Australasian Region Research Articles

Outsourcing obligations to developing nations: Australia's refugee resettlement agreement with Cambodia

Despite a proclaimed commitment of the ‘developed West’ to international cooperation in the formation of durable solutions for refugees, a pattern of defensive policy designed to outsource obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention has emerged. In this context, on 26 September 2014, Australia and Cambodia signed a ‘responsibility sharing’ agreement for the relocation to Cambodia of recognised refugees who originally sought protection in Australia and were removed to Nauru for processing. Whilst the Cambodia Agreement is of particular relevance in the Australasian region, this paper will analyse its nature and effect against the backdrop of the global trend of burden shifting and the implications of such an agreement for international law. This paper will examine whether the Cambodia Agreementt complies with the 1951 Refugee Convention through an analysis of the potential issues with fulfilment of the rights found therein. This requires the establishment of a continuum of jurisdiction pursuant to which it is concluded that transferees under the Cambodia Agreementt remain under the effective jurisdiction of Australia. This paper concludes that while a developing country may have the capacity to provide the requisite standard of protection to refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention, in practice Cambodia fails to do so.

Extending the Australasian endemicity: first report of Neapterolelaps Girault and Thaumasura Westwood (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) from the Oriental Region with the description of new species from Southern Western Ghats, India

ABSTRACT Two rare genera of Pteromalidae viz., Neapterolelaps Girault and Thaumasura Westwood are reported for the first time from the Oriental Region. Distribution of both the genera is currently confined to Australasian Region with majority of species reported from the Australian continent and surrounding island groups in the Indo-Australian region. Here we report the range extension of both the genera in the Oriental region with the description and illustrations of new species Neapterolelaps paraeneiceps Sureshan and Binoy sp. nov. and Thaumasura indica Sureshan and Binoy sp. nov. from Southern Western Ghats, India. Affinities of the new species with closely related conspecifics are discussed and a partial key of Neapterolelaps is provided. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5BDBD180-3ADE-4E03-B56E-CC4A92928EEF http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:2BAC50DB-04DB-466E-B479-66C843D45F58

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Towards Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for the Australasian Region of Oceania.

ABSTRACTEnvironmental challenges persist across the world, including the Australasian region of Oceania, where biodiversity hotspots and unique ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef are common. These systems are routinely affected by multiple stressors from anthropogenic activities, and increasingly influenced by global megatrends (e.g., the food–energy–water nexus, demographic transitions to cities) and climate change. Here we report priority research questions from the Global Horizon Scanning Project, which aimed to identify, prioritize, and advance environmental quality research needs from an Australasian perspective, within a global context. We employed a transparent and inclusive process of soliciting key questions from Australasian members of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Following submission of 78 questions, 20 priority research questions were identified during an expert workshop in Nelson, New Zealand. These research questions covered a range of issues of global relevance, including research needed to more closely integrate ecotoxicology and ecology for the protection of ecosystems, increase flexibility for prioritizing chemical substances currently in commerce, understand the impacts of complex mixtures and multiple stressors, and define environmental quality and ecosystem integrity of temporary waters. Some questions have specific relevance to Australasia, particularly the uncertainties associated with using toxicity data from exotic species to protect unique indigenous species. Several related priority questions deal with the theme of how widely international ecotoxicological data and databases can be applied to regional ecosystems. Other timely questions, which focus on improving predictive chemistry and toxicology tools and techniques, will be important to answer several of the priority questions identified here. Another important question raised was how to protect local cultural and social values and maintain indigenous engagement during problem formulation and identification of ecosystem protection goals. Addressing these questions will be challenging, but doing so promises to advance environmental sustainability in Oceania and globally.

Description of the larva of Catadromus lacordairei Boisduval, 1835(Coleoptera: Carabidae), a threatened carabid, from Tasmania, Australia.

