Jiangyou gentian (Metagentiana jiangyouensis) growing on cliff at elevation of 1160-1513 meters

NEWS - Jiangyou gentian (Metagentiana jiangyouensis) in Gentianaceae is known only from the type locality in Hanzeng Town, Jiangyou, Mianyang, Sichuan, China, growing on a cliff at an elevation of 1160-1513 m, flowering and fruiting from December to April with the local name jiang you xia rui long (江油狭蕊龙胆).

Metagentiana T.N.Ho & S.W.Liu was separated from Gentiana L. based on morphology and cytology which included 14 species. The genus is monophyletic when excluding two yellow-flowered species, M. souliei (Franch.) T.N.Ho, S.W.Liu & Shi L.Chen and M. striata (Maxim.) T.N.Ho, S.W.Liu & Shi L.Chen which were transferred to the new genus Sinogentiana Adr.Favre & Y.M.Yuan.

Morphological and molecular evidence suggests that Metagentiana is closely related to Sinogentiana, Tripterospermum Blume and Crawfurdia Wall. Metagentiana contains 12 species of which 9 are in southwest China, one is widespread in northwest and central China, one is distributed in eastern Myanmar and one is endemic to Thailand.

M. jiangyouensis is similar to M. villifera and M. rhodantha in perennial habit, presence of basal rosette, leaves and flowers. These three are the only Chinese species of the genus to have a basal rosette and can therefore be easily distinguished from all other Chinese species.

M. jiangyouensis differs from these two in that it is entirely glabrous, the calyx lobes are angular to lanceolate 1.3-2(-3) mm long, the corolla tube has dark purple spots and the margins of the plicae are not fringed. The basal rosette and vegetative shoots are short and well developed.

M. villifera and M. rhodantha sometimes have basal rosette leaves or vegetative shoots, but these are usually poorly developed or the vegetative shoots will grow into longer stems later. The other species are annuals or biennials without rosettes.

M. jiangyouensis differs from M. rhodantha also by seeds with narrow wings along the edge (vs. M. rhodantha with broad wings). M. jiangyouensis and M. villifera grow on rock surfaces (vs. M. rhodantha grows in grasslands, alpine shrubs, forests and on rocks).

M. jiangyouensis grows in Jiangyou at elevations of 1160-1513 meters (vs. M. villifera in Junlian or more than 420 km from Jiangyou at elevations of 800 meters; M. rhodantha is widespread in southwest, northwest, central and southern China at elevations of 500-1800 meters). Flowering and fruiting phase of M. jiangyouensis December-April, (vs. M. villifera April-June; M. rhodantha October-February).

Original research

Cao H-F, Cai J, Zou Y, Sun H, Li F-F, Xiong A-d, Xu M-J (2024) Metagentiana jiangyouensis, a new species of Metagentiana (Gentianaceae) from Sichuan, China. PhytoKeys 247: 137-144, DOI:10.3897/phytokeys.247.129934

Dlium theDlium

Laniger bat tick (Ixodes lanigeri), new hard tick species (Ixodidae) from mouse-eared bats (Myotis) in Vietnam

NEWS - Researchers have identified Ixodes ticks from Vietnam based on morphological and molecular characteristics of females, nymphs and larvae as a new species, laniger bat tick ( Ixodes lanigeri ), which like other members of the Ixodes ariadnae complex appears to show a preference for vesper bats as a typical host. Historically, for more than a century and a half, only one species has been called the “long-legged bat tick”: Ixodes vespertilionis Koch. However, over the past decade, it has been molecularly recognized that long-legged ixodid ticks associated with bats may represent at least six species. Host associations and geographic separation may explain the evolutionary divergence of the new species from its closest living relative Murina hilgendorfi Peters in East Asia, Japan, as no Myotis or Murina spp. have overlapping distributions between Vietnam and the Japanese mainland. On the other hand, assuming that I. lanigeri may be present in other myotine bats and knowing that s...

Four new species and four newly recorded species of Omphale Haliday 1833 (Eulophidae) from China

NEWS - Researchers describe Omphale longigena , Omphale longitarsus , Omphale rectisulcus and Omphale xanthosoma as new species to science and four of their relatives ( O. brevibuccata Szelényi, O. connectens Graham, O. melina Yefremova & Kriskovich and O. obscura Förster) are reported from China for the first time; and a male O. melina is reported for the first time in the world. Omphale Haliday 1833 (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae, Entedoninae) includes 271 species worldwide, a cosmopolitan distribution and the second largest genus in Entedoninae. To date, 203 species from the Americas and Europe are divided into 18 groups. Prior to this study, only 11 species were known from China: O. longiventris (Ling, 1994), O. pulchra (Ling, 1994), O. gibsoni Hansson 2004, O. longiseta Hansson 1996, O. masneri Hansson 1996, O. mellea Hansson 1996, O. salicis (Haliday, 1833), O. stelteri (Boucek, 1971), O. straminea Hansson, 1996, O. sulciscuta (Thomson, 1878) and O. theana (Walker...

Giant golden spider (Nephila pilipes)

Kemlanding or giant golden orbweaver ( Nephila pilipes ) is an animal species in the Araneidae, a web spider with a vertical and asymmetrical mesh, sexually dimorphic with elongated females up to 20 cm in size and has a large investment in egg production and web construction, whereas males only a few millimeters. N. pilipes displays female gigantism and male dwarfism. Females usually have a body size of 30-50 mm, the cephalothorax is 15 mm long and 10 mm wide. The stomach is 30 mm long, 15 mm wide and is mostly tawny with yellow stripes. The female has black or brown, covered in thick hairs. The two rows of eyes stick out towards the back. Plastron is mostly black and brown. The legs are very long, stick-shaped with several joints, black and yellow, lacking of hairs. Males are 5-6.5 mm in size, cephalothorax is 2.5 mm long and 2 mm wide. The stomach is 4 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. The front eye is bigger than the back eye. The legs are light brown with some hair. Yellow carapace with ...

Dlium