Schistura scitula, sp. n., is described from small streams and headwaters in the upper Nam Gnouang (a branch of Nam Kading) in central Laos. It is distinguished from most other species of Schistura s.l. in the Mekong drainage by having the origin of the dorsal fin clearly behind a vertical through the origin of the pelvic fin; 13–18 irregular bars on the body, irregularly set and shaped; on anterior part of body, bars more or less fused with adjacent ones; bars not meeting with contralateral bars in predorsal area but connected at their upper extremity with adjacent ones in various combinations (stripes, chain, meshes), often leaving a pale middorsal band; complete lateral line; 8½ branched dorsal-fin rays; 9+8 branched caudal-fin rays; basicaudal bar broad, regular, not reaching dorsal and ventral midlines; no suborbital flap; no modified rays and no tubercles on pectoral fin in male.
The West Malaysian members of the genus Scaphisoma Leach are reviewed. The following species are described as new: Scaphisoma angustatum sp. n., S. becvari sp. n., S. bidentatum sp. n., S. conjunctoides sp. n., S. dentatum sp. n., S. derectum sp. n., S. deruptum sp. n., S. fulvum sp. n., S.grassator sp. n., S. humerale sp. n., S. inamatum sp. n., S. inflatum sp. n., S. ingratum sp. n., S. inoblitum sp. n., S. insolitum sp. n., S. kovaci sp. n., S. paweli sp. n., S. pedator sp. n., S. percautum sp. n., S. riozoi sp. n., S. rudii sp. n., S. solidare sp. n., S. testaceinotatum sp. n. and S. vile sp. n. Scaphisoma conjunctum (Pic) is raised from subspecies to species and its aedeagus is illustrated for the first time. Furthermore, 19 species are reported for the first time either from West Malaysia, or from entire Malaysia. A key to the West Malaysian species of Scaphisoma is provided.
This short piece traces back the genesis, development and dynamic editorial history of the Revue Suisse de Zoologie / Swiss Journal of Zoology published by the Mus & eacute;um d'histoire naturelle de Gen & egrave;ve. It also introduces upcoming changes to the journal scope and publication model starting in 2026. Those include a continuous online publishing system that will allow faster dissemination of articles in the community, updated author guidelines designed to reflect current trends in systematics, and a broader focus expanding to phylogenetics, evolutionary biology and paleontology. These new directions will ensure that the journal continues to develop in the changing academic landscape while remaining free-for-all and representing a natural outlet for zoological studies in the future.
The career of Eug & egrave;ne (Eugenio) Autran (1855-1912) was marked by two profound changes. The first occurred when he transitioned from working in industry to becoming a full-time naturalist, taking-up the position of curator at the Boissier Herbarium in Geneva, Switzerland in 1888, as well as becoming editor of its in-house journal, the Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier. The second change came twelve years later when he abruptly left and emigrated to Argentina, apparently under something of a cloud. There, he worked at the Pharmacology Museum at the University of Buenos Aires, where his role included editing the Trabajos del Museo de Farmacolog & iacute;a and working for the Ministry of Agriculture. Autran also helped establish the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden and was involved in the creation of Argentina's national parks. Although he is mainly remembered as a botanist, his first interest was actually entomology. Before leaving Switzerland, he donated an extensive collection of Hemiptera to the Mus & eacute;um d'histoire naturelle de Gen & egrave;ve (MHNG). Despite his sudden departure, Autran continued to send specimens (and publications) to the museum from Argentina and apparently enjoyed good relations with Genevan scientists.
The Scythrididae moths of the Gal & aacute;pagos Archipelago are taxonomically revised. Ten species are recognised, all of them new: Scythris ancystra J.-F. Landry & Bucheli, sp. nov., S. cristobalensis J.-F. Landry & B. Landry, sp. nov., S. falcata J.-F. Landry J.-F. Landry & Bucheli, sp. nov., and S. roquealbeloi J.-F. Landry & Bucheli, sp. nov. Based on a putatively unique apomorphic character of the male genitalia, they appear to form a monophyletic group restricted to the Gal & aacute;pagos. Their relationships to other known Scythrididae are undetermined, at best they share some generalised features with the type species and other species with similar genitalia configurations which may represent ground plan states or homoplasies. DNA barcodes showed weak differentiation among several of the species. Several species occur on more than one island, even sympatrically, and species distributions seem unrelated to the archipelago geography. Larval host plants are recorded for three species: S. isaferna on Darwiniothamnus lancifolius (Hooker f.) Harling ssp. lancifolius (Asteraceae); S. galapagensis as a leaf miner on Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L. (Aizoaceae) and on Portulaca sp. (Portulacaceae); and S. falcata as a leaf miner on Alternanthera halimifolia Standl. ex Pittier (Amaranthaceae).