The carabid beetle genus Catadromus MacLeay (Coleoptera: Carabidae) is endemic to the Australasian region. Of the five currently recognised species, only one, C. lacordairei Boisduval, 1835 occurs in Tasmania, Australia, where it is listed as a threatened species on the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. In the present paper, we describe and illustrate the larva of C. lacordairei, providing the first detailed larval description of a member of this genus.

Pholcus mixiaoqii sp. nov., one new spider species from Tibet, China(Araneae: Pholcidae).

The genus Pholcus Walckenaer, 1805 belongs to the family Pholcidae C.L. Koch, 1850, which is a species-rich group, including 94 genera and 1,716 species (World Spider Catalog 2019). Pholcus is mainly distributed in the Palaearctic, Indo-Malayan, Afrotropical, and Australasian Region (Huber 2011). The only exception is the Pholcus kingi group with ten species in the southeastern USA (Huber 2011). The genus includes species from a wide range of habitats, e.g., between buttresses, in small holes or caves, among and under large rocks, or on the underside of green leaves (Huber 2011). Many taxonomic changes were implemented on the latest molecular phylogeny analyses (Eberle et al. 2018; Huber et al. 2018), including nine new genera resulted from splitting Pholcus: Cantikus Huber, 2018, Kelabita Huber, 2018, Kintaqa Huber, 2018, Meraha Huber, 2018, Muruta Huber, 2018, Paiwana Huber, 2018, Pribumia Huber, 2018, Teranga Huber, 2018, and Tissahamia Huber, 2018. The genus Sihala Huber, 2011 was synonymized with Pholcus and the species Pholcus agadir Huber, 2011 was moved to Micropholcus Deeleman-Reinhold Prinsen, 1987 (Huber et al. 2018). Nevertheless, Pholcus continues to be the most species-rich genus in Pholcidae and currently includes 328 species belonging to 21 species-groups [previously: 393 species and 32 species-groups] (Huber 2011; Huber et al. 2018; World Spider Catalog 2019). One of the generic species-groups, the Pholcus nenjukovi species-group, contains eight species and occurs in northeastern Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Russia (the single record of Pholcus sidorenkoi Dunin, 1994 from Russia is dubious, see Huber 2011: 339). In the present study, we describe a new species from southwestern Tibet, China assigned to the Pholcus nenjukovi species-group. This distribution represents the eastern most record for the species-group (Fig. 1).

New Notophthiracarus species (Acarina, Oribatida, Phthiracaridae) and overview of the distribution of the genus in South Africa.

Notophthiracarus (Oribatida, Phthiracaridae) is a large genus of ptyctimous oribatid mites with species in Australasian, Ethiopian, Neotropical, Oriental and Subantarctic regions, mostly in tropical and subtropical areas. Herein, we describe two new species from the Western Cape of South Africa: Notophthiracarus sidorchukae Niedbała sp. nov. and Notophthiracarus spathulatus Niedbała sp. nov. Each is represented by adult specimens collected from soil in a coastal forest in the Kaaimansgat estuary, the only documented locality. These two bring the known South African fauna of Notophthiracarus to 31 species, all of which are either indigenous or endemic. A review of distributional data shows that within South Africa most species have been recorded from southern, eastern and northeastern parts, and are most prevalent near the coast, where woody vegetation dominates.

A new species of Macrostemum Kolenati, 1859 from Brazilian Amazon and the immature stages of M. brasiliense (Fischer, 1970) (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae)

Macrostemum is the second largest genus of Macronematinae with about 104 described species distributed in the Neotropical (18), Afrotropical (20), Australasian (7), Palearctic (2), Nearctic (3) and Oriental (54) regions. Despite its great diversity, knowledge about its immature stages is scarce: worldwide, only 7 species (6.7%) have larvae and/or pupae described. From the Neotropics, only one species, Macrostemum ulmeri (Banks, 1913), has described larvae and pupae. The objectives of this study are to describe and illustrate a new species, Macrostemum araca sp. nov., based on adult males and females from Serra do Aracá, Amazonas, Brazil, and the larvae and pupae of M. brasiliense (Fischer, 1970) from an Atlantic Forest fragment in São Paulo state using the metamorphotype method. In addition, this species is recorded for the first time for Minas Gerais state.

Checklist of marine mammal parasites in New Zealand and Australian waters.

Marine mammals are long-lived top predators with vagile lifestyles, which often inhabit remote environments. This is especially relevant in the oceanic waters around New Zealand and Australia where cetaceans and pinnipeds are considered as vulnerable and often endangered due to anthropogenic impacts on their habitat. Parasitism is ubiquitous in wildlife, and prevalence of parasitic infections as well as emerging diseases can be valuable bioindicators of the ecology and health of marine mammals. Collecting information about parasite diversity in marine mammals will provide a crucial baseline for assessing their impact on host and ecosystem ecology. New studies on marine mammals in New Zealand and Australian waters have recently added to our knowledge of parasite prevalence, life cycles and taxonomic relationships in the Australasian region, and justify a first host-parasite checklist encompassing all available data. The present checklist comprises 36 species of marine mammals, and 114 species of parasites (helminths, arthropods and protozoans). Mammal species occurring in New Zealand and Australian waters but not included in the checklist represent gaps in our knowledge. The checklist thus serves both as a guide for what information is lacking, as well as a practical resource for scientists working on the ecology and conservation of marine mammals.

Generic and family transfers, and numina dubia for orb-weaving spiders (Araneae, Araneidae) in the Australasian, Oriental and Pacific regions

As part of a current revision of the Australasian and Pacific orb-weaving spider fauna (family Araneidae Clerck, 1757), a number new combinations are proposed in the generaAcroaspisKarsch, 1878 (3 species),CarepalxisL. Koch, 1872 (1 species),CyclosaMenge, 1866 (5 species), andNeosconaSimon, 1864 (7 species):Acroaspislancearia(Keyserling, 1887),comb. n.,A.mamillana(Keyserling, 1887),comb. n.,A.scutifer(Keyserling, 1886),comb. n.,Carepalxisfurcifera(Keyserling, 1886),comb. n.;Cyclosaanatipes(Keyserling, 1887),comb. n.;Cyclosaapoblepta(Rainbow, 1916),comb. n.;Cyclosaargentaria(Rainbow, 1916),comb. n.;Cyclosalichensis(Rainbow, 1916),comb. n.;Cyclosapoweri(Rainbow, 1916),comb. n.;Neosconadecolor(L. Koch, 1871),comb. n.;Neosconaenucleata(Karsch, 1879),comb. n.;Neosconaflavopunctata(L. Koch, 1871),comb. n.;Neosconafloriata(Hogg, 1914),comb. n.;Neosconagranti(Hogg, 1914),comb. n.;Neosconainusta(L. Koch, 1871),comb. n.; andNeosconanotanda(Rainbow, 1912),comb. n.The following two Australian species, currently placed inAraneus, are not Araneidae but comb-footed spiders (family Theridiidae Sundevall, 1833):Anelosimusdianiphus(Rainbow, 1916),comb. n.andTheridionxanthostichus(Rainbow, 1916),stat. and comb. n.The following six species are considerednumina dubiaas their type material is immature or otherwise unidentifiable (e.g. partly destroyed):AraneusacachmenusRainbow, 1916;AraneusagastusRainbow, 1916;AraneusexsertusRainbow, 1904;AraneussuavisRainbow, 1899;Carepalxiscoronata(Rainbow, 1896); andHeurodesturritusKeyserling, 1886.Heurodesfratellus(Chamberlin, 1924) is considered anomen dubiumandHeurodesporcula(Simon, 1877) is returned toEriovixiaArcher, 1951,Eriovixiaporcula(Simon, 1877).Type material of predominantly Australian species described by E. v. Keyserling (1 species), W. J. Rainbow (10 species), A. T. Urquhart (8 species), and C. A. Walckenaer (2 species) is here considered destroyed or otherwise lost. As it is impossible to identify these species from their original descriptions and considering the known spider fauna from their respective type localities, they are all considerednumina dubia:AnepsiacrinitaRainbow, 1893;Epeiradiabrosis(Walckenaer, 1841);EpeiradiversicolorRainbow, 1893;EpeirafictaRainbow, 1896;EpeirahamiltoniRainbow, 1893;Epeiralacrymosa(Walckenaer, 1841);EpeiraleaiRainbow, 1894;EpeiramortoniUrquhart, 1891;EpeiranotacephalaUrquhart, 1891;EpeiraobscurtaUrquhart, 1893;EpeiraphalerataUrquhart, 1893;EpeirapronubaRainbow, 1894;EpeirararaKeyserling, 1887;EpeirasingularaUrquhart, 1891;Epeirasub-flavidaUrquhart, 1893;EpeirasimilarisRainbow, 1896 (=AraneusurquhartiRoewer, 1942 replacement name);EpeiraventriosaUrquhart, 1891; andEpeiraviridulaUrquhart, 1891.

Resolving the invasion paradox: pervasive scale and study dependence in the native-alien species richness relationship.

The degree to which plant communities are vulnerable to invasion by alien species has often been assessed using the relationship between native and alien plant species richness (NAR). Variation in the direction and strength of the NAR tends to be negative for small plot sizes and study extents, but positive for large plots and extents. This invasion paradox has been attributed to different processes driving species richness at different spatial scales. However, the focus on plot size has drawn attention away from other factors influencing the NAR, in part because the influence of other factors may be obscured by or interact with plot size. Here, we test whether variation in the NAR can be explained by covariates linked to community susceptibility to invasion and whether these interact with plot size using a quantitative meta-analysis drawn from 87 field studies that examined 161 NARs. While plot size explained most variation, the NAR was less positive in grassland habitats and in the Australasian region. Other covariates did not show strong relationships with the NAR even after accounting for interactions with plot size. Instead, much of the unexplained variation is associated with article or author specific differences, suggesting the NAR depends strongly on how different authors choose their study system or study design.

Radiolarians of Family Heliodiscidae Haeckel, 1981 in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) Siliceous Deposits of the Vaamychgyn Unit of the Koryak Upland

The radiolarians from the Campanian–Maastrichtian deposits of the Vaamychgyn unit sequence (Yakenmyveem River, Koryak Upland, Ekonai terrane) were studied for the first time. On the basis of the joint occurrence of Excentrosphaerella vivenkensis (Lipman), Lithomespilus mendosa (Krasheninnikov), and Stichomitra livermorensis Campbell et Clark, the studied complex is attributed to the Campanian–Maastrichtian. The assemblage contains abundant representatives of the family Heliodiscidae Haeckel, which are widely common in the Boreal and Austral realms and can be of high importance for the stratigraphic and paleobiogeographic paleoreconstructions. The new data allow one to establish the time of the first occurrence of Excentrosphaerella teuria (Hollis), which was previously known only from the Early Paleocene. The species Cromyosphaera vivenkensis Lipman is attributed in this work to the genus Excentrosphaerella Dumitrica.

A subjective global checklist of the extant non-marine Ostracoda (Crustacea)

We present an updated, subjective list of the extant, non-marine ostracod genera and species of the world, with their distributions in the major zoogeographical regions, as well as a list of the genera in their present hierarchical taxonomic positions. The list includes all taxa described and taxonomic alterations made up to 1 July 2018. Taxonomic changes include 17 new combinations, 5 new names, 1 emended specific name and 11 new synonymies (1 tribe, 4 genera, 6 species). Taking into account the recognized synonymies, there are presently 2330 subjective species of non-marine ostracods in 270 genera. The most diverse family in non-marine habitats is the Cyprididae, comprising 43.2% of all species, followed by the Candonidae (29.0%), Entocytheridae (9.1%) and the Limnocytheridae (7.0%). An additional 13 families comprise the remaining 11.8% of described species. The Palaearctic zoogeographical region has the greatest number of described species (799), followed by the Afrotropical region with 453 species and the Nearctic region with 439 species. The Australasian and Neotropical regions each have 328 and 333 recorded species, respectively, while the Oriental region has 271. The vast majority of non-marine ostracods (89.8%) are endemic to one zoogeographical region, while only six species are found in six or more regions. We also present an additional list with ‘uncertain species’, which have neither been redescribed nor re-assessed since 1912, and which are excluded from the main list; a list of taxonomic changes presented in the present paper; a table with the number of species and % per family; and a table with numbers of new species described in the 20-year period between 1998 and 2017 per zoogeographical region. Two figures visualize the total number of species and endemic species per zoogeographical region, and the numbers of new species descriptions per decade for all families and the three largest families since 1770, respectively.

Seasonal climate summary for the southern hemisphere (spring 2016): strong negative Indian Ocean Dipole ends, bringing second wettest September to Australia

This summary looks at the southern hemisphere and equatorial climate patterns for spring 2016, with particular attention given to the Australasian and equatorial regions of the Pacific and Indian Ocean basins. Spring 2016 was marked by the later part of a strong negative phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole, alongside cool neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation conditions. September was exceptionally wet over much of Australia, contributing to a wet spring with near-average temperatures. The spring was one of the warmest on record over the southern hemisphere as a whole, with Antarctic Sea ice extent dropping to record low levels for the season.

The unknown followers: Discovery of a new species of Sycobia Walker (Hymenoptera: Epichrysomallinae) associated with Ficus benjamina L. (Moraceae) in the Neotropical region

Biotic invasion in mutualistic communities is of particular interest due to the possible establishment of new relationships with native species. Ficus species are widely cultivated as ornamental plants, and they host specific communities of chalcid wasps that are strictly associated with the fig inflorescences. Some introduced fig species are capable of establishing new relationships with the local fig wasps, and fig wasp species may also be concomitantly introduced with their host plants. Ficusbenjamina L. is widely cultivated across the world, but the associated fig wasps are not reported outside of the species native range. We describe for the first time a non-pollinating fig wasp associated with F.benjamina inflorescences outside its native distribution. Sycobiahodites Farache & Rasplus, sp. n. is the third known species of the genus and was recorded in populations of F.benjamina introduced in the Neotropical region throughout several localities in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. Sycobia is a gall-inducing non-pollinating fig wasp genus associated with fig trees in the Oriental and Australasian regions. This species competes with pollinators for oviposition sites and may hinder the future establishment of the native pollinator of F.benjamina, Eupristinakoningsbergeri Grandi, 1916 in the New World. However, the occurrence of a gall inducing species in this host plant may open ecological opportunities for the establishment of species belonging to other trophic levels such as cleptoparasite and parasitoid wasps.

A New Species of Eumanota Edwards (Diptera: Mycetophilidae: Manotine) from Colombia: Evidence for a Pseudogondwanan Pattern

Eumanota wolffae, sp. nov., is described from the high Andean forests of Colombia. This is the first Neotropical species of the clade of non-Manota genera of the mycetophilid subfamily Manotinae—to date known entirely from the Oriental and the northwestern Australasian regions, and in Baltic amber. With the other species of Eumanota Edwards, this species shares, among other features, a largely developed third maxillary palpomere, projecting beyond the base of fourth palpomere, with a wide sensorial pit, a flat inner face, and the last palpomere at least 4× the length of the fourth palpomere. The systematic position of the Colombian species within the Manotinae is addressed. The biogeographic significance of Eumanota in the Neotropical region is discussed, interpreted here as a concurrent incidence of a circumtropical pattern and Gondwanan distributions, in other words, a particular pattern of biogeographic pseudocongruence, referred to here as a “pseudogondwanan pattern.” This pattern is associated with an early Cenozoic tropical biota over Laurasian terranes that expanded its distribution to the south (in the Americas, Africa, and Australasia), followed by large-scale extinction of Nearctic and Palearctic representatives due to global cooling in the Neogene. A discussion is provided about the correlation between these patterns and evidence of Late Cretaceous-Paleogene tropical floras over Laurasian terranes.

Molecular phylogenetics and biogeography provide insights into the subgeneric classification of Wiedemannia Zetterstedt (Diptera: Empididae: Clinocerinae)

AbstractThe subgenera of Wiedemannia are poorly defined and, as such, most recently described species are not assigned to a subgenus or have been assigned to a subgenus without explanation. In this study we perform a molecular phylogenetic analysis to elucidate relationships within the genus Wiedemannia. We sequenced two mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase c subunit I and cytochrome β) and two nuclear (carbomoylphosphate synthase domain of rudimentary and elongation factor‐1α) gene fragments to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among the subgenera Chamaedipsia, Eucelidia, Philolutra, Pseudowiedemannia, Roederella and Wiedemannia (s.s.) using both Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood approaches. The genus was found to be monophyletic, but most of the subgenera were not. We propose eliminating the present subgeneric division altogether. Molecular dating using a log‐normal clock model and calibration with fossil species indicated that Wiedemannia diversified about 48 Ma, while there was still land connectivity between Europe and Asia with North America. Wiedemannia has a near‐worldwide distribution apart from the Australasian and Neotropical regions and Antarctica, with greatest species richness in the western Palaearctic, especially the Mediterranean region. Molecular phylogenetics support more recent morphological studies. The subgenera of Wiedemannia are invalid and rejected. Biogeographical data suggest potential hotspots, and the current distribution is discussed.

Contribution to the knowledge of the oribatid mite genus Leptotocepheus (Acari, Oribatida, Otocepheidae)

The otocepheid oribatid mite genus Leptotocepheus Balogh, 1961 is recorded in the Australasian region for the first time. The taxonomic status of the genera Leptotocepheus Balogh, 1961 and Longocepheus Balogh & Mahunka,1966 is discussed, resulting in the recognition of Longocepheus as a subgenus (stat. nov.) of Leptotocepheus and the following recombinations: Leptotocepheus (Longocepheus) australis (Balogh & Mahunka, 1966) comb. nov., Leptotocepheus (Longocepheus) globosus (Grobler, 1995) comb. nov., Leptotocepheus (Longocepheus) longus (Balogh, 1961) comb. nov., Leptotocepheus (Longocepheus) youngai (Mahunka, 1984) comb. nov. A new species of Leptotocepheus (Longocepheus) is described from New Zealand, Leptotocepheus (Longocepheus) neozealandicus sp. nov., which differs from other species of the subgenus by the presence of short, slightly developed prodorsal costulae. Revised generic and subgeneric diagnoses, an identification key and distributions for the known taxa of Leptotocepheus are presented.

Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of Sarcophaga peregrina, a forensically important fly species

Sarcophaga peregrina (flesh fly) is a frequently found fly species in Palaearctic, Oriental, and Australasian regions that can be used to estimate minimal postmortem intervals important for forensic investigations. Despite its forensic importance, the genome information of S. peregrina has not been fully described. Therefore, we generated a comprehensive gene expression dataset using RNA sequencing and carried out de novo assembly to characterize the S. peregrina transcriptome. We obtained precise sequence information for RNA transcripts using two different methods. Based on primary sequence information, we identified sets of assembled unigenes and predicted coding sequences. Functional annotation of the aligned unigenes was performed using the UniProt, Gene Ontology, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases. As a result, 26,580,352 and 83,221 raw reads were obtained using the Illumina MiSeq and Pacbio RS II Iso-Seq sequencing applications, respectively. From these reads, 55,730 contigs were successfully annotated. The present study provides the resulting genome information of S. peregrina, which is valuable for forensic applications.

Biogeographic Patterns in the Pacific and Australasian Regions

Biogeographic Patterns in the Pacific and Australasian Regions