A rather unfruitful relationship? Fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of the alien invasive Ficus microcarpa in Cyprus

The Chinese banyan (Ficus microcarpa) is an Australasian fig tree commonly planted in urban and semi-urban sites throughout the warmer parts of the world. Assisted by its host-specific mutualist pollinator Eupristina verticillata (Agaonidae), F. microcarpa often manages to colonise urban areas outside its native range and can invade natural habitats. In Cyprus, the species is widely planted in city centres, town squares and parks, where seedlings have been observed. Increasing numbers of fig wasp species of Asian origin are being recorded from the Mediterranean and it appears that the pace of colonisation of F. microcarpa is increasing. Fig surveys in Cyprus during the last seven years have uncovered a total of 11 fig wasp species associated with F. microcarpa. The composition of the fig wasp fauna is described here. It includes two species previously unknown from the Western Palearctic: Sycophila petiolata Chen (Eurytomidae) and an undescribed species of uncertain generic affinity (Pteromalidae, Epichrysomallinae) that we refer to as “Eufroggattisca sp. indesc.”. The distribution, ecology and relationships of the Cypriot fig wasps associated with the Chinese banyan are discussed, together with their potential impacts on the spread of their host plant

The conservation status of the world's freshwater molluscs

With the biodiversity crisis continuing unchecked, we need to establish levels and drivers of extinction risk, and reassessments over time, to effectively allocate conservation resources and track progress towards global conservation targets. Given that threat appears particularly high in freshwaters, we assessed the extinction risk of 1428 randomly selected freshwater molluscs using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, as part of the Sampled Red List Index project. We show that close to one-third of species in our sample are estimated to be threatened with extinction, with highest levels of threat in the Nearctic, Palearctic and Australasia and among gastropods. Threat levels were higher in lotic than lentic systems. Pollution (chemical and physical) and the modification of natural systems (e.g. through damming and water abstraction) were the most frequently reported threats to freshwater molluscs, with some regional variation. Given that we found little spatial congruence between species richness patterns of freshwater molluscs and other freshwater taxa, apart from crayfish, new additional conservation priority areas emerged from our study. We discuss the implications of our findings for freshwater mollusc conservation, the adequacy of a sampled approach and important next steps to estimate trends in freshwater mollusc extinction risk over time

Cellulose decomposition rates and soil arthropod community in a Pinus halepensis Mill. forest of Greece after a wildfire

Decomposition rate and composition of the soil arthropod community were studied in a severely and a less-severely burned patch of a Mediterranean Aleppo pine forest burned by a large-scale summer wildfire. Decomposition rates were estimated from the dry mass loss of pure cellulose enclosed in coarse (7 mm) and fine (0.9 mm) mesh bags. The composition of the soil arthropod community was investigated by collecting samples of the burned organic horizon and extracting the animals. The decomposition of cellulose followed the same pattern in both burned patches and mesh bag treatments indicated a similar pattern of decomposer biota activity. Twenty-one arthropod taxa were collected in the less-severely burned patch and sixteen taxa in the severely burned patch; the annual density of their populations was 571.8 and 382.0 ind·m-2, respectively. Season, post-fire age and fire severity were the determinants for the composition of soil arthropod community. Under the conditions studied, the role of soil arthropods in the decomposition process seems to be less critical as decomposition was successfully accomplished despite both the low number and density of soil arthropod taxa. (C) 2000 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS

Soil arthropod communities and population dynamics following wildfires in pine forests of the mediterranean basin: A review

The Mediterranean pine species of low-and mid-elevations, namely Pinus halepensis Mill., Pinus brutia Ten., Pinus pinea L. and Pinus pinaster Ait., constitute an important component of forest vegetation in Mediterranean-type ecosystems around the Mediterranean basin. These forests are strongly influenced by wildfires, which have occurred for millennia in Mediterranean regions. In burned Mediterranean pine forests, the community composition and the population dynamics of soil arthropods are determined by their life history traits and the wildfire regime. In these ecosystems, the effects of fire regime on soil arthropods at the taxonomical level of order are similar to those recorded in other Mediterranean-type ecosystems. Severe wildfires cause a simplification of the structure of the soil community due to both the immediate mortality of soil animals and the structural alteration of the soil organic horizon. Frequent wildfires influence the soil arthropods indirectly, preventing the recovery processes of the vegetation and, consequently, of the organic horizon. Wildfires do not influence the phenology of soil arthropods, at least at the taxonomical level of order, and the seasonality of the Mediterranean climate remains the principal environmental factor controlling the dynamics of soil arthropod populations. The recovery patterns of soil arthropods vary in relation to species, fire regime, and the environmental characteristics of the forest under consideration

Myrtoessa hyas, a new valvatiform genus and a new species of the hydrobiidae (Caenogastropoda, truncatelloidea) from Greece

A new to science valvatiform hydrobiid, Myrtoessa hyas Radea, gen. N. & sp. N., from southern Greece, is described and illustrated. The new genus is a tiny gastropod thriving in a stream and is differentiated from the other known European and circum-Mediterranean valvatiform hydrobiid genera by a unique combination of the male and female genitalia features i.e. penis long, flat, blunt, with wide wrinkled proximal part and narrow distal part with a sub-terminal eversible papilla on its left side, bursa copulatrix well-developed, pyriform, fully protruding from the posterior end of the albumen gland and two seminal receptacles respectively. The new monotypic and locally endemic genus is narrowly distributed and its single known population nearby a coastal bustling village is vulnerable to anthropogenic stressors. © Canella Radea et al

Diet Composition of the salamander Lyciasalamandra luschani basoglui on the Greek Island of Kastellorizo in the Southeast Aegean Sea

The diet composition of the Lycian salamander Lyciasalamandra luschani basoglui across both age and sex groups was studied. Specimens were collected from a small island in the Southeast Aegean Sea. The dominant prey group of juveniles consisted of Collembola, while Coleoptera dominated the diet of males and females. The number and size of prey items consumed by males and females of L. luschani basoglui were quite similar, while juveniles ate fewer items of much smaller size. The numerical abundance along with the four measures of the size of prey permitted discrimination among males, females and juveniles. Although discrimination between adults and juveniles is expected due to dissimilarity in body size, discrimination between males and females remains inexplicable despite their similarity in body size. Future studies should be focused on understanding how and why prey choice differs between sexes in L. luschani basoglui

Hidden diversity revealed in the freshwater snails, Bythinella and Pseudamnicola, in the Island of Crete

Crete with its complex geomorphological history is the island with the highest number of endemism observed in animal and plant taxa throughout the Aegean archipelago. While other groups of organisms within Crete are well-studied, the freshwater gastropod fauna still remains poorly investigated. Bythinella and Pseudamnicola, are 2 genera of freshwater springsnails, both present on the island, inhabiting springs and other freshwater habitats. Here, we conduct a comprehensive study on the distribution of the different genetic lineages of the 2 gastropod genera in order to assess the mode of their differentiation on the island and infer the actual number of species present in the island. Towards these aims, sequence data from the mitochondrial gene were used and analyzed within a phylogenetic framework. For Bythinella, our results strongly support at least 5 delineated Bythinella spp. inhabiting Crete, which correspond to the already described species from previous studies with the addition of a new one. Bythinella analyses reveal an old time-frame of differentiation with vicariant phenomena being more likely the main drivers shaping the present-day distribution of the genus’ genetic lineages. For Pseudamnicola, our data indicate the presence of at least 2 delineated Pseudamnicola spp. with a differentiation more consistent to an isolation-by-distance pattern of a relatively recent origin. Dispersion processes followed by isolation of the populations and/or recent speciation, seem to be the underlying process for the current distribution of Pseudamnicola lineages. © 2021 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

A new hydrobiid species (Caenogastropoda, Truncatelloidea) from insular Greece

Daphniola dione sp. nov., a valvatiform hydrobiid gastropod from Western Greece, is described based on conchological, anatomical and molecular data. D. dione is distinguished from the other species of the Greek endemic genus Daphniola by a unique combination of shell and soft body character states and by a 7–13% COI sequence divergence when compared to congeneric species. The only population of D. dione inhabits a cave spring on Lefkada Island, Ionian Sea. © Canella Radea et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Systematics of Pseudamnicola (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae): description of two new species from insular Greece and redescription of P. pieperi Schütt, 1980

Pseudamnicola pieperi, previously known only from Karpathos Island (southeast Aegean Sea), is reported from seven new localities on Karpathos and redescribed and taxonomically circumscribed using morphological, anatomical and mtDNA sequence data. Additionally, two new species of Pseudamnicola are described from Rodos, i.e. P. ianthe and P. ilione. The species from Karpathos and Rodos are differentiated from each other (and from the other Greek and circum Mediterannean congeners having similarly shaped shells and penes) by details of the radula, the nervous system and the female genitalia; they are also genetically divergent relative to those congeners that have been sequenced (mtCOI divergence: 3.6-13.5%). © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Malacological Society of London, all rights reserved