The following new species are described from the Philippine islands of Mindanao and Luzon: Scaphidium bolmarum sp. nov., Baeocera hamiguitanensis sp. nov., Scaphisoma speciosum sp. nov., Scaphisoma tapulaoense sp. nov., Scaphisoma tobii sp. nov., and Scaphobaeocera arnaudi sp. nov.
Outside the Alpine range, there has been very little evidence of the Miller's Water Shrew (Neomys milleri Mottaz, 1907) in Switzerland during the last decades. We report here the discovery of a fresh individual found dead on a footpath in the Cartigny region (Geneva) at an altitude of 360 m, evidencing an overlooked lowland population of this rare mammal. Owing to the difficulties of identifying this species by morphological characters, this immature specimen was sequenced for a mitochondrial gene which confirmed its taxonomic identity. This finding also confirms that this threatened species is still present in the Geneva Basin, as suggested by the presence of bone fragments recovered previously (2012) from owl pellets and attributed to N. milleri. The last mention of a live specimen in this region was in August 1969.
The Mus & eacute;um d'histoire naturelle de Gen & egrave;ve contains type specimens of 13 species and three subspecies or varieties of Decapoda described by Swiss authors or based on specimens collected by Swiss naturalists who were not directly associated with the museum. These type specimens are listed, the label data for the specimens is reported and the current combination is provided.
Reviews of the West Malaysian Scaphisomatini genera Baeocera Erichson, 1845, Scaphobaeocera Csiki, 1909, Scaphoxium L & ouml;bl, 1971 and Xotidium L & ouml;bl, 1992 are provided, with notes on members of other genera. New taxa include Anobaeocera gen. nov. Anobaeocera riedeli sp. nov., Baeocera fraseri sp. nov., Baeocera lobata sp. nov., Baeocera penicillata sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera christinae sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera guidoi sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera jendeki sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera lucida sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera palmi sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera penangensis sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera planatula sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera striata sp. nov., Scaphoxium angustulum sp. nov. Scaphoxium calamei sp. nov., Scaphoxium lamellatum sp. nov., Scaphoxium langkawiense sp. nov., Xotidium digitale sp. nov. and Xotidium elongatum sp. nov. In addition, 21 Scaphisomatini species are reported from West Malaysia for the first time. Keys are provided for the West Malaysian species of Baeocera, Scaphobaeocera and Scaphoxium.
Three new mitromorphid species, two of the genus Anarithma (Anarithma pseudoiozona sp. nov. and Anarithma tsuzukii sp. nov.) one of the genus Mitromorpha (Mitromorpha laboutei sp. nov.), are described from the Indo-Pacific. In absence of DNA sequences, differentiation with their closest congeners is based on their conchological characters only.
Four new species of Crambus Fabricius related to Crambus tessellatus Hampson: Crambus amani sp. nov. from Tanzania, Crambus dzalanyama sp. nov. from Malawi, Crambus karsholti sp. nov. from Tanzania and Crambus pusillulus sp. nov. from Kenya along with a fifth new species, Crambus haendeli sp. nov. from Kenya, related to C. mozarti Bassi and allied, are described and illustrated.
This article provides descriptions of six species new to science: Euplectus sanigus sp. nov., E. nartus sp. nov., E. abascus sp. nov., E. apsilus sp. nov., E. belovi sp. nov. and E. semotus sp. nov. Information on the little-known species Euplectus puncticeps Reitter, 1888, E. eichleri Fleischer, 1921, and E. kulzeri Besuchet, 1958 is given. A new informal sanigus species group is proposed, uniting all these species except E. puncticeps and E. semotus. Considerations on the relationship of habitat to the particularities of Euplectus morphology are presented. A new and interesting feature occurring among Euplectitae is discovered and illustrated.
