A new record of an endangered and endemic rare Rein Orchid Habenaria rariflora from Gujarat, India

Habenaria rariflora A.Rich., a species endemic to the southern and western parts of India, is reported for the first time from Gujarat State, western India. A detailed description and photographs are provided here for easy recognition in the field. Further, morphology, distribution, habitat, ecology, anatomy of leaf, rarity index, and conservation status of the species are provided.

Contribution à l’inventaire des Hyménoptères Anthophila du département du Lot : liste préliminaire commentée

Contribution to the inventory of Hymenoptera Anthophila of the Lot department: a commented preliminary list. - This article presents a first commented list of solitary bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) of the Lot department (46). The list presents 398 species including 111 Apidae, 82 Halictidae, 79 Megachilidae, 92 Andrenidae, 27 Colletidae, 7 Melittidae. After a short presentation of the department, the article continues, for each species, with a presentation of their occurrence and their ecological traits (lectism, sociality, nesting). Through 3 major historical periods the rarity status of each species is added and compared to the IUCN red list of European bees; a rarity index at the departmental scale is also provided. A comparison is made with the French fauna of Anthophila. Finally, a focus on some of the remarkable species of Anthophila of the Lot department is provided.

The role of urban forest patches in maintaining isopod diversity (Oniscidea)

Compositional changes in natural communities associated with anthropogenic influence often lead to localised extinctions and biodiversity loss. Soil invertebrates are also threatened by urbanisation due to habitat fragmentation, vegetation changes and management, soil alteration, degradation, and disappearing shelter sites. The aim was to assess terrestrial isopod (Oniscidea) assemblages in differently degraded urban forest patches of a metropolitan area (Budapest, Hungary). Study sites were compared by their species richness, composition and the relevant background factors (soil properties, dead wood, litter characteristics, and canopy closure). The degree of urban disturbance was expressed using an urbanisation index (UI) based on built-up density and vegetation cover. The isopods were identified to species level, and were qualified by their habitat preference and naturalness index (TINI). Average Rarity Index (ARI), derived from TINIs provided information on the degree of naturalness/disturbance of each habitat. Altogether 14 isopod species were collected from 23 sample sites. Urbanisation indirectly affected on the composition of isopod assemblages through the quantity of dead wood and soil plasticity. ARIs and UIs of sample sites were negatively correlated. Urban patches harboured habitat generalist, synanthropic and established introduced species with low naturalness value of assemblages. Areas with no or low anthropogenic disturbance maintained stable native, autochthonous assemblages that were characteristic of rural sites in the region. Transitional zones between rural and urban habitats usually maintained a mixed isopod fauna consisting of both urban and rural elements.