Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of (Asparagaceae) on Shikoku Island, Japan, including five new species, one new subspecies, and two new status assignments.

Japan has 16 native species of the genus Tratt. (Asparagaceae). A recent study on based on field surveys and molecular phylogenetic analyses resulted in the discovery of six unknown taxa in Kochi Prefecture, Shikoku Island, southwestern Japan.

A first record of digenean parasites of the dwarf sperm whale Kogia sima with morphological and molecular information.

Two species of digenean trematodes of the family Brachycladiidae were obtained from two male dwarf sperm whales Kogia sima that stranded along the island of Kyushu, southern Japan in 2017. From the liver of the first animal, a single, large gravid specimen of a digenean species was collected. The morphological features were consistent with those of the genus Brachycladium.

Water circulation in Ryugu asteroid affected the distribution of nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies in returned sample.

Studies of material returned from Cb asteroid Ryugu have revealed considerable mineralogical and chemical heterogeneity, stemming primarily from brecciation and aqueous alteration. Isotopic anomalies could have also been affected by delivery of exogenous clasts and aqueous mobilization of soluble elements. Here, we show that isotopic anomalies for mildly soluble Cr are highly variable in Ryugu and CI chondrites, whereas those of Ti are relatively uniform.

The complete mitochondrial genome and gene rearrangements in a gall wasp species, (Hymenoptera: Cynipoidea: Cynipidae).

Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) have been widely used in comparative and evolutionary genomics, molecular evolution, phylogenetics, and population genetics, but very limited information is available for the family Cynipidae. In this report, we describe the mitogenome of Pang, Su et Zhu, providing the first complete mitogenomic data for a cynipid gall wasp species. The mitogenome of is 16,819 bp in length, and contains the typical set of 37 genes.

Occurrence-based diversity estimation reveals macroecological and conservation knowledge gaps for global woody plants.

Incomplete sampling of species' geographic distributions has challenged biogeographers for many years to precisely quantify global-scale biodiversity patterns. After correcting for the spatial inequality of sample completeness, we generated a global species diversity map for woody angiosperms (82,974 species, 13,959,780 occurrence records). The standardized diversity estimated more pronounced latitudinal and longitudinal diversity gradients than the raw data and improved the spatial prediction of diversity based on environmental factors.

Army ant middens - Home and nursery of a diverse beetle fauna.

Army ants provide nourishment to a large variety of animals. This includes birds that feed on animals flushed out by army ant raids, symbiotic arthropods that consume the ants' prey or their brood, and other arthropods that scavenge on army ant refuse deposits. The latter have not received much attention, and the few published studies lack detailed species identifications.

Earthquake-enhanced dissolved carbon cycles in ultra-deep ocean sediments.

Hadal trenches are unique geological and ecological systems located along subduction zones. Earthquake-triggered turbidites act as efficient transport pathways of organic carbon (OC), yet remineralization and transformation of OC in these systems are not comprehensively understood. Here we measure concentrations and stable- and radiocarbon isotope signatures of dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (DOC, DIC) in the subsurface sediment interstitial water along the Japan Trench axis collected during the IODP Expedition 386.

A new species of Zoraptera, sp. nov. from Cameroon and a redescription of Paulian, 1951 (Polyneoptera, Zoraptera).

A new species of the order Zoraptera, Matsumura, Maruyama, Ntonifor & Beutel, , is described from Cameroon. The female and male morphology of another species, , is re-described, and its new distribution in Madagascar is recorded. A particular focus is on the male postabdominal morphology.

The transcriptional changes underlying the flowering phenology shift of Arabidopsis halleri in response to climate warming.

Climate warming is causing shifts in key life-history events, including flowering time. To assess the impacts of increasing temperature on flowering phenology, it is crucial to understand the transcriptional changes of genes underlying the phenological shifts. Here, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of genes contributing to the flowering phenology shifts in response to increasing temperature by monitoring the seasonal expression dynamics of 293 flowering-time genes along latitudinal gradients in the perennial herb, Arabidopsis halleri.

Development of a High-Quality/Yield Long-Read Sequencing-Adaptable DNA Extraction Method for Crop Seeds.

Genome sequencing is important for discovering critical genes in crops and improving crop breeding efficiency. Generally, fresh, young leaves are used for DNA extraction from plants. However, seeds, the storage form, are more efficient because they do not require cultivation and can be ground at room temperature.

A highly efficient scheme for library preparation from single-stranded DNA.

Although methods for sequencing library preparation from double-stranded DNA are well established, those from single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) have not been well studied. Further, the existing methods have limitations in efficiency and yield. Therefore, we developed a highly efficient procedure for sequencing library preparation from ssDNA.

Investigating intentional cranial modification: A hybridized two-dimensional/three-dimensional study of the Hirota site, Tanegashima, Japan.

Intentional cranial modification has a long history, being a ubiquitous practice in many cultures around the world for millennia. The crania excavated at the Hirota site on Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, has been previously noted to have a marked tendency toward a short head and a flattened occipital bone, which has been suggested to be the result of artificial cranial deformation. However, whether this deformation was intentional or caused by unintentional habits remains unclear.

Two new species of Paraneseuthia Franz from Okinawa-jima (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).

Only one (recently discovered) nominal species of the eutheiine genus Paraneseuthia Franz is known to occur on the largest Ryukyuan Island of Okinawa-jima, while five other members of this rare genus inhabit Ishigaki-jima, Shikoku, Kyushu and Honshu. Undescribed species known from females only have been collected also on southwestern Iriomote-jima and northeastern Hokkaido. Two new Okinawan species are described: P.

New species and new records of Eastern Palaearctic Stenichnus Thomson (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).

Two new scydmaenine species are described based on specimens collected in Taiwan: Stenichnus (s. str.) bifurcatus sp.

Abundant presolar grains and primordial organics preserved in carbon-rich exogenous clasts in asteroid Ryugu.

Preliminary analyses of asteroid Ryugu samples show kinship to aqueously altered CI (Ivuna-type) chondrites, suggesting similar origins. We report identification of C-rich, particularly primitive clasts in Ryugu samples that contain preserved presolar silicate grains and exceptional abundances of presolar SiC and isotopically anomalous organic matter. The high presolar silicate abundance (104 ppm) indicates that the clast escaped extensive alteration.

New evidence for the antiquity of (Desmostylia) from the Skooner Gulch Formation of California.

is an extinct marine mammal genus that belongs to Desmostylia, a clade of extinct herbivorous mammals. While desmostylian remains are widely reported from Paleogene and Neogene marine strata of the North Pacific Rim, occurrences of the genus are almost entirely limited to middle Miocene strata, with only a few early Miocene records from Japan. Here we report a tooth from the earliest Miocene (Aquitanian) Skooner Gulch Formation in northern California, USA.

Extinction Threat to a Previously Undescribed Species of Gall Wasp (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) and Two Associated Parasitoid Species (Hymenoptera: Braconidae and Eulophidae) on a Threatened Rose.

Abe and Ide sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) induces galls on (Regel) Nakai (Rosales: Rosaceae), which is endemic to a restricted area of Honshu, the main island of Japan.

Review of the genera Rondoniella Kaszab, 1970 and Durandius Kaszab, 1970 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), with description of R. hosoishii sp. nov. from an ant nest in Cambodia.

The enigmatic tenebrionid genera Rondoniella Kaszab, 1970 and Durandius Kaszab, 1970 are briefly reviewed and diagnosed. Rondoniella hosoishii sp. nov.

Review of the genus Crisicoccus Ferris (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) in Japan with description of a new species, and the identity of a South Korean mealybug misidentified as Crisicoccus matsumotoi (Shiraiwa 1935).

Mealybug species found in Japan belonging to the genus Crisicoccus Ferris (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) are reviewed and the adult female of each valid species is described or update described and illustrated. Crisicoccus seruratus (Kanda 1933) and C. matsumotoi (Shiraiwa 1935) are found to be the same species, and are synonymized.

A new species of Austrophasiopsis Townsend (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Nepal, with systematic notes on the genus.

A new species of Austrophasiopsis Townsend from Nepal, Austrophasiopsis caliginosa sp. nov., is described and illustrated.

Taxonomy of 'Euconnus complex'. Part XXIV. Intermediate forms between Psomophus, Eupentarius and Euconnus s. str. in the East Palaearctic fauna unify problematic subgenera (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae).

Within the West Palaearctic region, the subgenera Psomophus and Eupentarius can be easily distinguished from Euconnus s. str. based on the antennal, pronotal and male genital structures.

A description of the second species of the genus Platybolium Blair, 1938 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) collected from a nest of Pheidole singaporensis Özdikmen, 2010 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Thailand.

Platybolium watanai sp. nov., the second species of the genus, is described from Thailand, with illustrations of the diagnostic characters, including the defensive glands and the cuticular structures of females.