ON SOME ORNITHOPHILIC BLOOD-SUCKING DIPTERA IN ALGONQUIN PARK, ONTARIO, CANADA

1960 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon F. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Feeding Behavior ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Lake Shore ◽  
Early Evening ◽  
Blood Sucking

A useful technique was devised for the collection of biting Diptera after they had fed on various birds exposed in dissimilar habitats in Algonquin Park. As a result, the following species of ornithophilic Simuliidae and Ceratopogonidae, including four new species and other species the feeding habits of which were previously unknown, were collected: Simulium aureum., "latipes", quebecense, croxtoni, rugglesi, subexcisum (Edw. of Twinn, 1936), Simulium "H", Simulium (Eusimulium) n.sp., Prosimulium decemarticulatum, Cnephia invenusta, Cnephia "U", Culicoides sphagnumensis, stilobezzioides, Culicoides n.sp. near piliferus. Several species of Culicidae and Tabanidae which would also feed on birds are listed.The data further indicated that the simuliids and ceratopogonids showed host and habitat preferences; these preferences were particularly marked among certain species such as Simulium rugglesi and Culicoides n.sp. near piliferus. The simuliids occurred commonly from May 20 through mid-July; ceratopogonids from June 2 through mid-July. Woodland simuliids usually fed at dusk while lake shore simuliids fed in the early evening; biting midges were crepuscular to nocturnal. Other miscellaneous observations on feeding behavior are included.

Blood-Sucking Midges and Mosquitoes Feeding on Mammals at Beatrice Hill, N.T.

1981 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 573 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Muller ◽  
MD Murray ◽  
JA Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Blood Meal ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Haemagglutination Inhibition ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Light Traps ◽  
Intensive Study ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
Collection Methods ◽  
Blood Meals

One aspect of an intensive study of arboviruses and insect vectors at Beatrice Hill, N.T., was to determine the hosts of the insects by identifying the source of their blood meal. The collection methods included buffalo bait, calf- and chicken-baited Magoon traps, truck traps, light traps and collecting from insect resting places. Blood meals were identified by precipitin and haemagglutination-inhibition tests. Fifteen species of biting midges, mostly Culicoides spp., and 24 species of mosquitoes were represented in the collections, and the blood meals within 75% of some 11,000 insects were identified. The majority, 97.7%, of the blood meals were mammalian in origin, 76% being bovine and 17% marsupial. A significant proportion of the blood-fed mosquitoes from Magoon traps had fed on hosts other than the bait animal or collector. Double feeds were detected in 1.1% of the insects in which the source of the blood meal was identified. It was possible to draw conclusions about the feeding habits of most of the insect species.

Two new biting midges of the subfamily Forcipomyiinae Lenz (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from China

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3582 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
HAIYING CHEN ◽  
YANGQING LIU ◽  
YIXIN YU
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Biting Midges ◽  
Two New Species

Two new species of biting midges in the subfamily of Forcipomyiinae Lenz are described and illustrated based on male adults: Lasiohelea habros Liu, Chen & Yu, sp. nov.; Atrichopogon brenthus Liu & Yu, sp. nov..

A new species of Neorhynchoplax (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Hymenosomatidae) from Taiwan

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4461 (3) ◽  
pp. 350 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAN-WEN HSUEH
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Protective Structure ◽  
The Third ◽  
A New Species

A new hymenosomatid crab, Neorhynchoplax chipolini sp. nov., is described from Taiwan. Of the 32 known species of Neorhynchoplax, only five other species possess a posterolateral tooth on the carapace and unarmed ambulatory dactyli as in N. chipolini sp. nov.: i.e. N. attenuipes (Chopra & Das, 1930), N. falcifera Naruse, Mendoza & Ng, 2008, N. sinensis (Shen, 1932), N. tuberculata (Chopra & Das, 1930), and N. venusta Ng, 2015. Neorhynchoplax chipolini sp. nov., however, differs from these congeners by having the median rostral tooth distinctly bent downwards and the presence of a tubercle on the inner anterolateral margin of the first exopod article of the third maxilliped. Brood size, egg diameters, and the protective structure of eggs in N. chipolini sp. nov. are noted. A table for the habitat preferences of all known species of Neorhynchoplax is provided. 

