Rediscovery of Geophilus carpophagus Leach (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) from Finland

Geophilus carpophagus Leach, 1815 has long been listed as regionally extinct from Finland. Here we report its rediscovery after decades of absence

Phylogenetics, taxon delimitation and phylogenetic diversity

Throughout the history of Linnean taxonomy, species have been described with varying degrees of justification. Many descriptions have been based on only a few ambiguous morphological characters. Moreover, species have been considered natural, well-defined units whereas higher taxa have been treated as disparate, non-existent creations. In the present thesis a few such cases were studied in detail. Often the species-level descriptions were based on only a few specimens and the variation previously thought to be interspecific was found to be intraspecific. In some cases morphological characters were sufficient to resolve the evolutionary relationships between the taxa, but generally more resolution was gained by the addition of molecular evidence. However, both morphological and molecular data were found to be deceptive in some cases. The DNA sequences of morphologically similar specimens were found to differ distinctly in some cases, whereas in other closely related species the morphology of specimens with identical DNA sequences differed substantially. This study counsels caution when evolutionary relationships are being studied utilizing only one source of evidence or a very limited number of characters (e.g. barcoding). Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of high quality data as well as the utilization of proper methods when making scientific inferences. Properly conducted analyses produce robust results that can be utilized in numerous interesting ways. The present thesis considered two such extensions of systematics. A novel hypothesis on the origin of bioluminescence in Elateriformia beetles is presented, tying it to the development of the clicking mechanism in the ancestors of these animals. An entirely different type of extension of systematics is the proposed high value of the white sand forests in maintaining the diversity of beetles in the Peruvian Amazon. White sand forests are under growing pressure from human activities that lead to deforestation. They were found to harbor an extremely diverse beetle fauna and many taxa were specialists living only in this unique habitat. In comparison to the predominant clay soil forests, considerably more elateroid beetles belonging to all studied taxonomic levels (species, genus, tribus, and subfamily) were collected in white sand forests. This evolutionary diversity is hypothesized to be due to a combination of factors: (1) the forest structure, which favors the fungus-plant interactions important for the elateroid beetles, (2) the old age of the forest type favoring survival of many evolutionary lineages and (3) the widespread distribution and fragmentation of the forests in the Miocene, favoring speciation.Läpi taksonomisen historian on eliölajeja kuvattu mitä moninaisimmin perustein ja usein kuvausten tukena on ollut vain muutama hyvinkin epäselvä tai vaihteleva morfologinen tuntomerkki. Lajeja on usein pidetty selkeinä evolutiivisina yksikköinä, kun taas korkeammat taksonit on käsitetty vain ihmisen vertailukelvottomiksi keksinnöiksi. Väitöskirjassa tutkittiin systematiikkaa apuna käyttäen muutamia lähisukuisia ja toisistaan vaikeasti erotettavia hyönteislajipareja ja -ryhmiä. Useassa tapauksessa ryhmien kuvaukset perustuivat vain muutamaan yksilöön ja lajien väliseksi luultu vaihtelu paljastui monesti lajinsisäiseksi. Ryhmien evolutiivisia sukulaisuussuhteita selvitettäessä morfologiset tuntomerkit riittivät ratkaisemaan taksonien väliset suhteet osassa tutkituissa tapauksissa, mutta yleisesti ottaen molekyylituntomerkit toivat tuloksiin lisää resoluutiota. Sekä morfologisten että molekyylituntomerkkien havaittiin kuitenkin olevan ongelmatapauksissa yhtä harhaanjohtavia - kahden morfologisesti samanlaisen yksilön DNA-sekvenssit saattoivat erota selvästi toisistaan kun taas edelleen kahden identtisen DNA-sekvenssin omaavan yksilön ulkoinen olemus saattoi olla hyvinkin erilainen. Tutkimus kehottaa varovaisuuteen käytettäessä vain yhtä tuntomerkkilähdettä tai hyvin rajallista tuntomerkkien määrää (esim. barcoding) sukulaisuussuhteiden selvittämiseen. Lisäsi tutkimus painottaa aineiston laadun ja asianmukaisesti tehtyjen analyysien merkitystä tieteellisessä päättelyssä. Väitöskirjassa tutkittiin systematiikan metodein saatujen tulosten soveltamista eri biologian aloille kahdella eri tavalla. Siinä esitetään ensimmäistä kertaa hypoteesi seppämäisillä kovakuoriaisilla tavattavan bioluminesenssi-ilmiön ja niiden hyppymekanismin kehittymisen yhteydestä, sekä valkoisen hiekan metsien merkityksestä tämän kovakuoriaisryhmän monimuotoisuuden turvaajana Perun sademetsäalueilla. Jatkuvan hakkuupaineen alaisena olevien valkoisen hiekan metsien selvitettiin pitävän sisällään hyvin monimuotoista kovakuoriaisfaunaa, josta suuri osa on erikoistunut elämään vain tällä erikoislaatuisella metsätyypillä. Valkoisen hiekan saarekkeilta löytyi vallitsevaan savimaan metsään verrattuna enemmän seppämäisiä kovakuoriaisia kaikilta tutkituilta taksonomisilta tasoilta (laji, suku, sukuryhmä ja alaheimo). Tämän evolutiivisen monimuotoisuuden oletetaan johtuvan metsätyypin suotuisuudesta seppämäisille kovakuoriaisille, sen vanhasta iästä sekä metsän nykyistä laajemmasta esiintymisestä Mioseenikaudella

