Trichoptera of northeastern Algeria : New species, noteworthy records, and a review of the genus Hydropsyche (Hydropsychidae)

The Lake Victoria basin (LVB) and its tributary rivers are a major biodiversity hot spot, containing at least 234 native fish species, 135 native aquatic plant species, and 50 native freshwater mollusc species. Lake Victoria itself is home to around 500 fish species, most of which are haplochromine cichlids. The LVB is increasingly under threat from unsustainable land conversion and the intensification of agriculture. High population growth is driving the expansion of agriculture, urbanization, and freshwater abstractions, which have a profound impact on freshwater biodiversity. In addition, increased demand for agricultural crops from domestic and international markets are likely to lead to larger agricultural operations, further threatening freshwater biodiversity. This study explores these potential future impacts on the biodiversity found in freshwater rivers in the LVB as a result of projected future changes in land use. A newly developed database of land‐use impacts on freshwater biodiversity is introduced, with a focus on ecological community composition data from freshwater habitats under human pressures. Impacts on freshwater biodiversity are then projected under four different scenarios of land‐use change. Results show that land use has a significant impact on freshwater biodiversity. Freshwater biodiversity is projected to be at most risk in sub‐basins in the Tanzanian, Rwandan, and Burundian part of the LVB, such as the Kagera and Magoga/Isonga sub‐basins. Local species richness levels are particularly affected in the Magoga/Isonga sub‐basin in Tanzania, with an average loss of 10.8% across all scenarios. Model results show the potential to identify broad spatial patterns of likely threats and pressures on freshwater ecosystems under different socio‐economic futures. The analysis of these patterns, where they are consistent and where they differ, can support the production of policy that strives to find the optimal balance between development and conservation in an uncertain future.

Freshwater biodiversity is currently under multiple threats. Conservation of freshwater fish biodiversity needs to be prioritized because natural conservation resources are always limited.Samples were collected at 24 sites in the Min River, the largest basin in southeastern China. Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity were analyzed. Biodiversity vulnerability was measured by removing one species each time out of the community with replacement.Results suggested that hotspots for taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity were located at two impounded sites, while for functional diversity were those sites with no upstream dams. Little congruence was observed between taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity. Fragmentation of river network connectivity caused by dams was a significant factor affecting the biodiversity patterns. Beta turnover was the driving component for beta diversity, indicating that biodiversity dissimilarity along the river was mostly explained by environmental sorting. Fifteen out of 16 species that contributed the most to different facets of biodiversity were mostly endemic, either they had distinctive functional traits or they were the most prevalent species. Sites with the highest diversity vulnerability were characterized by these distinctive species. Functional diversity was more vulnerable to species loss comparing with the other two biodiversity facets.Prioritizing those biodiversity hotspots, sites with extreme functional vulnerability, and those distinctive endemic species which contributed the most to biodiversity vulnerability is suggested in the Min River. The study found evidence that congruence among different facets of biodiversity is hard to achieve, and functional diversity is the most vulnerable in a freshwater system fragmented by intensive dam constructions. This work will help to develop systematic conservation planning from the perspective of different biodiversity facets.

This descriptive study focuses on the oral health of African migrants, especially adolescents, arriving in the Canary Islands. Notably, these patients show a high prevalence of caries and oral mucosal alterations. These are influenced by multifactorial factors, such as living conditions in their country of origin, hygiene habits, and sugar-rich diets. Furthermore, it is worth noting the need for inclusive oral health policies in receiving countries and the need to develop oral health care protocols in regions with migratory flows to effectively address oral health needs and facilitate the integration of migrants. We included 104 migrant patients from different African countries, mainly from North and West Africa, and analyzed their oral health status. We found that 89.4% of the patients had dental caries, with a higher prevalence in North Africa. Moreover, 25% of patients showed oral mucosal alterations, with leukoedema being the most common condition. Regarding malocclusions, 42.6% of patients had Class I malocclusion and only 15.4% had dental crowding. Regarding intraosseous lesions, 97.1% of the patients had no lesions and most did not require dental prostheses. This study provides a detailed overview of the oral health conditions of African migrants in the Canary Islands.

