New Species

In this episode, Danniella Sherwood brings us two new pseudoscorpions from Ascension Island, one of the most remote islands in the world. Ascension’s ecological history is full of many twists and turns, and it is home to amazing biodiversity that is in desperate need of conservation. Danni and her team worked together to address this need, producing a paper titled ‘David and Goliath’ with one very small and one very large new species. They also provide new faunistic records, or records that show that Ascension and the nearby Boatswain Bird Island are home to stunning endemic pseudoscorpion diversity.

One of my favorite things about Danni’s story is the emphasis she places on teamwork. “It takes a village to produce good research,” She says. “it takes a village to work towards visions of conserving invertebrates in their habitats. You need to have people from all fields, all specialties, all viewpoints in order to make something that’s really impactful, really lasting and enduring to the fields of conservation and ecology and taxonomy.” Listen to this episode for a meaningful story of teamwork and community, and to learn the importance of taxonomy’s role in conserving island flora and fauna. 

Danniella Sherwood’s paper “David and Goliath: on the pseudoscorpions of Ascension Island, including the world’s largest, Garypus titanius Beier, 1961, and a new, minute, Neocheiridium Beier, 1932 (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)” is in issue 42 of Natura Somogyienis.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.24394/NatSom.2024.42.131

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Danni Sherwood 2 - Transcript

Listen to Danni’s other New Species episode about St. Helenian wolf spiders: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0o8dL8yEpRiFtMO1gVNjkc?si=c068e5d3b6fb40f7

New Species: Garypus ellickae and Neocheiridium ashmoleorum 

Episode image credit: Adam Sharp

Follow the Ascension Island Government Conservation Directorate here:

https://www.facebook.com/AscensionIslandConservation

https://twitter.com/aigconservation

Follow Danni’s research on all manner of arachnids here:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Danniella-Sherwood

Follow the Species Recovery Trust:

https://www.facebook.com/TheSpeciesRecoveryTrust/

https://www.twitter.com/speciesrecovery

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

This paper started because Chloé Löis Fourreau and Marcos Teixeira were both too sick to dive during a NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network) bioblitz expedition in the Red Sea. Hoping to at least collect something, they swam to the shoreline and began snorkeling in the shallow water. When they began turning over rocks, what felt like a wasted day turned into an amazing intertidal discovery. In this episode, Chloé and Marcos are joined by their colleague Juan Sempere-Valverde to tell the exciting story of their new segmented polychaete worm, and to encourage everyone to pay attention to annelids and the great value they bring to science. 

Just a quick disclaimer for this episode, for some reason my primary recording didn’t save so i’m using the backup. As a result the quality is not great, and for that I really apologize! A reminder that every episode has a transcript (below) so please use that to aid in any hard-to-hear parts.

Chloé Löis Fourreau, Marcos A.L. Teixeira, and Juan Sempere-Valverde’s paper “Two new records and description of a new Perinereis (Annelida, Nereididae) species for the Saudi Arabian Red Sea region” is in volume 1196 of Zookeys.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1196.115260

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Chloé Löis Fourreau, Marcos Teixeira, and Juan Sempere-Valverde - Transcript

New Species: Perinereis kaustiana

Episode image credit: Juan Sempere-Valverde

New Species: Perinereis kaustiana

Episode image credit: Juan Sempere-Valverde

Follow Chloé on Twitter: ChaoticChloeia

Follow Juan on Instagram: @bem_lab and @zoologiaus

Read Marcos’ recent paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2116124

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Louis Nastasi has a deep love of wasps, and a particular fascination with Cynipid wasps, gall wasps that can specialize on just a few plants or even a single species. In this episode he tells us about their diversity and the tangled phylogenies he works on, and answers the question his paper poses; “Cryptic or underworked?” There’s so much we don’t know about gall wasps, and it has so many implications for conservation, agriculture, and more!

Louis Nastasi’s paper “Cryptic or underworked? Taxonomic revision of the Antistrophus rufus species complex (Cynipoidea, Aulacideini)” is in volume 97 of the Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.97.121918

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Louis Nastasi - Transcript

New Species: Antistrophus laurenae

Episode image credit: Antoine Guiguet

Send Louis a Silphium plant gall! Email him at: [email protected]

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod. Bonus episodes are coming soon!