While working at the Mus & eacute;um d'histoire naturelle de Gen & egrave;ve, Leo Zehntner described 22 species and three varieties of Decapoda. The type specimens of these species are listed, the label data for the specimens is reported and the current combination is provided.
Two new species of Gibberula are described from Gabon on the basis of their shell features and of their animal chromatism, as G. gabonensis sp. nov. and G. bernardi sp. nov. The shell of G. gabonensis suggests affinities of this species with G. knudseni Boyer, Renda & Swinnen, 2024, described from Cameroon, and with G. quadrifasciata (Marrat, 1873), described from "Kabenda" (Angolan enclave of Cabinda, mouth of Congo River), but only recognized from Ghana until now. Gibberula bernardi is compared with G. decorfasciata Rol & aacute;n & Fernandes, 1997 described from Ghana, as well as with G. aurata (Bavay, 1912), with G. pallata (Bavay, 1912), and with the form G. cf. benguelensis Jousseaume, 1875, all of them documented from Angola. Gibberula gabonensis is only known from the coasts of Ghana; G. bernardi is also reported from the coasts of the Republic of the Congo.
Cataglyphis golestanica sp. nov., a member of the C. cursor species group is described from the Golestan Province of Iran. The number of Cataglyphis species known to Iran is now 39.
Newly examined collections of Taiwanese Scaphidiinae yield five new species: Scaphidium centronotatum sp. nov., Scaphidium tenuifasciatum sp. nov., Pseudobironium conus sp. nov., Scaphisoma fushanense sp. nov., and Scaphoxium martini sp. nov. The following species are reported for the first time from Taiwan: Scaphidium crypticum Tang, Li & He, 2014, Scaphidium sinense Pic, 1954, Scaphisoma binhanum (Pic, 1922), Scaphisoma colasi L & ouml;bl, 1965, Scaphisoma gracilendum L & ouml;bl, 1990, and Scaphisoma sakaii L & ouml;bl, 1988. New records and illustrations of the internal sacs of the aedeagi are given for Scaphidium shirakii Miwa & Mitono, 1943 and Scaphidium shibatai Kimura, 1987.
Mesozoic fossils of Leiodidae are rare. Here, a new genus and species of the leiodid subfamily Cholevinae, Burmaphagus yamamotoae gen. et. sp. nov. from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber of northern Myanmar, is described and illustrated. It can be differentiated from Cretoptomaphagus Bao & Antunes-Carvalho, 2020, which is also placed in the tribe Ptomaphagini, mainly by the antennal morphology and structure of the legs. Our finding suggests a potentially diverse paleofauna of cholevine beetles in the Cretaceous.
The following new Scaphidiinae species are described from Myanmar: Scaphisoma bispinosoides sp. nov., S. fortepunctatum sp. nov., S. haraldi sp. nov., S. kurbatovi sp. nov., S. multidentatum sp. nov., S. obesum sp. nov., S. remotum sp. nov., S. serratum sp. nov., S. veloxiodes sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera birmana sp. nov., S. brunkei sp. nov., S. fimbriata sp. nov. and Scaphoxium spinosum sp. nov. Cyparium testaceum Pic, 1920, Scaphisoma basipenne (Pic, 1930), S. helferi Pic, 1930 and S. nigroplagatum Achard, 1920 are redescribed, and the published aedeagal characters of S. coalitum L & ouml;bl, 1992 are supplemented. Besides, 39 species of Cyparium Erichson, 1845, Kasibaeocera Leschen & L & ouml;bl, 2005, Sapitia Achard, 1920, Scaphisoma Leach, 1815, Scaphobaeocera Csiki, 1909, Scaphoxium L & ouml;bl, 1979 and Toxidium LeConte, 1860 are reported from Myanmar for the first time. A check-list of the 104 Myanmar scaphidiine species in 12 genera is provided.
The eastern Asiatic species of the Xylostola indistincta (Moore, 1882) species complex are revised and a new species, Xylostolajamesyoungi sp. nov. is described. The adults and the genitalia of both sexes are illustrated for three species: X. indistincta, X. jamesyoungi, and the AfricanX. punctum Berio, 1956. A lectotype is designated forX. indistincta.