scholarly journals Blood parasites in vectors reveal a united blackfly community in the upper canopy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nayden Chakarov ◽  
Helge Kampen ◽  
Anja Wiegmann ◽  
Doreen Werner ◽  
Staffan Bensch
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Blood Parasites ◽  
Avian Host ◽  
Haemosporidian Parasite ◽  
Host Group ◽  
Haemosporidian Parasites ◽  
Blood Sucking ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Host Parasite

Abstract Background: The behaviour of blood-sucking arthropods is a crucial determinant of blood protozoan distribution and hence of host-parasite coevolution, but it is very challenging to study in the wild. The molecular identification of parasite lineages in vectors can be a useful key to understand the behaviour and transmission patterns realised by these vectors. Methods: In this study, we collected blackflies around nests of three raptor species in the upper forest canopy in central Europe and examined the presence of vertebrate DNA and haemosporidian parasites in them. We molecularly analysed 156 blackfly individuals, their vertebrate blood meals, and the haemosporidian parasite lineages they carried. Results: We identified nine species of Simulium blackflies, largely belonging to the subgenera Nevermannia and Eusimulium. Only 1% of the collected specimens was visibly engorged, and only 4% contained remains of host DNA. However, in 29% of the blackflies Leucocytozoon lineages were identified, which is evidence of a previous blood meal on an avian host. Based on the known vertebrate hosts of the recorded Leucocytozoon lineages, we can infer that large and/or abundant birds, such as thrushes, crows, pigeons, birds of prey, owls and tits are the main targets of ornithophilic blackflies in the canopy. Blackfly species contained similar proportions of host group-specific parasite lineages and thus do not appear to be associated with particular host groups. Conclusions: The Leucocytozoon clade infecting thrushes, crows, and pigeons present in most represented blackfly species suggests a lack of association between hosts and blackflies, which can increase the probability of host switches of blood parasites. However, the composition of the simuliid species differed between nests of common buzzards, goshawks and red kites. This segregation can be explained by coinciding habitat preferences between host and vector, and may lead to the fast speciation of Leucocytozoon parasites. Thus, subtle ecological preferences and lack of host preference of vectors in the canopy may enable both parasite diversification and host switches, and enforce a habitat-dependent evolution of avian malaria parasites and related haemosporidia.

scholarly journals Description of six new species of Xenorhina Peters, 1863 from southern Papua New Guinea (Amphibia, Anura, Microhylidae)

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-382
Author(s):  
Rainer Günther ◽  
Stephen Richards
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Advertisement Calls ◽  
High Rainfall ◽  
Central Cordillera

We describe six new species of the microhylid frog genus Xenorhina from the southern slopes of Papua New Guinea’s central cordillera and adjacent lowlands, based on a combination of morphological (including osteology) and bioacoustic features. All of the new species are fossorial or terrestrial inhabitants of tropical rainforest habitats and belong to a group of Xenorhina having a single, enlarged odontoid spike on each vomeropalatine bone. Advertisement calls and habitat preferences are described for each species, one of which is amongst the smallest hitherto members of the genus. Description of these six species brings the total number of Xenorhina known to 40 and emphasises the importance of the high-rainfall belt that extends along the southern flanks of New Guinea’s central cordillera as a hotspot of Melanesian amphibian diversity.

New species of Crotonia (Acari: Oribatida) from Tasmania Rainforest, and the habitat preferences of Crotoniidae

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2027 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-54
Author(s):  
MATTHEW J. COLLOFF
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Oribatid Mite ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats ◽  
Closed Canopy ◽  
Arboreal Habitat ◽  
Subjective Synonym

Two new species of oribatid mite belonging to the genus Crotonia are described from tree trunks and their associated bryophytes in callidendrous rainforest, dominated by Nothofagus cunninghami, in Northeastern Tasmanian: C. tasmaniana sp. nov. and C. pyemaireneri sp. nov. Holonothrus ryszardi Łochyńska, 2008 is designated the junior subjective synonym of Crotonia ovata Olszanowski, 2000, and a supplementary description of the latter species is provided. The apparent arboreal habitat preferences of crotoniid mites are considered. In Tasmanian rainforest, the frequency of occurrence of these mites in moss on bark is higher than in terrestrial habitats, but not significantly so. High rainfall, a closed canopy, a low mean annual temperature and a consequent extensive corticolous and terricolous cover of bryophytes presents a continuum for these mites between ground and above-ground habitats.

Hydrophis donaldi (Elapidae, Hydrophiinae), a highly distinctive new species of sea snake from northern Australia

Zootaxa ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3201 (1) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
KANISHKA D.B. UKUWELA ◽  
KATE L. SANDERS ◽  
BRYAN G. FRY
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
The Body ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Nucleotide Substitutions ◽  
Sea Snake ◽  
Sea Snakes ◽  
Morphological Diagnosis ◽  
By Catch

A new species of viviparous sea snake, Hydrophis donaldi sp. nov. (Hydrophiinae), is described from the Gulf of Carpen-taria, northern Australia. Molecular analyses reveal this species as a deeply divergent lineage within the Hydrophis sub-group, and separate it from all other sampled taxa by fixed nucleotide substitutions at three independent mitochondrial andnuclear loci. The new species is assigned to Hydrophis based on the current morphological diagnosis of this large but pa-raphyletic genus, and is distinguished from all other Hydrophis species and closely allied genera by a combination of mor-phological characters relating to scalation, colour pattern and osteology. Using current keys for sea snakes, H. donaldi sp.nov. might be mistaken for H. coggeri, H. sibauensis or H. torquatus diadema but it is readily distinguished from thesespecies by a higher number of bands on the body and tail, lower ventral count, strongly spinous body scales, and a wider,more rounded head. Sea snakes have been sampled intensively in the Gulf of Carpentaria due to their vulnerability to by-catch in the region’s commercial prawn-trawl fisheries. That this highly distinctive new species has evaded discovery inthe region until now is surprising, but might be explained by its habitat preferences. All known specimens of H. donaldi sp. nov. were found in estuarine habitats that are relatively poorly surveyed and are not targeted by commercial fisheries.

A new species of frog in the Litoria ewingii species group (Anura: Pelodryadidae) from south-eastern Australia

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4858 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-230
Author(s):  
MICHAEL MAHONY ◽  
BEDE MOSES ◽  
STEPHEN V. MAHONY ◽  
FRANK L. LEMCKERT ◽  
STEPHEN DONNELLAN
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Nuclear Genome ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Genetic Groups ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
A New Species

Population declines and range contractions among Australian frogs that commenced in the early 1980s continue in some species that were once widespread. The generality of this pattern has been difficult to discern, especially for those species that are encountered rarely because they have restricted periods of calling activity with poorly defined habitat preferences, and are not common. Several lines of evidence indicate that Litoria littlejohni is such a species. This frog was once known from mid-eastern New South Wales to eastern Victoria, and evidence from wildlife atlas databases and targeted searches indicate that it has declined in large portions of its former range, leaving several populations that are isolated, in some cases restricted in distribution, and of small size. We investigated the relationships among populations using mitochondrial ND4 nucleotide sequences and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the nuclear genome. We found that northern and southern populations form two highly divergent genetic groups whose distributions abut at the southern margin of the Sydney Basin Bioregion and these genetic groups also show divergence in morphology and male advertisement calls. Here we describe the populations to the south of the Sydney Basin Bioregion as a new species and provide information on its distribution and ecology. In light of the apparent isolation and small size of known populations of the new species and the consequent restriction of the range of L. littlejohni, we assessed the conservation status of both species. 

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