The bloodfeeding leech genus Placobdella is dominated by North American diversity, with only a single nominal species known from Central America and one the Palearctic region. This likely due to considerable underestimation of biodiversity, but investigations into potential hidden diversity are lacking. To shed light on this, present study introduces new data for specimens initially identified ...

In 1998, the Aznalcóllar mine tailings dyke in southwestern Spain broke, flooding the Agrio-Guadiamar river system with acid tailings up to the borders of one of the largest breeding colonies of white storks in the western Palearctic, Dehesa de Abajo. Over the following years, a high proportion of nestlings developed leg defects not seen before the spill, prompting this study. Nestlings with de...

A new species of Acroperus Baird, 1843 (Cladocera: Chydoridae) is described based on the material from Lake Tana, Ethiopia and two water bodies in Eastern Cape, Republic of South Africa. In Africa, Acroperus africanus sp. nov. had a chance to be confused by previous authors with Palearctic A. harpae (Baird, 1834) and A. angustatus Sars, 1863, but it could be easily distinguished from the latter...

The diverse genus Ophion is almost entirely undescribed in the Nearctic region. In this paper we define the Ophionscutellaris species group. This species group is well-supported by analysis of DNA (ITS2, COI, and 28S D2-D3) and morphology. It includes the Palearctic species Ophionscutellaris and the Nearctic species Ophionidoneus. An integrative analysis of DNA, geometric wing morphometrics, cl...

Lithobius yuchernovisp. n. is described, based on type material from the Ola Plateau, Magadan Region, Russia. The new species is widely distributed in northeastern Siberia, ranging from the Magadan Region, until the eastern Chukot Autonomous Region and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the southeast, whence non-type material is documented. This species belongs to the subgenus Chinobius Matic, 1973 bas...

The invasion of multiple strains of the midge-borne bluetongue virus into southern Europe since the late 1990s provides a rare example of a clear impact of climate change on a vector-borne disease. However, the subsequent dramatic continent-wide spread and burden of this disease has depended largely on altered biotic interactions with vector and host communities in newly invaded areas. Transmis...