A new species of Chalcoscirtus (Araneae: Salticidae) from Altai, South Siberia, Russia

A new species, Chalcoscirtus sinevi sp. n., from the Altai Mountains (South Siberia) is described on the basis of both sexes. The new species is closely related to C. grishkanae Marusik, 1988 from North-Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia, which is also illustrated. Molecular evidences supporting a separate species status of the new species are provided

Rediscovery of Geophilus carpophagus Leach (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) from Finland

Geophilus carpophagus Leach, 1815 has long been listed as regionally extinct from Finland. Here we report its rediscovery after decades of absence.</p

First Molecular Data and the Phylogenetic Position of the Millipede-Like Centipede Edentistoma octosulcatum Tömösváry, 1882 (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae)

Edentistoma octosulcatum To¨mo¨ sva´ ry, 1882, is a rare, superficially millipede-like centipede known only from Borneo and the Philippines. It is unique within the order Scolopendromorpha for its slow gait, robust tergites, and highly modified gizzard and mandible morphology. Not much is known about the biology of the species but it has been speculated to be arboreal with a possibly vegetarian diet. Until now its phylogenetic position within the subfamily Otostigminae has been based only on morphological characters, being variably ranked as a monotypic tribe (Arrhabdotini) or classified with the Southeast Asian genus Sterropristes Attems, 1934. The first molecular data for E. octosulcatum sourced from a newly collected specimen from Sarawak were analysed with and without morphology. Parsimony analysis of 122 morphological characters together with two nuclear and two mitochondrial loci resolves Edentistoma as sister group to three Indo-Australian species of Rhysida, this clade in turn grouping with Ethmostigmus, whereas maximum likelihood and parsimony analyses of the molecular data on their own ally Edentistoma with species of Otostigmus. A position of Edentistoma within Otostigmini (rather than being its sister group as predicted by the Arrhabdotini hypothesis) is consistently retrieved under different analytical conditions, but support values within the subfamily remain low for most nodes. The species exhibits strong pushing behaviour, suggestive of burrowing habits. Evidence against a suggested vegetarian diet is provided by observation of E. octosulcatum feeding on millipedes in the genus Trachelomegalus.Peer reviewe

First molecular data and the phylogenetic position of the millipede-like centipede Edentistoma octosulcatum Tömösváry, 1882 (chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae)

Edentistoma octosulcatum T&ouml;m&ouml;sv&aacute;ry, 1882, is a rare, superficially millipede-like centipede known only from Borneo and the Philippines. It is unique within the order Scolopendromorpha for its slow gait, robust tergites, and highly modified gizzard and mandible morphology. Not much is known about the biology of the species but it has been speculated to be arboreal with a possibly vegetarian diet. Until now its phylogenetic position within the subfamily Otostigminae has been based only on morphological characters, being variably ranked as a monotypic tribe (Arrhabdotini) or classified with the Southeast Asian genus Sterropristes Attems, 1934. The first molecular data for E. octosulcatum sourced from a newly collected specimen from Sarawak were analysed with and without morphology. Parsimony analysis of 122 morphological characters together with two nuclear and two mitochondrial loci resolves Edentistoma as sister group to three Indo-Australian species of Rhysida, this clade in turn grouping with Ethmostigmus, whereas maximum likelihood and parsimony analyses of the molecular data on their own ally Edentistoma with species of Otostigmus . A position of Edentistoma within Otostigmini (rather than being its sister group as predicted by the Arrhabdotini hypothesis) is consistently retrieved under different analytical conditions, but support values within the subfamily remain low for most nodes. The species exhibits strong pushing behaviour, suggestive of burrowing habits. Evidence against a suggested vegetarian diet is provided by observation of E. octosulcatum feeding on millipedes in the genus Trachelomegalus.</p

Effects of reindeer grazing and recovery after cessation of grazing on the ground-dwelling spider assemblage in Finnish Lapland

