The aim of the present review was to evaluate the state of knowledge of trematodes (Platyhelminthes: Trematoda) in Chile, covering taxonomy, biology, geographic distribution, and a checklist of all taxa reported in the country. A total of 277 articles published between 1849 and December 2020, have been analyzed. A total of 215 taxa belonging to the subclasses Digenea and Aspidosgastrea have been reported from Chile, 119 of them identified to species level and only three species with completely described life cycles. Trematodes from Chile were found parasitizing both native and exotic species, however, no records from insects and most crustacean classes exist. Overall, 159 out of 3989 potential host native species were reported as hosts for trematodes. Molecular tools were used in more recent taxonomic studies. Although research on trematodes in Chile is on the rise, there is a clear need for more detailed taxonomic studies to include integrative taxonomy approach, deposition of helminths in collections and the training of new generation of parasitologists to better understand the diversity, ecology and evolutionary relationships of trematodes in the region.

This work presents a review of the Coleophoridae of Namibia. In addition to the list of 27 species known to date, 14 new species are described: Coleophora magnaefontis sp. nov., C. gondwanae sp. nov., C. exotica sp. nov., C. pectinella sp. nov., C. abstrusa sp. nov., C. ausensis sp. nov., C. demiranda sp. nov., C. sandveldensis sp. nov., C. amaurosella sp. nov., C. omatakoella sp. nov., C. hobaterensis sp. nov., C. linteella sp. nov., C. leesi sp. nov., C. spatulifera sp. nov.

Phallocaecilius indicus sp. nov., from the Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India, is here described and illustrated. This is the third known species in the genus, which is here reported from the Indian subcontinent for the first time.

An annotated checklist of the nematodes parasites of Argentinian freshwater fishes is presented. This review includes information for 42 taxa of parasitic nematodes from 56 species of freshwater fish hosts. Fourty nematode species have been reported as adults and two as larvae. Camallanidae was the nematode family with the highest number of taxa (12 species), followed by Cucullanidae (4 species) and Raphidascarididae (4 species and 1 at genus level). The larval nematode Contracaecum sp. was the parasite with the widest range of host species, follow by Spirocamallanus hilarii, Spirocamallanus inopinatus, and Camallanus corderoi. Of the 570 species of freshwater fishes reported in Argentina, only 65 (11.4 %) were recorded as hosts of nematodes. Most records were in Characiformes, Siluriformes and Galaxiiformes, which may reflects sampling effort, since its abundance and widely distributions across differents ichthyogeographic provinces of Argentina. Most sampling were done in Great River and Patagonian ichthyogeographic provinces. The small number of examined fish hosts and geographically biased studies may not reflect the real richness and distribution of these parasites. Other obstacles that also contributes to the lack of completeness of this checklist are the problems in the taxonomic validity of some nematode species, doubtful host identification, and poor taxonomic resolution for larval stages of nematodes. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to deposit voucher specimens, including also of the hosts in reference collection, as well as performing integrative studies to elucidate the real taxonomic identity of nematode larvae. This is the first compilation on the nematode parasites of freshwater fishes from Argentina, including three nematode taxa recorded for new host records and four from new localities. Despite this study is exhaustive, the knowledge about parasitic nematodes from Argentinian freshwater fishes is far from complete, since some hydrological basin mainly in Pampean and Andean Cuyan regions and some host families remain unexplored in terms of nematode parasite detection.

The international plant trade provides opportunities for the introduction of exotic species into tropical greenhouses around the world. The millipede and centipede fauna of greenhouses is barely known in Switzerland. We conducted a survey in greenhouses of nine botanical gardens and other institutions across Switzerland. We captured and identified 1390 individuals belonging to 14 millipede species and 43 individuals belonging to 9 centipede species. Most millipede individuals recorded (80.3%) were non-native as were the species (8/14). Most centipede individuals (55.3%) were non-native, but not the majority of the species (4/10). The species composition varied strongly among greenhouses with species originating from different parts of the world. Seven species already known from greenhouses in other European countries are reported for the first time in Switzerland. These are the millipedes Cylindrodesmus hirsutus Pocock, 1889, Poratia obliterata (Kraus, 1960), Paraspirobolus lucifugus (Gervais, 1836) and the centipedes Mecistocephalus guildingii Newport, 1843, Tygarrup javanicus Attems, 1929, Lamyctes (Lamyctes) coeculus (Brölemann, 1889b), and Cryptops (Cryptops) doriae Pocock, 1891. The relevance of these findings is discussed.

