Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59 (2), pp. 97–129, 2013

Title: Eleven new Mirax Haliday, 1833 species from Colombia and Honduras and key to the sixteen Neotropical Mirax species (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Miracinae)

Author: Papp, J.

Author's address: Department of Zoology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, H-1431, P. O. Box 137, Hungary; E-mail: j.papp1933@gmail.com

Abstract: Description of eleven new Mirax Haliday, 1833 species from Colombia and Honduras: M. adjunctus sp. n. (Colombia), M. carinatus sp. n. (Colombia), M. dilatus sp. n. (Colombia), M. fuscus sp. n. (Colombia), M. linguaris sp. n. (Colombia), M. pendiasae sp. n. (Honduras), M. politus sp. n. (Colombia), M. ruptus sp. n. (Colombia), M. sulcatulus sp. n. (Honduras), M. ubangus sp. n. (Colombia) and M. vertus sp. n. (Colombia). A total of 16 Mirax species are known in the Neotropical Region. A key to the 16 species is presented. Centistidea is considered as subgenus of Mirax. 116 line drawings are included.

Key words: Mirax, Centistidea, description, taxonomic position, identification key

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59 (2), pp. 131–141, 2013

Title: Two new species of the genus Stenohya Beier from Yunnan, China (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae)

Authors: Yang, J. and Zhang, F.*

Authors' address: College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, P. R. China; *E-mail: dudu06042001@163.com

Abstract: Two new species of the pseudoscorpion genus Stenohya Beier from Yunnan Province, China are reported: Stenohya tengchongensis sp. n. and S. meiacantha sp. n. Detailed diagnoses, descriptions and illustrations are given, and a key to the Chinese Stenohya species is also provided.

Key words: pseudoscorpion, taxonomy, biodiversity, Asia

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59 (2), pp. 143–156, 2013

Title: Hrabeiella periglandulata (Annelida: "Polychaeta") - do apparent differences in chaetal ultrastructure indicate the existence of several species in Europe?

Author: Dózsa-Farkas, K.1 and Schlaghamerský, J.2

Authors' addresses: 1Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, H-1117 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, Hungary; E-mail: kdozsafarkas@gmail.com
2Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Department of Botany and Zoology, Kotlárská 2, CZ-611 37 Brno, Czech Republic; E-mail: jiris@sci.muni.cz

Abstract: Hrabeiella periglandulata (Annelida: "Polychaeta"), one of only two known exclusively terrestrial non-clitellate annelids ("polychaetes"), has been found at an increasing number of sites in Europe and has also recently been reported from Korea. Until recently it was known only from a zone from southern Sweden across central Europe to central Italy. Looking at SEM micrographs, the ultrastructure of the unique chaetae of Hrabeiella periglandulata appeared to differ rather markedly among different populations, which gave rise to the question of whether they all belonged to a single species. To resolve this question, specimens from a total of 17 sites were collected, ranging from Spain in the West to Romania in the East. Specimens from these populations were processed by two different methods and examined using SEM. The results obtained indicate that apparent differences, as published for some Italian and German populations, can be caused by even small differences in the fixation procedure preceding the SEM examination. Such causes might lead to false conclusions when judging morphological differences visible by SEM within taxonomical studies. We conclude that chaetal morphology and ultrastructure point at the existence of only one species of Hrabeiella that is widely distributed. We present 19 previously unpublished localities for the species (not fully overlapping with the 17 collection sites used in our SEM examination), including the first records for four countries: Spain, Denmark, Hungary, and Romania.

Key words: Hrabeiella periglandulata, Polychaeta, structure of chaetae, SEM investigation

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59 (2), pp. 157–170, 2013

Title: Morphological patterns of a Nightingale population in a contact zone of Luscinia megarhynchos and L. luscinia

Authors: Kováts, D.*, Végvári, Z. and Varga, Z.

Authors' address: Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, H-4010 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, Hungary; *E-mail: david.kovats@gmail.com

Abstract: We investigated morphological characteristics of a population in a contact zone of two sister species of nightingales in North-East Hungary. The aim of our study was to analyse and interpret the current morphological patterns of a nightingale population in three populations, called Bódva, Tiszalúc-Bárányszeg and Tiszabercel-Tiszatelek. The research was carried out between 2006 and 2010 at the northern sites of rivers Tisza, and Bódva, where 63 nightingales were examined altogether. The three populations were compared with each other for several morphological characteristics. The populations were significantly different in wing-pointedness, wing-symmetry and body mass and, although marginally, in tail length. Based on the combination of two morphological traits (the relative length of the short first primary and the proportion of length of the second and fourth primary), seven (11.1%) of all investigated birds were identified as interspecific hybrids. In conclusion, we suggest a possible interspecific hybridization between the two nightingale species in the studied area. We assume that the modification in the structure of riverine vegetation might be one of the reasons of the relatively high proportion of hybrid individuals.

Key words: contact zones, nightingale, morphology, morphometry, population, hybridization

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Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 59 (2), pp. 171–185, 2013

Title: Waterbird distribution patterns and environmentally impacted factors in reclaimed coastal wetlands of the eastern end of Nanhui County, Shanghai, China

Authors: Niu, J. Y.1, 2, Zou, Y. A.1, Yuan, X.3, Zhang, B.1 and Wang, T. H.1

Authors' addresses: 1School of Life Science, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Urbanization and Ecological Restoration, East China Normal University, Shanghai, No.3663 Zhongshan Road, 200062, P. R. China; E-mail: niu.junying@yahoo.cn, thwang@bio.ecnu.edu.cn
2Jiaozuo Teachers College, No. 998 Shanyang Road, Jiaozuo 400051, P. R. China
3Department of Wildlife Protection Administration Shanghai, No 130 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai, 200233, P. R. China

Abstract: The eastern end of Nanhui County is one of the most important coastal wetlands for waterbirds. It is also the key reclamation site in the Yangtze River Delta. In 2005, a reclamation project was completed here. A part of reclaimed area was converted into three types of artificial wetlands: urban lake wetlands; extensive fish ponds; and abandoned wetlands. To examine the effects of different management of these wetlands on the conservation of waterbirds, a study was conducted from 2009 to 2011. A total of 41,493 waterbirds corresponding to 91 species from 15 families were recorded. Two species, Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor and Falcated Duck Anas falcata, meet the international conservation Ramsar criterion of >1% of global population size. The extensive fish ponds contain the highest species richness and evenness, followed by abandoned wetlands and urban lake wetlands. Non-metric Multi-dimensional Scaling ordination plot revealed partition with four distinct clusters apparent. The first and the second clusters were positively correlated with deep water area, anthropogenic disturbance, distance to the seawall, and mean water level. The third cluster had no direct relationship with any environmental factors. The fourth cluster was correlated with vegetation area, shallow water area, and bare muddy area.

Key words: coastal reclamation, urban lake wetlands, extensive fish ponds, abandoned wetlands

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