What can tiny, flightless beetles tell us about the history of mountain geography and climate? It turns out, quite a bit! In this episode, Dr. Adam Haberski introduces us to the wild world of Staphylinid beetles, some of the most diverse creatures on the planet. We learn about the joys (and pitfalls) of collecting in the Southern Appalachians, as well as their billion-year-old history and the amazing beetle lineages that they helped shape. 

Adam Haberski’s paper “A review of Nearctic Lathrobium (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), with revision and descriptions of new flightless species from the mountains of the southeastern U.S.” is in volume 1198 of Zookeys. 

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1198.118355

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Adam Haberski - Transcript

New Species: Lathrobium balsamense, Lathrobium camplyacra, Lathrobium islae, Lathrobium lividum, Lathrobium smokiense, Lathrobium absconditum, Lathrobium hardeni, Lathrobium lapidum, Lathrobium solum, and Lathrobium thompsonorum

Episode image credit: Mike Caterino

Check out Adam’s amazing photography on instagram: @alaskamacro

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

In part 3 of Taxonomy Basics, Marc Milne of the University of Indianapolis tells us all about the process of identifying and publishing new species. He has tips and tricks for microscope work, finding online resources, and many other facets of the description process.

Marc is a spider taxonomist and ecologist who specializes in several different groups including Linyphiids and Nesticids. He is also a professor of Biology, and teaches classes that include ecology and genetics. 

Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Whiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond. 

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Marc Milne - Transcript

Episode image credit: Marshal Hedin

Follow Marc on twitter: @forthespiders

Resources mentioned in this episode include: 

The World Spider Catalog: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/

Spiders of North America: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691175614/spiders-of-north-america

Salticidae of the World: https://www.jumping-spiders.com/

American Arachnological Society Website State-by-State Guide: https://www.americanarachnology.org/about-arachnids/arachnid-orders/

LinEpig: https://linepig.fieldmuseum.org/

All Bugs Go to Kevin (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/AllBugsGoToKevin

iNaturalist: www.iNaturalist.org

BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/

Some scientists to learn from online:

The Bug Chicks: https://www.thebugchicks.com/

Entomologia Asturias (Christian Pertegal): https://www.twitch.tv/entomologiaasturias

Entomology Abby: https://www.instagram.com/entomologyabby/?hl=en

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

In part 2 of Taxonomy Basics, Ashleigh Whiffin of National Museums Scotland brings us into the entomology collection to learn the fundamentals of curation and preservation, including which pins to use, the importance of collection data, and much more.

Ashleigh is responsible for the care and development of a collection of 2.5 million insect specimens. She is particularly interested in collections care and science communication, and is a coleopterist, specializing in Carrion beetles (Silphidae). In the UK, she works with the Biological Records Centre to co-organise a National Recording Scheme for Carrion Beetles, promoting the importance of the group and encouraging more people to record them. In 2020, she co-authored an atlas on Silphids and Histerids and has featured on national TV, sharing her passion for these beetles.

Ashleigh recently helped develop a new training resource hosted on the National Museums Scotland website:

https://www.nms.ac.uk/about-us/our-services/training-and-guidance-for-museums/caring-for-entomology-collections/ 

This self-guided resource is an introduction to Caring for Entomology Collections, covering the basics through a combination of videos and text, as well as links for where to go for additional information. 

Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Whiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond. 

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ashleigh Whiffin - Transcript

Episode image credit: Molly Wilders

Connect with Ashleigh on Instagram/Threads: @ash_whiffin

X: @AshWhiffin

BlueSky: @ashwhffin.bsky.social

More info here: https://www.nms.ac.uk/collections-research/collections-departments/natural-sciences/meet-the-team/ashleigh-whiffin/ 

Places to be involved in virtual curation and other citizen science projects:

https://www.zooniverse.org/

https://scistarter.org/

https://transcription.si.edu/

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

In part 1 of Taxonomy Basics, Evan Waite from Arizona State University teaches us all about collecting entomological specimens. From which traps to use to tips on sharing your collection with others, Evan gives us all of the details with some great stories along the way.