“Latin” rock scripts were discovered 30 years ago in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura Islands (Canary Islands). However, they are an incised linear writing which lacks Q, H, P and T frequent Latin letters and translation into Latin has not been possible. A transcription and a translation hypothesis was proposed long ago because scripts were almost identical to those of the Iberian semi-syllabary which was used in Iberia and France during first millennium BC; “Latin” scripts were named “IberianGuanche” and were mostly religious and funerary. This type of lineal incise writing is present in all seven Canary Islands and they may have been unnoticed because all other islands except Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are humid and covered by vegetation. This type of linear writings are, like Iberian, similar to Runes (Atlantic and Central Europe),Old Italian scripts (Raetian, Venetic, Lepontic, Etruscan) and Sitovo and Gradeshnistsa scripts (Bulgaria, 5th millennium BC). Language behind Iberian-Guanche scripts might be related to both Berber and Old Basque languages. People who wrote “Iberian-Guanche” inscriptions seem to be Canary Island inhabitants and not visitors. Genes (people) of present and past Canary Islanders are difficult only to assign to North Africa because gene flow between North Africa and Iberia existed in prehistoric times and it is difficult to distinguish Iberian and North African with Canarian gene profiles. Genetics by itself is not sufficient for relating people or specific for geography, this is firmly demonstrated for mitochondrial genes. Linguistics, Culture, and Archaeology are necessary to interpret population genetics data. Extant pyramids in North Africa, Western Sahara and possibly Tenerife, existence of prehistoric artifacts and rock calendars (“Quesera”/Cheeseborad lunisolar calendar at Lanzarote and others at Gran Canaria Island) and presence of Cart-Ruts on Lanzarote volcano tops, may indicate an older date for Canarian prehistory than that of Punic/Roman presence. Finally Canarian prehistoric findings have been long neglected and forgotten but a common IberianGuanche rock writing culture existed in Canary Islands. Keywords : Latin, Scripts, Canary Islands, Iberian, Guanche, Lybic, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Quesera, Cheeseboard, Pyramids, Berber, Africa, Punic, Roman, Western Sahara, Tunisia, Algeria, Canarian, Semi-Sillabary, Calendar, Raetian, Lepontic, Venetian, Etruscan, Basque, Cart-ruts, Sitovo, Gradeshnitsa, UskoMediterranean.

Aim This paper has three aims: (1) to reconstruct the colonization history of two peripheral populations of the trumpeter finch (Bucanetes githagineus) presumably originating from the same source, one the result of an ancient expansion process and the other recently established and still expanding; (2) to estimate the importance of key events, such as past and current gene flow and bottlenecks, in both expansion processes and their contribution to the present population structure and genetic diversity; and (3) to find out whether two peripheral populations that established at widely differing times also differ in terms of genetic diversity.Location Northwest Africa (assumed source population), Canary Islands (long‐established peripheral) and south‐eastern Iberian Peninsula (recently established peripheral).Methods Bayesian analysis of population structure, individual assignment tests, F‐statistics, maximum likelihood migration estimates, genetic diversity indices and bottleneck tests were calculated with microsatellite data from 194 trumpeter finches from five breeding and two seasonal non‐breeding sites.Results Our data support the existence of two subpopulations (Canary Island and Ibero‐African) as the most likely population structure. Seasonal sites in the Iberian Peninsula had the highest percentage of birds assigned to other, mainly Iberian, sites. Pairwise FST values showed that the Canary Island localities were very similar to each other, but differed from the rest. Gene flow estimates within subpopulations were only slightly higher in the Canary Island population than in the Ibero‐African one. Gene diversity indices were similar at all localities. Canary Island sites show evidence of bottlenecks, whereas the Ibero‐African sites do not.Main conclusions Our data show that, at present, birds from the Canary Islands are genetically differentiated from those in North Africa and continental Spain. We could not unequivocally confirm the African origin of Canary populations because the contrary is also plausible. The Iberian Peninsula seems to have repeatedly received individuals from North Africa, which would have led to the relatively high genetic diversity found in these recently established localities and prevented bottlenecks. Movements of individuals towards sites outside their current range during the non‐breeding season are likely to precede the establishment of new breeding sites at the periphery of the distribution range.

