Morphology and molecules reveal high species diversity of Ligidium (Crustacea: Oniscidea: Ligiidae) in Jiangxi, China

First record of the subgenus Hemilepistus (Desertellio) (Isopoda, Agnaridae) from China

The subgenus Hemilepistus (Desertellio) Verhoeff, 1930 is reported from China for the first time. A new species of the subgenus, H. (D.) gracilentus Li & Jiang sp. nov., is described from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China and H. (D.) ruderalis (Pallas, 1771) is redescribed as a new record for Chinese Fauna, and its polymorphism is verified by using the COI sequences. A key to the worldwide species of the subgenus is provided.

Integrative taxonomy on the rare sky-island Ligidium species from southwest China (Isopoda, Oniscidea, Ligiidae)

Background

The sky-island Ligidium species fauna in southwest China is poorly known. Before this study, six of the seven sky-island species of the genus were known to be endemic to southwest China. In morphology, Ligidium species are often difficult to identify, and an appraisal of integrative taxonomy is needed.

Results

We integrated morphology and molecular analyses to delimit Ligidium species. Molecular species delimitation based on distance- and evolutionary models recovered seven-candidate lineages from five gene markers (COI, 12S rRNA, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and NAK). We also estimated that the species divergences of sky-island Ligidium in southwest China started in late Eocene (40.97 Mya) to middle Miocene (15.19 Mya).

Four new species (L. duospinatum Li, sp. nov., L. acuminatum Li, sp. nov., L. rotundum Li, sp. nov. and L. tridentatum Li, sp. nov.) are described. Morphological confusion among L. denticulatum Shen, 1949, L. inerme Nunomura & Xie, 2000 and L. sichuanense Nunomura, 2002 is clarified by integrative taxonomy.

Conclusion

This work confirms that an integrative approach to Ligidium taxonomy is fundamental for objective classification, and deduced the uplift of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the late Eocene and middle Miocene as one of the principal reasons for the species divergences of sky-island Ligidium in southwest China. We also inferred that sky-island mountains have a huge reserve of higher Ligidium species diversity.

The geographical distribution patterns of Chrysoteuchia Hübner in China and description of a new species (Lepidoptera, Crambidae)

The geographical distribution patterns of Chrysoteuchia Hübner in China are analysed with MaxEnt and ArcGIS based on known localities and nineteen environmental variables. The results suggest that southeastern China is a highly suitable area, and Bio11 (mean temperature of the coldest quarter), Bio12 (annual precipitation) and Bio18 (precipitation of the warmest quarter) are revealed to be the main variables affecting the present distribution patterns. Among them, Bio18 is the strongest predictor with a 24.3% contribution. Furthermore, a new species from Tibet is added to the genus, Chrysoteuchialandryisp. nov., and the male of C.curvicavus is described for the first time. Images of adults and their genitalia are illustrated, and two maps showing the geographical distribution patterns of Chrysoteuchia in China are provided.