Evan is a coleopterist and PhD Candidate at Arizona State University. His work focuses on ground beetles, but he’s broadly interested in beetle diversity and has a personal collection that includes over 2,000 specimens from all across the arthropod world. His collecting and taxonomic work has taken him across the country to many unique habitats, as well as a variety of entomological collections. 

Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Wiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond. 

Connect with Evan online: @Evantomology on all platforms

Read Evan’s paper about collecting bias, including a case study:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10323768/

Watch Evan’s talk “A Journey from Bugs to Birds” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asZWkrmAXZ4&t=3s

Chris Grinter’s website with a guide to collecting permits:

https://www.theskepticalmoth.com/collecting-permits/

UC Davis guide: How to Collect Insects: https://bohart.ucdavis.edu/how-collect-insects

A transcript of this episode can be found here:

Evan Waite - Transcript

Episode image credit: Evan Waite

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

“Another spider paper?!” you might ask. “More new spiders, what’s so interesting?” Well in addition to a revised genus and three new species, Adrià Bellvert and Miquel Arnedo’s most recent publication highlights some of the unique challenges taxonomists deal with as they work to untangle species relationships. “I think that the important part [of this paper] is it interfaces very well, it summarizes very well the kind of problems that.. we have to address when we are trying to understand the diversity of mega diverse groups,” says Miquel. Things like deteriorated specimens, missing label information, and difficulty collecting also contribute. But by the end of their story we see that time, effort, and collaboration can bring about some really important findings.

Miquel and Adrià’s paper “Integrating museum collections and molecules reveals genus-level synonymy and new species in red devil spiders (Araneae, Dysderidae) from the Middle East and Central Asia” is in volume 921 of the Journal of European Taxonomy

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.921.2429

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Adrià Bellvert and Miquel Arnedo - Transcript

New Species: Dysdera jaegeri, Dysdera naouelae, and Dysdera kourosh

Episode image credit: Adrià Bellvert

You can follow Adrià and Miquel on Twitter: @AdriaBellvert and @spidersysevo (Miquel’s lab)

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Skinks are one of the most diverse families of lizards, and Ishan Agarwal studies skinks in India, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. From the forest to the lab to the museum, Ishan shares his experiences investigating a group of cryptic skinks that had quite a few surprises to share, including biology and behavior. What is it about skinks that makes them so captivating? How and why do scientists designate neotypes? Why is a slingshot part of a skink-catching field kit? Find out in this episode of the New Species Podcast.

Read Ishan’s paper here: https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.74.e110674

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ishan Agarwal - Transcript

New Genus: Dravidoseps

New Species: Dravidoseps gingeeensis, Dravidoseps jawadhuensis, Dravidoseps kalakadensis, Dravidoseps srivilliputhurensis, and Dravidoseps tamilnaduensis. 

Episode image courtesy of Ishan Agarwal

Follow Ishan on Instagram: @Geckoella

Dropbox link to Ishan's papers: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Public/IA%20publications

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Mike Stephan is a lawyer obsessed with scientific etymology, specifically tautonyms, binomial names in which the generic name and species name are exactly the same. Scientific naming conventions and customs have a rich history, and as Mike says, “[taxonomic names] in some perhaps unintended way tell the greater story of human anthropology and history.” Come along for the ride as we discuss etymologies of all shapes, sizes, and redundancies and learn a little about people along the way. 

Order Mike’s book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tautonyms-michael-j-stephan/1143958127?ean=9798350910759

Read Mike’s recent paper proposing that botany allow tautonyms:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.12902

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Mike Stephan - Transcript

Interview with Stefano Mammola about spider names: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/jxWszZc24Hb

Interview with Alireza Zamani about a new species named after Brian: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/VhSS5Lf24Hb

Follow Mike on Instagram (and submit your draw-tonym): @Tautonyms 

Episode image courtesy of Mike Stephan

Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at [email protected]

If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod