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En aquest article es fa la descripció de la tasca duta a terme durant el BioBlitz Serra Llarga-Secans de la Noguera dels dies 21 i 22 de maig de 2021 i es presenta el llistat d’espècies observades amb l’objectiu de facilitar que aquestes observacions es puguin integrar en les bases de dades públiques de biodiversitat This paper lists the work carried out during the BioBlitz Serra Llarga-Secans de la Noguera on 21-22 May 2021. We present the list of observed species with the aim of facilitating that these observation could be integrated into public biodiversity databases. En aquest article es fa la descripció de la tasca duta a terme durant el BioBlitz Serra Llarga-Secans de la Noguera dels dies 21 i 22 de maig de 2021 i es presenta el llistat d’espècies observades amb l’objectiu de facilitar que aquestes observacions es puguin integrar en les bases de dades públiques de biodiversitat

Description of Lasius ponderosae sp. nov. Lasius ponderosae Schär, Talavera, Rana, Espadaler, Cover, Shattuck and Vila. ZooBank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 22E2743A-2F1C-4870-B318-A1F2DF2B464C Etymology: ponderosae alludes to the ponderosa pine tree (Pinus ponderosa) that is at the centre of occurrence in the ponderosa pine—gambel oak communities in the western Rocky Mountains and northern Arizona. Type material: located at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, USA. Two paratype workers each will be deposited at the collections of University of California Davis (UCDC), the University of Utah (JTLC) and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (LACM). Holotype: worker, Fig. 3a–c. Type locality: USA, Utah: Uintah Co., Uintah Mtns., 2408 m. 18.6 mi N. Jct. Rt. 40 on Rt. 191, 40.66378°N, − 109.47918°E, leg. 15.VII.2013, S. P. Cover; J. D. Rana, collection code SPC 8571. Measurements [mm]: HL: 0.899, HW: 0.823, SL: 0.821, EL: 0.239, EW: 0.189, ProW: 0.56, ML: 1.069, HTL: 0.863, CI: 92, SI: 100. Paratypes: 15 workers, two gynes (Fig. 3d–f), two males (Fig. 3g –i) from the same series as the holotype, morphometric data is given in the Appendix, Table S 5 and Table S 6. CO 1 mitotype h17: Genbank Accession no. LT 977508. Description of the worker caste: A member of a complex of cryptic species resembling L. niger. Intermediate in overall body size, antennal scape length and eye size and comparable to related species (Table 1). Terminal segment of maxillary palps and torulo-clypeal distance relative to head size shorter than in related Palearctic species (Table 1). Mandibles with 8 or rarely 7 or 9 regular denticles and lacking offset teeth at their basal angle. Penultimate and terminal basal mandibular teeth of subequal size, and the gap in between with subequal area than the basal tooth. Anterior margin of clypeus evenly rounded. Dorsofrontal profile of pronotum slightly angular (Fig. 4a). Propodeal dome short and flat, usually lower than mesonotum (Fig. 4a). Body with abundant and long pilosity, especially lateral propodeum, genae, hind margin and underside of head. Pilosity of tibiae and antennal scapes variable, ranging from almost no setae (" L. alienus "-like phenotype) to very hairy (" L. niger "-like phenotype). Microscopic pubescent hairs on forehead between frontal carinae long and fine. Clypeus typically with only few scattered pubescent hairs (Figs. 3, 4c). Coloration of body dark brown, occasionally yellowish- or reddish-brown or slightly bicolored with head and thorax lighter than abdomen. Femora and antennal scapes brown. Mandibles and distal parts of legs yellowish to dark brown. Specimens of all 3 castes are shown in Fig. 3a–i and morphometric data are summarized in Table 1 and raw measurements are available in Table S 5 and S 6. Diagnosis: Lasius ponderosae sp. nov. workers key out to " L. niger " using Wilson’s 1955 key to the Nearctic Lasius species. However, some populations with reduced pilosity may also be identified as " L. alienus " using this key. Lasius alienus is a Eurasian species not known from North America 33. The Nearctic " L. alienus " sensu Wilson (1955) includes both, L. americanus as well as populations of L. ponderosae sp. nov. with sparse setae counts on tibia and/or scapes. Lasius ponderosae sp. nov. can be distinguished from L. americanus by the presence of abundant, long setae surpassing the sides of the head in full face view (nGen> 5 and nOcc> 10 vs. nGen L. americanus). Distinguishing Lasius ponderosae sp. nov. from related Eurasian species (e.g., L. niger or L. platythorax) by subjective eye inspection is difficult because there are no easily visible morphological traits allowing a separation of Lasius ponderosae sp. nov. from all these taxa. Lasius ponderosae sp. nov. is therefore a cryptic species. For L. niger, introduced to North America, nest samples can ofen be distinguished from L. ponderosae sp. nov. using the average mesosoma profile (Fig. 4a,b) and by fewer pubescent hairs on the clypeus (Fig. 4c,d). A distinction between single workers of L. ponderosae sp. nov. and L. niger, L. platythorax and related Palearctic species can be achieved by calculating the following discriminant function with measurements taken in mm: D = − 43.792* GUHL + 113.436*dCLAN + 75.68* MP 6 − 0.431*nSt − 10.075. Negative values of D indicate L. ponderosae sp. nov. (L. ponderosae sp. nov., n = 39, median, range: − 3.18 [− 5.83, − 0.43]; L. niger, L. platythorax, L. grandis, L. japonicus and L. cinereus, n = 49, median, range: 2.67 [0.18, 4.61]). A principal component analysis plot for the four most diagnostic variables (GUHL, dCLAN, MP 6 and nSt) is shown in Fig. 5. For a definition of the variables used in the function, see Supplementary Table S 4 and Supplementary Fig. S1. All morphometric data are available in Table S 6. Distribution: Western North America: Alberta, Arizona, Baja California, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington 53. Habitat: Occurring in a broad range of habitats and elevations, from 20–3220 m a. s. l. (mean: 1997 m) 53. Typical for mid-elevations in the mountains, whose primary habitat is ponderosa pine forest and its associated communities (e.g., dry meadows, sagebrush, gambel oak woodland) or at higher elevations in meadows bordered by aspen-spruce or alpine scree slopes, but also in other habitats. Nests in and under dead wood, and under stones in soil 53.

The aphid genus Cerataphis Lichtenstein is native to Southeast Asia although several species have been distributed to other tropical regions of the world. Cerataphis brasiliensis (Hempel) and Cerataphis lataniae (Boisduval) are of interest due to their potential as pests on palms. Those species and Cerataphis orchidearum (Westwood) may be morphologically confused with each other. In Costa Rica, two species have been reported, C. brasiliensis and C. orchidearum. This work aimed to contribute molecular data and ecological observations for species of Cerataphis present in Costa Rica. Few colonies (low frequency of occurrence) of C. brasiliensis and C. orchidearum were recorded during a survey conducted during 2014. Ten ant species were found associated to these aphid colonies. Partial sequences for the genes COI and EF-1α were obtained and compared to the few sequences available for this genus in public databases. Species identification by COI (barcoding) was not conclusive. Phylogenetic analyses and similarity pairwise comparisons showed a close relationship with the genus Tuberaphis Takahashi, including the clustering of mixed species from both genera. Yeast-like symbionts were detected by PCR in individuals of both Cerataphis species found in Costa Rica. Overall, the results suggest there is a need of curated sequence data representing the different Cerataphis species worldwide., This research was funded by Universidad de Costa Rica (grants 801-B7-169 and 801-A1-801). The authors are thankful to Carolina Godoy Cabrera, Universidad Estatal a Distancia, Costa Rica, for identification of delphacid individuals.

Resum.

Quan la formiga Messor barbarus remou selectivament les llavors de la Psoralea bituminosa podria estar canviant l'estructura de la població d'aquestes plantes. Per això, l'objectiu de l'estudi següent ha estat determinar empíricament la preferència d'aquestes formigues granívores per les llavors que potser eren més pesants, però sobretot menys dures. Els resultats són contundents: prop d'un 70% amb més duresa no són consumides. A més, com són dispersades lluny de la planta originària, les generacions següents evolucionarien amb aquesta característica física per tal de reforçar la seva defensa enfront d'aquestes formigues. Cuando la hormiga Messor barbarus remueve selectivamente las semillas de la Psoralea bituminosa, podría estar cambiando la estructura de la población de estas plantas. Por ello, el objetivo del siguiente estudio ha sido determinar empíricamente la preferencia de estas hormigas granívoras por las semillas que quizás eran más pesadas, pero sobre todo menos duras. Los resultados son contundentes: cerca de un 70% con más dureza no son consumidas. Además, al ser dispersadas lejos de la planta originaria, las siguientes generaciones evolucionarían con esta característica para poder fortalecer su defensa frente a estas hormigas.

