falcons in Greece and assessed the regional dietary pattern of 16 breeding colonies of the Aegean. Overall 224 nests were visited and a total of 8067 prey items were collected which contained two mollusca classes, seven insect orders, one reptile family, two mammalian taxa and at least 54 avian species. Cicadas were the most common insects found in pellets (45.1%) followed by flying ants (34.8%) and beetles (15.8%) while just 20 species (33.3%) accounted for over 90% of the avian prey items identified in bird remains dominated (>50%) by the Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), the Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) and the Whitethroat (Sylvia communis). Insect feeding peaked in late August (39.8%) and late September (20.8%), whereas bird remains built up in falcon nests from mid-August onwards, culminating in late September (57.2%) and declined abruptly afterwards. Overall the falcons’ diet diversity increased as the breeding season progressed and from the north towards the south Aegean. The avian prey species richness was negatively influenced by the distance of the colonies from the mainland and the weather conditions during September which coincides with the fledgling period of the young and the autumn peak of passerine migration.     

Contrasting modes of handling moss for feeding and case‐building by the caddisfly Scelotrichia willcairnsi (Insecta: Trichoptera)

Final‐instar larvae of the microcaddisfly, Scelotrichia willcairnsi sp. nov. (Trichoptera: Hydroptilidae) were discovered feeding on a moss, Platyhypnidium muelleri in north‐eastern Queensland. Not only do the larvae feed on the moss, but their cases are constructed from fragments of moss leaves. Microscopic examination of larval guts and cases showed a total contrast in the angle at which the moss leaves are cut for each purpose: for cases the moss leaves are cut longitudinally, in parallel with the length of the cells, whereas for feeding the leaves are cut perpendicular to the leaf margin, across the cells, presumably an adaptation that releases the cell contents for digestion. The new caddisfly species is described based on the adult males. Scelotrichia willcairnsi represents the first Australian record of the South‐east Asian‐New Guinean Stactobiini genus Scelotrichia.     

Radiolarians from the British North‐Polar Expedition (1875–1876): re‐examination of the H. B. Brady (1878) collection

The earliest report on radiolarians from the Arctic Ocean (north of the Arctic Circle) was provided by H. B. Brady (1878 Brady, H. B. 1878. On the reticularian and radiolarian Rhizopoda (Foraminifera and Polycystina) of the North‐Polar Expedition of 1875–76.. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 5, 1: 425–440. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). He documented the occurrences of 10 genera from soundings in northern Baffin Bay and north of Greenland, but he did not illustrate any specimens in his report. We have re‐examined Brady's original slide collection, housed at the Natural History Museum, London (NHM), in order to refine his radiolarian identifications to species level. We have identified 11 radiolarian taxa in his slides, but some are definitely more characteristic of tropical oceans rather than high northern latitudes. We conclude that this is most likely due to sample contamination or misidentification of samples. Therefore, the actual occurrence of tropically affiliated radiolarians recorded from the Arctic is uncertain and should be regarded with suspicion.     

A new genus and species of Heteromysini (Crustacea‐Mysidacea) from the backwater of Kochi (Kerala,India)

Kochimysis pillaii, a new genus and species of Heteromysini collected from the backwater of Kochi, is described. The new genus is closely related to the genus Deltamysis but is distinguishable from the latter by the following characters: antennules of male have a small setiferous lobe; antennal scale is without distal suture; second segment of mandibular palp broad; endopodite segments of maxilla subequal in length; in male carpus and propodus of second thoracic endopod with notches on outer margin; outer pair of apical spines on telson longer than the inner pair.