Newly studied collection of Moluccan Scaphisomatini comprise nine species described here as new: Baeocera humicola sp. nov., Baeocera incurva sp. nov., Baeocera notata sp. nov., Baeocera paucivestis sp. nov., Baeocera punctigera sp. nov., Baeocera punctiventris sp. nov., Scaphisoma donati sp. nov., Scaphobaeocera plana sp. nov., and Scaphoxium lobatum sp. nov. Scaphisoma sublimbatum Löbl, 1977 and Scaphobaeocera schouteni Löbl, 1980 are reported for the first time from the Moluccas. A new key to the Moluccan species of Baeocera is provided.

Anewspecies, Anguliphantestadjik sp. nov., is described from medium altitudes in the mountains of the Republic of Tadjikistan. The species is very similar to the Himalayan A. nepalensis (Tanasevitch, 1987) and A. nepalensoides Tanasevitch, 2011, but clearly differs by certain structural details of the palp in the male and by the shape of the scapus in the female.

Two new myrmecophilous species of the supertribes Clavigeritae and Batrisitae are described from Yunnan, Southwest China: Diartiger jiquanyui sp. nov. associated with Lasius Fabricius ants, and Myrmicophila yulong sp. nov. associated with Myrmica Latreille ants. Both species are compared with and separated from related congeners, and images of their habitus and major diagnostic features are provided.

Caves play an important role in bat ecology, offering natural roosting and wintering sites. In the reproductive period, bats need to find an effective foraging environment away from the cave entrance, but only few studies have considered the use of foraging habitats in the immediate proximity of the caves. We provide a list of 18 bat species and 5 bat acoustic groups observed in a system of 81 caves in NW Italy. Winter censuses carried out during 17 years showed an increase of the Greater Horseshoe bat, a species of conservation concern. In the summer period this rare species was also observed foraging in nearby areas. Recording of bat calls in the summer period was performed both at cave entrances and in three foraging habitats present in the area surrounding the cave (woods, agricultural mosaic with artificial light, dark mosaic). Light mosaics and woods showed the highest foraging activity (160.3 and 72.0 pass/hour), while woods and cave entrances were accessed by the largest number of bat species. Our survey improves the inventory of bat species in a poorly sampled area, and we recommend a reduced tourism access, thereby promoting preservation of bats.

The sand lizard (Lacerta agilis), which occupies a large part of temperate Eurasia and includes several morphologically and genetically distinct lineages, is a model species for life-history studies. Yet, for major parts of the species range, basic data on female reproductive traits are lacking. Here we present the first data on female reproductive traits of Lacerta agilis bosnica, a poorly studied lineage inhabiting montane areas of the Balkan Peninsula. Ten females caught in mid-June 2017 on Mt. Maljen (950 m a.s.l.) in western Serbia were monitored and examined in the lab, as well as their eggs and hatchlings. We additionally examined the state and number of oocytes in 31 females from scientific collections. Mean clutch size is quite high (8.0 ± 0.4 eggs) in relation to small mean snout-vent length of gravid females (74 ± 1 mm), mean relative clutch mass is relatively low (0.37 ± 0.02), and egg incubation period (51 ± 1 days at 24-26 °C) is rather long for L. agilis. While mean values of the above traits are within the variation range found across conspecific populations studied thus far, mean values for egg size (mass, 0.42 ± 0.02 g; length, 11.8 ± 0.2 mm; width, 7.7 ± 0.1 mm) and hatchling size (mass, 0.47 ± 0.03 g; SVL, 25.0 ± 0.5 mm; tail length, 30.4 ± 1.6 mm) are clearly smaller than in all previously studied populations of this species.