Pitfall trapping in three biotopes added five species (Myrmica specioides, M. schencki, Lasius alienus, L. distinguendus and Camponotus ligniperdus) to the list of ants known from the Montseny (Barcelona. Spain), now totalling 46 species. The myrmecological community of the heathland is similar to other European heathland ant communities. Inseminated females of Myrmica specioides have been recovered from april to september, well out from its usual swarming dates. El estudio de tres biotopos por medio de trampas Barber (pitfall) ha permitido añadir cinco especies de hormigas al inventario del Montseny (Myrmica specioides, M. schencki, Lasius alienus, L. distinguendus y Camponotus ligniperdus) con lo que se eleva a 46 el número de species. Este número debe ser considerado provisional. La composición faunística de la landa muestreada no difiere sensiblemente de la de otras landas europeas. Se ha detectado la presencia fuera del nido (de abril a septiembre) de hembras fecundadas de Myrmica specioides fuera de su época normal de enjambrazón.

Se describe el macho de Formica decipiens Bondroit, que se diferencia de los de als especies más cercanas por la escasa pilosidad del gaster y coloración clara de las patas. Damos la distribución actualmente conocida de dicha especie. Añadimos dos nuevas especies al catálogo de hormigas de la península ibérica: Formica foreli Emery y Myrmica vandeli Bondroit.

Con la deforestación, los incendios y la utilización indebida de los agrotóxicos, las abejas nativas de Brasil corren un serio peligro de extinción. Ello se debe a que estas abejas construyen sus nidos en los huecos de los troncos de los árboles y también a que sus fuentes de alimentación son cada vez más escasas. Por ello cada vez son más los que se dedican a la meliponicultura, de esta manera se conservan las abejas y además, se obtiene una renta extra. Mediante el presente proyecto se capacitó en meliponicultura a una muestra de la población de Poço Redondo, para que de esta manera se empiece a recuperar su entorno y también su situación económica actual. Para poder conseguirlo se llevó a cabo el diseño del curso mediante la documentación previa, el trabajo de campo y el análisis de los datos. El resultado fue la capacitación, con la que se formó y concienció ambientalmente a personas para que se dedicaran a la meliponicultura de manera profesional. La desforestació, els incendis i la utilització inadequada dels agrotòxics, estan provocant que les abelles natives del Brasil es trobin en perill d'extinció. Això es deu a que les abelles fan servir els forats dels troncs de arbres per construir els nius i també perquè les seves fonts de alimentació son cada cop més reduïdes. Per aquesta raó, cada cop més gent es dedica a la meliponicultura; per a que es conservin les abelles i, a més a més, puguin obtenir una renda extra. Amb el present projecte s'ha capacitat en meliponicultura una mostra de la població de Poço Redondo, aconseguint que es comenci a recuperar l'entorn i també la seva situació econòmica actual. Per poder assolir-lo, s'ha portat a terme el disseny del curs mitjançant la documentació prèvia, el treball de camp i l'anàlisi de dades. El resultat ha estat la capacitació, amb la qual s'ha format i conscienciat ambientalment a persones perquè es dediquin a la meliponicultura com a professionals. Massive deforestation, fires and the inadequate use of pesticides are the main factors responsible for the enhanced extinction risk of native bees in Brazil. Because of their nesting habits in holes of tree trunks and the reduction of their food resources, there is an ongoing decrease of Meliponine bee populations. In 2 order to preserve those species and to improve the environment there is a growing interest in meliponiculture. This activity provides an extra income to practitioners and, indirectly, affects positively the environment. Within this project, some people from Poço Redondo have been trained in meliponiculture. To achieve this goal it has been necessary to gather and analyze published information and perform some field work. The result was the training in meliponiculture of interested people that were mainly motivated to get some rents and, indirectly, got -and understood- a message in environmental conservation.