This research was supported by Fundación Canaria de Investigación y Salud
\n(project 34/04) and the Consejeria de Educación y Ciencia de Castilla-La Mancha
\n(project POII09-0141-8176).

The Madeira-Porto Santo Archipelago was officially colonized in 1420 by Portuguese settlers. Its importance in Columbus' information for the American discovery and for slave traffic across the Atlantic is unquestionable. Thus, a complex peopling may have given rise to a present-day high admixture of ethnicities according to HLA genes. A sample of 173 healthy unrelated Madeirans was analysed and compared with 6986 HLA chromosomes from other worldwide populations. Genetic distances, neighbour-joining dendrograms and correspondence analyses were used for comparisons. Southern European, North African (including Canary Islands), Jewish and Mediterranean typical HLA alleles were found and genetic distances from Madeirans to these populations were the closest ones. In addition A*24-B*65-DRB1*0102-DQB1*0501 and A*68-B*08-DRB1*0301-DQB1*0201 haplotypes were newly found in Madeira and not found in any other population. Jewish-Armenian-Middle East haplotype (A*33-B*65-DRB1*0102-DQB1*0501) is one of the most common haplotypes; this haplotype is also present in Spaniards and North Africans. Quantitatively, Portuguese, North Africans (Algerians), Spaniards and Canary Islanders (in this order) are the most important parental populations to Madeirans. Results are discussed on the basis of the recorded historical peopling which does not show a noticeable African gene input in present-day Madeiran population according to our data; one of the closest related populations found is the Canary Islanders, suggesting that Guanche (Canary Islands first inhabitants) slaves gene flow is still noticed at present, both in Madeira and in Canary Islands populations.

First CanaryIslands(Spain) Inhabitants (“Guanches”) origin has been much debated. Lately, it has come popular the simplistic theory that they came from North Africa. In the present paper, we conclude that not only North Africans but also Iberian/Atlantic Europeans (and possibly others) must have been first Canarians. Debate whether North Africans or Iberians were the first “Guanches” is artificial since Iberian Peninsula-North African genes flow in ancient times was abundant and Iberians share a great part of genetic profile with North Africans. New genetic (HLA) and linguistic data shown in the present paper, is supported by diverse early anthropological and “Guanches” mummies characters which confirm existence of at least two “Guanches” types and a correct interpretation of R1b Y chromosome high frequency in Atlantic Europe (Ireland, British Isles, North Spain,Basque Coast and Portugal), and also, is present in Canary Islands (13.3%). Present paper HLA genes partial data and presence of abundant old Iberian language scripts (which show an easy translation proposal by using Basque) in Fuerteventura and also in Lanzarote and El Hierro Islands suggest that a present day dogma of a hypothetically North African single origin should be changed. Both Atlantic/Europeans and North Africans define origin of Canary Islands first inhabitants.Keywords: Basque, Canary Islands, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, genes, genetic markers, Guanche, HLA, Iberian, Language, Lanzarote, Latin Inscriptions, R1b, R1b1b, Rock scripts, Usko-Mediterranean, Y chromosome.

Cynipid galls on oak (Fagaceae: Quercus) are natural microcosms that support many insect species, including the gall inducers (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae, Cynipini), cynipid inquilines, and chalcid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Little is known about these communities in North Africa, and here we report the results of the first systematic surveys in northeastern Algeria. Thirteen Cynipini species gall generations were reared from 999 galls on Quercus suber L. and Q. faginea Lam. collected between 2022 and 2024. A total of 242 parasitoids representing 19 chalcid species in seven families were reared, six of which (Aulogymnus trilineatus (Mayr), Eurytoma setigera Mayr, Sycophila iracemae Nieves-Aldrey, Sycophila variegata (Curtis), Ormyrus pomaceus (Geoffroy), and Torymus affinis (Fonscolombe)) are recorded for the first time from North Africa. Similarities in parasitoid assemblage composition between cynipid galls with similar morphology that develop on the same host tree organ, and differences among host galls that differ morphologically, structurally, and phenologically are documented, corroborating previous research.

The genus Atomopria Kieffer, 1911 currently includes two only described species: A. fulvicornis Kieffer, 1911, from north-western Italy (Liguria) and A. rufithorax Kieffer, 1911, from Tunisia (Tunis). The following ten new species are described from North Africa and Canary Islands: A. helenae n. sp. (Algeria, Kabylia), A. giachinoi n. sp. (Algeria, Kabylia), A. lisae n. sp. (Algeria, Kabylia), A. olmii n. sp. (Canary Islands, Gran Canaria), A. ortegae n. sp. (Canary Islands, Tenerife), A. boffai n. sp. (Canary Islands, Tenerife), A. cavazzutii n. sp. (Canary Islands, Tenerife), A. longicornis n. sp. (Canary Islands, Tenerife), A. paglianoi n. sp. (Canary Islands, Tenerife), A. scaramozzinoi n. sp. (Canary Islands, Tenerife). Diagnostic morphological features of representatives of this genus are described; male genitalia of some species are illustrated for the first time. The synonymy of the genus Atomopria with Basalys Westwood, 1832 is also hypothesized, but not proposed in this contribution. A key for identification of all species is provided, both for females and males. Finally, some taxonomic and biogeographic questions are briefly debated.

The Canaries: an important biogeographical meeting place

The ability of aquatic insects to colonize Earth’s most remote freshwater habitats, such as those of islands and deserts, is limited to select taxa. Among black flies, the premiere colonization specialist is Simulium ruficorne Macquart, the only species known from both the Afrotropical and Palearctic regions. We investigated the cytogenetics of S. ruficorne to gain insight into its wide geographic distribution and ability to colonize oceanic islands and deserts. On the basis of larval polytene chromosomes from 14 locations, we documented 17 novel and previously known chromosomal rearrangements and established five cytoforms (A1, A2, B, C, and D), of which probably four (A1/A2, B, C, and D) are distinct species and two (A1 and A2) represent sex-chromosome polymorphism involving a heteroband in the long arm of chromosome III. The chromosome restructuring phenomena associated with the five cytoforms are consistent with the trend in the Simuliidae that one and the same rearrangement can assume different functions in the various descendants of a common ancestor in which the rearrangement was polymorphic. The most widely distributed cytoforms are A1 and A2, which are found in North Africa, the Canary Islands, and Majorca. Simulium ruficorne, the only known black fly in the Hoggar Mountains of the central Sahara Desert, represents a cohesive population of cytoform A1 little differentiated from other North African populations of A1 and A2. Cytoform B inhabits the West African mainland, cytoform C is on Tenerife, and cytoform D is on Cape Verde. We suggest that dispersal and colonization specialists, such as S. ruficorne, are multivoltine inhabitants of temporary streams, and must relocate as their habitats deteriorate. Simulium ruficorne, therefore, should have adaptations that contribute to successful dispersal and colonization, perhaps largely physiological in nature, such as tolerance of high temperatures and droughts.

K. anteuphorbium (L.) Haw. is a plant which has been familiar to botanists and horticulturists since the sixteenth century. Dodonaeus recorded that it was brought to Europe in 1570 and by 1596 Gerard was growing it in England. It proved to be a shy-flowering species, as Dillenius noted in 1732 (Hort. Elth. 63: t. 55) and it was not until 1874 that Thomas Hanbury induced it to flower in his garden near Mentone, sending live material that same year to J. D. Hooker at Kew, to be figured in Curtis's Botanical Magazine. The misconception that K. anteuphorbium is a South African species dates back to Linnaeus (1753: 834) where under Cacalia anteuphorbium he stated 'Habitat in Aethiopia' (see W. T. Stearn in Sp. Plant., Ray Soc. edition: 143 (1957)). Willdenow (1804: 1726) also recorded it as a South African species ('Habitat ad Cap. b. Spei') as did Harvey and Sonder (1864-65: 319), adding that the species is cultivated in Europe. De Candolle (1838: 338) went one step further and recognised two distinct species, K. anteuphorbium from 'Cap. b. Spei' and K. pteroneura from Mogador, Morocco. Given that all these authors were referring to the same taxon, the reference of K. anteuphorbium to Ethiopia and to South Africa must be considered erroneous, as there is no doubt that both names under discussion refer to the Moroccan plant, while the live material collected recently in Morocco confirms the presence there of a single endemic taxon. The discrepancies between the two plants, as described by J. D. Hooker in Curtis's Botanical Magazine (1872: tab. 5945; 1874: tab. 6099) at first seem to support the existence of two distinct taxa. The differences are mainly in the illustrations which show different vegetative stages and dissimilar inflorescences. If, however, one takes into consideration a note and an illustration by Thomas Hanbury's brother Daniel, dated 1874, addressed to Daniel Oliver, and preserved at Kew, it is possible to account for these differences. As is apparent from his note, Hanbury suspected that K. anteuphorbium and K. pteroneura are one and the same species, and his pencil sketch of K. anteuphorbium confirms that suspicion, matching well with the Fitch illustration

Author(s): Talenti, Enrico; Cianfanelli, Simone; Bodon, Marco | Abstract: The genus Plagyrona Gittenberger, 1977, includes only two small species of terrestrial snail: Plagyrona angusta Holyoak and Holyoak, 2012, and Plagyrona placida (Shuttleworth, 1852). While P. angusta is known only from Portugal, P. placida has a vast but fragmented distribution: it is known from some of the Macaronesian islands (Madeira and the Canary Archipelago) and some European countries: Portugal, France (in Corsica only), Italy (including Sardinia and the Tuscan Archipelago), Albania, Greece (in the Ionian Islands only) and North Africa (Algeria). New research has led to redefine the distribution range of P. angusta, identifying new populations in Spain (Balearic Islands), continental France (Var department), southern Italy (Campania), Sardinia and Greece (Kerkyra Island) and to discover new sites of P. placida on Pantelleria island and of Plagyrona spp. in Zannone island and southern Italy. The specific determination of these and others populations by examination of recent literature from Sardinia, Campania and Calabria, was carried out on a morphometric basis, but, for some populations, the variability of the diagnostic characters and the limited number of available specimens, do not allow a precise assignment. On the other hand, the existence of two distinct species is not evident at all, at least in the Mediterranean countries.

Freshwater biodiversity is currently threatened worldwide. In North Africa, 24.4% of Odonata are regionally threatened with extinction. In this region, freshwater resources are particularly scarce and an increasing shortage of water is expected. To better understand the current threats to the endangered North African damselfly Coenagrion mercuriale we updated information on extinct and extant populations in North Africa and characterized these localities with regard to their topography, climate and anthropogenic use (anthrome). The C. mercuriale populations are being lost and this damselfly is experiencing range contraction. In Morocco nearly 45% of the populations have become extinct in recent decades and in Tunisia a single extant population remains. This species, which occupied predominantly areas of high value for human settlement, is now mainly restricted to high altitude areas. Nevertheless, the extant populations remain under threat of extinction due to increasing demand for water, changes in agric...