We tested the value of ethanol fuel as a killing solution in terms of sampling efficiency (species richness and accumulated abundance) and DNA preservation of Ensifera ground-dwelling specimens. Sampling efficiency was evaluated comparing abundance and species richness of pitfall sampling using 100% ethanol fuel, with two alternative killing solutions. We evaluated the DNA preservation efficien...

Ancient Lake Poso on the Indonesian island Sulawesi hosts a highly diverse endemic fauna, including a small species flock of atyid Caridina shrimps, which are characterized by conspicuous colour patterns. We used a mtDNA based molecular phylogeny to test the assumption of a monophyletic origin and intralacustrine radiation of the species flock and to assess the species specificity of some colou...

Weta possess typical Ensifera ears. Each ear comprises three functional parts: two equally sized tympanal membranes, an underlying system of modified tracheal chambers, and the auditory sensory organ, the crista acustica. This organ sits within an enclosed fluid-filled channel-previously presumed to be hemolymph. The role this channel plays in insect hearing is unknown. We discovered that the f...

The fossil orthopteran Brauckmannia groeningae Martins-Neto (Orthoptera, Ensifera) from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil, currently misplaced at both the genus and family level, is transferred to the family Schizodactylidae and assigned to the extant genus Schizodactylus Brullé; ergo, Brauckmannia enters synonymy under Schizodactylus and Brauckmanniidae enters synonymy under Schiz...