The effect of reindeer Rangifer tarandus L. grazing on the ground-dwelling spider assemblage in Northern Finland was studied. Changes in species richness, abundance and evenness of spider assemblages were analyzed in relation to changes in vegetation and environmental factors in long term grazed and ungrazed sites as well as sites that had recently switched from grazed to ungrazed and vice versa. Grazing was found to have a significant impact on height and biomass of lichens and other ground vegetation. However, it seemed not to have an impact on the total abundance of spiders. This is likely caused by opposing family and species level responses of spiders to the grazing regime. Lycosid numbers were highest in grazed and linyphiid numbers in ungrazed areas. Lycosidae species richness was highest in ungrazed areas whereas Linyphiidae richness showed no response to grazing. Four Linyphiidae, one Thomisidae and one Lycosidae species showed strong preference for specific treatments. Sites that had recovered from grazing for nine years and the sites that were grazed for the last nine years but were previously ungrazed resembled the long term grazed sites. The results emphasize the importance of reindeer as a modifier of boreal forest ecosystems but the impact of reindeer grazing on spiders seems to be family and species specific. The sites with reversed grazing treatment demonstrate that recovery from strong grazing pressure at these high latitudes is a slow process whereas reindeer can rapidly change the conditions in previously ungrazed sites similar to long term heavily grazed conditions.</p

Sympatric occurrence of three leaf beetle species of Macroplea Samouelle, 1819 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Donaciinae) in Finland with a key to species in Northern Europe

Macroplea Samouelle, 1819 is the only known fully aquatic leaf beetle genus with three European species that have earlier been classified by their assumed water salinity preferences. We studied the inter- and intraspecific variation of the specimens living in Northern Europe using both molecular (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, COI) and morphological evidence. The variation in the COI sequences between M. mutica (Fabricius, 1792) and M. pubipennis (Reuter, 1875) was 8.4%-9%, M. mutica and M. appendiculata (Panzer, 1794)-3.9%-4.9%, and M. appendiculata and M. pubipennis-8.8%-9.2%. All three species were sampled together in the Bothnian Sea on the same water plants, showing that neither salinity nor plant species bear a decisive importance in their occurrence in the region. Phylogenetic results suggest the existence of two currently unknown Macroplea species that are evolutionarily close to M. appendiculata. A key to the Nordic species is provided.Peer reviewe

Phylogeny of Lithobiidae Newport, 1844, with emphasis on the megadiverse genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 (Myriapoda, Chilopoda)

Phylogenetic analyses based on molecular and morphological data were conducted to shed light on relationships within the mostly Palaearctic/Oriental centipede family Lithobiidae, with a particular focus on the Palaearctic genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 (Lithobiidae, Lithobiomorpha), which contains >500 species and subspecies. Previous studies based on morphological data resolved Lithobius as nonmonophyletic, but molecular-based phylogenetic analyses have until now sampled few species. To elucidate species inter-relationships of the genus, test the validity of its classification into subgenera, and infer its relationships with other Lithobiidae, we obtained molecular data (nuclear markers: 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA; mitochondrial markers: 16S rRNA, COI) and 61 morphological characters for 44 species of Lithobius representing four of its eight subgenera and nine other representatives of Lithobiidae. The data were analyzed phylogenetically using maximum-likelihood, parsimony and Bayesian inference. This study suggests that (i) a close relationship between L. giganteus and the pterygotergine Disphaerobius loricatus highlighted in recent morphological analyses is also strongly supported by molecular data, and Pterygoterginae is formally synonymized with Lithobiinae; (ii) the Oriental/Australian genus Australobius is consistently resolved as sister group to all other sampled Lithobiidae by the molecular and combined data; (iii) the subfamily Ethopolyinae may be paraphyletic; (iv) the genus Lithobius is nonmonophyletic; (v) the subgenera Lithobius, Sigibius and Monotarsobius are nonmonophyletic and should not be used in future taxonomic studies; and (vi) there are instances of cryptic species and cases in which subspecies should be elevated to full species status, as identified for some European taxa within Lithobius.This is an open access article, available to all readers online, published under a creative commons licensing (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The attached file is the published version of the article

Comparative description of ten transcriptomes of newly sequenced invertebrates and efficiency estimation of genomic sampling in non-model taxa

Traditionally, genomic or transcriptomic data have been restricted to a few model or emerging model organisms, and to a handful of species of medical and/or environmental importance. Next-generation sequencing techniques have the capability of yielding massive amounts of gene sequence data for virtually any species at a modest cost. Here we provide a comparative analysis of de novo assembled transcriptomic data for ten non-model species of previously understudied animal taxa.Peer reviewe