René-Edouard Claparède, an often overlooked Genevan zoologist, described nearly 200 species of animal in his short career. These are listed with the currently valid combinations.

The marine malacofauna of New Caledonia is among the most studied and best known of the Indo-Pacific region. Previous studies have shown that its richness and species compositions are examples of extreme spatial heterogeneity. Turrids are among the richest and most diverse groups of marine gastropods. In the present paper the shallow-water turrid fauna of Ile des Pins is inventoried for the first time. 174 morphotypes hosted in 8 families are herein recorded, of which 22 species are considered new records for New Caledonia. The following new combinations were introduced: Mitromorpha drivasi (Chang, 1995), Acrista nana (Hervier, 1896), Acrista latirella (Melvill & Standen, 1896), Acrista pusilla (Dunker, 1871), Acrista tuberculifera (Hervier, 1896), Hemilienardia idiomorpha (Hervier, 1897), Heterocithara diatula (Hervier, 1897), Heterocithara isophanes (Hervier, 1897), and Pseudorhaphitoma hervieri Hedley, 1922.

Anarthrotarsus trichasi sp. nov., a second species of the genus Anarthrotarsus Šilhavý, 1967 is described based on fresh material from the northeastern part of the island of Crete, Greece. The male holotype of the type species of the genus Anarthrotarsus was discovered on the island of Corfu, Ionian Islands, Greece, but no other conspecific specimens were found there ever since. This also holds true for the population from Crete, from where a female paratype was collected. Genital morphology of male specimens from both populations markedly differs, and that of the holotype from Corfu is even unique among Trogulidae. Though the tarsal formula (1-1-1-1 in the four walking legs) is identical in both populations, penis morphology, the main generic character of Anarthrotarsus, clearly separates them. A close relationship of A. trichasi sp. nov. with species of the genus Calathocratus Simon, 1879 is supposed but awaits molecular genetic affirmation.

The genus Parasyleter Balkenohl, 2021 is revised. For the type species P. doriae (Putzeys, 1873) a lectotype is designated in order to maintain stability of the nomenclature. The following new species are described: P. perak sp. nov., P. kerdil sp. nov., P. rastellus sp. nov., and P. livaguensis sp. nov. An identification key to the species is provided. The distribution records of the species are displayed on a map.

We present a molecular phylogeny of African stream frogs (genus Strongylopus), based on 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, the nuclear recombination activating gene 1 (RAG-1) and tyrosinase exon 1 (tyr). Molecular data were supported by advertisement call analysis and morphology. We recognise six valid species: Strongylopus bonaespei (Dubois, 1981) from the southern and southwestern parts of the Western Cape Province, South Africa; Strongylopus fasciatus (Smith, 1849) from eastern South Africa to Zimbabwe; Strongylopus grayii (Smith, 1849) found throughout South Africa with older records in Naukluft, in central Namibia; Strongylopus rhodesianus (Hewitt, 1933) known from the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe and western Mozambique; Strongylopus wageri (Wager, 1961) from KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa and Strongylopus merumontanus (Lönnberg, 1907) from eastern Zambia, Malawi, northern Mozambique and Tanzania. Strongylopus fuelleborni (Nieden, 1911), S. kitumbeine Channing & Davenport, 2002 and S. kilimanjaro Clarke & Poynton, 2005 were shown to be junior synonyms of Strongylopus merumontanus. Strongylopus springbokensis Channing, 1986 is recovered as a junior synonym of Strongylopus grayii. Divergence ages were estimated, and discussed in terms of paleoclimatic events.

Described from Namibia, Trichophiala devylderi Aurivillius, 1879 is a species for which, apart from the original description of female “types”, little is known. Building upon recent observations in the field, investigations in various museums that preserve specimens, and a review of the literature, we describe for the first time the habitat, the known distribution, the morphology of both sexes including the presence of two phenotypes, and the genitalia of both male and female. We also provide genetic information from several specimens that reveal little variation in the standard animal DNA barcode. Finally, we designate a lectotype among the three specimens preserved at the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden.