California Academy Research Articles

The Iconic Philippine Coral Reef at Steinhart Aquarium: The Husbandry, Welfare, Behavior, and Veterinary Care Considerations of a Large Multi-Taxa Living Coral Reef System

In 2008, Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, CA, USA, unveiled a brand new facility with the 212,000 gallon Philippine Coral Reef habitat as its iconic centerpiece. Designing and managing a system that consists of a living reef this large, with associated invertebrates and teleosts, has been a challenge for the aquarium’s husbandry and veterinary teams. Establishing appropriate lighting, water quality, and flow has required a scientific approach and resulting adjustments to the original habitat design. The medical management of reef species has required an in-habitat approach as well as trial-and-error therapeutics. Determining the criteria for assessing the welfare of corals and other tank inhabitants has been a shifting process that has heavily utilized photography-tracked changes and other quantitative parameters as baselines. This report details the successes and limitations of establishing the environmental and veterinary management of this mesocosm. The consideration of interplay between species is discussed, and recommendations for monitoring welfare both on an individual and tank level are made. Making adjustments for the benefit of the exhibit and its animals is key for the unique aquarium displays that comprise captive coral reef systems.

Determining Minnesota bee species' distributions and phenologies with the help of participatory science.

The Minnesota Bee Atlas project contributed new information about bee distributions, phenologies, and community structure by mobilizing participatory science volunteers to document bees statewide. Volunteers submitted iNaturalist (©2016 California Academy of Sciences) photograph observations, monitored nest-traps for tunnel-nesting bees, and conducted roadside observational bumble bee surveys. By pairing research scientists and participatory science volunteers, we overcame geographic and temporal challenges to document the presence, phenologies, and abundances of species. Minnesota Bee Atlas project observations included new state records for Megachile inimica, Megachile frugalis, Megachile sculpturalis, Osmia georgica, Stelis permaculata, and Bombus nevadensis, nesting phenology for 17 species, a new documentation of bivoltinism for Megachile relativa in Minnesota, and over 500 observations of the endangered species Bombus affinis. We also expanded known ranges for 16 bee species compared with specimens available from the University of Minnesota (UMN) Insect Collection. Surveys with standardized effort across the state found ecological province associations for six tunnel-nesting species and lower bumble bee abundance in the Prairie Parkland ecological province than the Laurentian Mixed Forest or Eastern Broadleaf Forest ecological provinces, indicating potential benefit of a focus on bumble bee habitat management in the Prairie Parkland. Landcover analysis found associations for four tunnel-nesting species, as well as a possible association of B. affinis with developed areas. These data can inform management decisions affecting pollinator conservation and recovery of endangered species. By engaging over 2,500 project volunteers and other iNaturalist users, we also promoted conservation action for pollinators through our educational programs and interactions.

Can Biodiversity Data Scientists Document Volunteer and Professional Collaborations and Contributions in the Biodiversity Data Enterprise?

The collection, archiving and use of biodiversity data depend on a network of pipelines herein called the Biodiversity Data Enterprise (BDE) and best understood globally through the work of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Efforts to sustain and grow the BDE require information about the data pipeline and the infrastructure that supports it. A host of metrics from GBIF, including institutional participation (member countries, institutional contributors, data publishers), biodiversity coverage (occurrence records, species, geographic extent, data sets) and data usage (records downloaded, published papers using the data) (Miller 2021), document the rapid growth and successes of the BDE (GBIF Secretariat 2022). Heberling et al. (2021) make a convincing case that the data integration process is working. The Biodiversity Information Standards' (TDWG) Basis of Record term provides information about the underlying infrastructure. It categorizes the kinds of processes*1 that teams undertake to capture biodiversity information and GBIF quantifies their contributions*2 (Table 1). Currently 83.4% of observations come from human observations, of which 63% are of birds. Museum preserved specimens account for 9.5% of records. In both cases, a combination of volunteers (who make observations, collect specimens, digitize specimens, transcribe specimen labels) and professionals work together to make records available. To better understand how the BDE is working, we suggest that it would be of value to know the number of contributions and contributors and their hours of engagement for each data set. This can help the community address questions such as, "How many volunteers do we need to document birds in a given area?" or "How much professional support is required to run a camera trap network?" For example, millions of observations were made by tens of thousands of observers in two recent BioBlitz events, one called Big Day, focusing on birds, sponsored by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the other called the City Nature Challenge, addressing all taxa, sponsored jointly by the California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Musuems of Los Angeles County (Table 2). In our presentation we will suggest approaches to deriving metrics that could be used to document the collaborations and contribution of volunteers and staff using examples from both Human Observation (eBird, iNaturalist) and Preserved Specimen (DigiVol, Notes from Nature) record types. The goal of the exercise is to start a conversation about how such metrics can further the development of the BDE.

Clara Bosak-Schroeder. Other Natures: Environmental Encounters with Ancient Greek Ethnography.

Clara Bosak-Schroeder’s Other Natures: Environmental Encounters with Ancient Greek Ethnography places the ancient Greek understanding of other peoples in the context of their interaction with the natural environment. She argues that our modern view of nature, which separates it entirely from human activity, blinds us to the ways in which human life interacts with the natural world, both in ancient texts and in our own society. The ancient Greeks, she argued, had a more nuanced understanding of how humans shaped, and were shaped by, their environment—an understanding that could benefit modern Western perceptions of other peoples and of ourselves and the natural world. Although trained as a classicist, Bosak-Schroeder’s frame for her analysis departs from the norms of classical scholarship. Following the suggestion of Brooke Holmes, whom she quotes on page 156, to produce comparative works that “bring sometimes unusual constellations of ancient texts together with live elements in the present in creative symbiosis,” she begins and ends her analysis with explorations and reflections on contemporary ethnographical and natural history exhibits. In her introduction, she relates her experience as a child visiting the California Academy of Sciences; in her final chapter, she returns to the way that natural history museums present, or mishandle, human society and its place in the natural world. The author herself recognizes the disjunctive nature of her approach by suggesting that readers who are not interested in ancient ethnography—the entirety of her part 1—may skip to her part 2; in fact, to the final chapter, which returns to the question of modern natural history museums. But the connection she seeks to make between ancient and modern ethnography in very different media remains somewhat tenuous.

A comparison of the accuracy of mushroom identification applications using digital photographs

Objective To compare the accuracy of three popular mushroom identification software applications in identifying mushrooms involved in exposures reported to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Background Over the past 10 years, an increasing number of software applications have been developed for use on smart phones and tablet devices to identify mushrooms. We have observed an increase in poisonings after incorrect identification of poisonous species as edible, using these applications. Design We compared the accuracy of three iPhone™ and Android™ mushroom identification applications: Picture Mushroom (Next Vision Limited©), Mushroom Identificator (Pierre Semedard©), and iNaturalist (iNaturalist, California Academy of Sciences©). Each app was tested independently by three researchers using digital photographs of 78 specimens sent to the Victorian Poisons Information Centre and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria over a two-year period, 2020–2021. Mushroom identification was confirmed by an expert mycologist. For each app, individual and combined results were compared. Results Picture Mushroom was the most accurate of the three apps and correctly identified 49% (95% CI [0–100]) of specimens, compared with Mushroom Identificator (35% [15–56]) and iNaturalist (35% [0–76]). Picture Mushroom correctly identified 44% of poisonous mushrooms [0–95], compared with Mushroom Identificator (30% [1–58]) and iNaturalist (40% [0–84), but Mushroom Identificator identified more specimens of Amanita phalloides correctly (67%), compared to Picture Mushroom (60%) and iNaturalist (27%). Amanita phalloides was falsely identified, twice by Picture Mushroom and once by iNaturalist. Conclusions Mushroom identification applications may be useful future tools to assist clinical toxicologists and the general public in the accurate identification of mushrooms species but, at present, are not reliable enough to exclude exposure to potentially poisonous mushrooms when used alone.

Kinship and genetic variation in aquarium-spawned Acropora hyacinthus corals

Recent scientific advances in ex situ system design and operation make it possible to complete gametogenic cycles of broadcast spawning corals. Breeding corals in aquaria is a critical advance for population management, particularly genetic rescue and assisted gene flow efforts. Genetic rescue projects for corals are already underway to bring threatened species into ex situ culture and propagation, thereby preserving standing genetic variation. However, while breeding corals is increasingly feasible, the consequences of the aquarium environment on the genetic and phenotypic composition of coral populations is not yet known. The aquarium environment may in itself be a selective pressures on corals, but it also presents relaxed selective pressures in other respects. In 2019 and 2020, gravid Acropora hyacinthus coral colonies were collected from Palauan reefs and shipped to the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) in San Francisco. In both years, gametes were batch-fertilized to produce larvae that were then settled and reared to recruits. As of April 2021, when they were sampled for sequencing, 23 corals produced at CAS in 2019 and 16 corals produced at CAS in 2020 had survived for two years and one year, respectively. We sequenced the full genomes of the 39 offspring corals and their 15 potential parents to a median 26x depth of coverage. We find clear differential parentage, with some parents producing the vast majority of offspring, while the majority of parents produced no surviving offspring. After scanning 12.9 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we found 887 SNPs that may be under selection in the aquarium environment, and we identified the genes and pathways these SNPs may affect. We present recommendations for preserving standing genetic variation in aquarium-bred corals based on the results of this pilot project.

Reviewing Observations for the Idaho Amphibian and Reptile iNaturalist Project For Improved Data Quality

Data on the occurrence and distribution of amphibians and reptiles are needed to identify and address conservation problems for these species. Observations from crowd-sourced/citizen science projects are an important source of data for conservation and management. Crowdsourced data such as iNaturalist observations have several strengths, including large amounts of recent data over a broad area, low cost, accurate spatial coordinates, photo vouchers or sound recordings that allow identification confirmation, and public education and engagement. The goal of this project is to increase and improve available data for amphibians and reptiles in Idaho, USA. The Idaho Amphibian and Reptile iNaturalist Project was initiated in June of 2016 by the Idaho State University (ISU) Herpetology Laboratory using iNaturalist, an application from the California Academy of Sciences, which allows people to contribute observations of organisms using their mobile devices. The current number of observations in the project (as of 8 July 2022) is 5,546 from 40 species by 1,296 observers. Observations are added to the project either directly by observers or by project curators using the Find Suitable Observations function on the iNaturalist project website. Project curators (from the ISU Herpetology Laboratory, Idaho Museum of Natural History, and Idaho Department of Fish and Game) review suitable observations, (i.e., observations with digital photographs or audio recordings, geographic coordinates, dates and times) and confirm or correct species identifications. Because of the relatively low number of amphibian and reptile species occurring in Idaho and the relative ease of taking adequate photographs, we have been able to confirm or correct the identifications of over 93% of the contributed observations. The rate of misidentifications for “Research Grade” observations (i.e., observations with a date, coordinates, and a picture or sound recording, and with at least 2 out of 3 additional users agreeing on the identity of a specimen) is less than 2%. We mark confirmed or corrected observations as curator reviewed and then the Idaho Department of Fish and Game adds them to the State Species Diversity Database, which is part of NatureServe. These data are primarily used to help determine species status and trends for the State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) which is used to establish priorities for management actions. Analyzing unstructured, crowdsourced data presents several challenges, including the lack of a sampling design, uneven coverage across space and time, and absence of negative data, which makes it hard to quantify observation effort. Our analytical approach includes temporal and spatial aggregation of the observations to reduce sampling bias, using records of similar species to indicate observation effort, and mapping occupancy to reveal spatial patterns.

Diversity of Deep-Sea Echinoderms From Costa Rica

Echinoderms are a highly diverse group and one of the most conspicuous in the deep sea, playing ecological key roles. We present a review about the history of expeditions and studies on deep-sea echinoderms in Costa Rica, including an updated list of species. We used literature and information gathered from the databases of the California Academy of Sciences, the Benthic Invertebrate Collection of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the National Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Museo de Zoología from the Universidad de Costa Rica. A total of 124 taxa (75 confirmed species) have been collected from the Costa Rican deep sea, 112 found in the Pacific Ocean, 13 in the Caribbean Sea, and one species shared between the two basins. We report 22 new records for the Eastern Tropical Pacific, 46 for Central American waters, and 58 for Costa Rica. The most specious group was Ophiuroidea with 37 taxa, followed by Holothuroidea (34 taxa), Asteroidea (23 taxa), Echinoidea (17 taxa), and Crinoidea (11 taxa). The highest number of species (64) was found between 800 m and 1200 m depth. Only two species were found deeper than 3200 m. Further efforts on identification will be required for a better comprehension of the diversity of deep-sea echinoderms. Limited research has been done regarding the biology and ecology of deep-sea echinoderms in Costa Rica, so additional approaches will be necessary to understand their ecological functions.

The Fossil Fishes of the “Rocha” Collection Housed in the Museu Nacional and the Types Described by Jordan & Branner in 1908

In 1908, D.S. Jordan J.C. Branner described the following species of fossil fishes from the Araripe Basin: Calamopleurus vestitus, Cearana rochae, Enneles audax, and Tharrias araripis. Such material of the “Rocha Collection”, that was made by Francisco Dias da Rocha (1869-1960), were passed on to the Government of the State of Ceará. In 1961, Carlos de Paula Couto, negotiated the donation of the paleontological collections for the Museu Nacional. We review herein the history of the fossil fishes of the “Rocha Collection” that was housed in the Museu Nacional in, with an emphasis on type material. The documents and literature were consulted, and the fossil fishes were examined and photographed. This material corresponds to 12 catalogue numbers, three of which are replicas of the type- material housed in the Department of Geology, California Academy of Sciences, in California. The remaining nine numbers encompass 27 specimens referring to original material. The represented taxa are: Vinctifer comptoni, Notelops brama, Cladocyclus gardneri, Rhacolepis buccalis, Tharrhias araripis, and Brannerion sp. The only type material found was Cearana rochae, currently a synonym of Tharrhias araripis. This historical rescue of the “Rocha” collection type material will facilitate the investigation of researchers studying the paleoichthyofauna of the Araripe Basin.

Michael A. Bennett (1944–2021)

Bennett was one of the country’s best known astronomy educators and authors. For many years he led the outreach activities of the California Academy of Sciences and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

A New Species and a New Synonymy of the Neotropical Genus Seridentus Osborn (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Stenopodainae).

Based on the examination of the type specimens, the following new subjective synonymy is proposed in the Neotropical assassin bug genus Seridentus Osborn, 1904: S. denticulatus Osborn, 1904 = Gnathobleda maculosa Haviland, 1931, syn. nov. Lectotypes of the two nominal species are designated. The type depositories of S. denticulatus, obscurely given in the original description of this species, are confirmed to be the C.A. Triplehorn Insect Collection, Ohio State University, Columbus and the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. A new species, S. musettiae sp. nov., is described from Cartago, Costa Rica, representing the northernmost distribution record of the genus. A revised key to the species of Seridentus is provided.

A BRYOPHYTE INVENTORY OF MOUNT DIABLO, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County is a notable peak in California's central Coast Ranges, well known for its biodiversity. To date, no accounts of the bryophytes on this mountain have been published. We present a catalogue of the mosses, liverworts, and hornworts known to occur on Mount Diablo. We base this on collections made by us and augmented by specimens from other collectors that are housed in North American herbaria. We collected extensively on the mountain from 2014 to 2020. Online databases were searched to locate specimens from Mount Diablo. These were located predominantly at the University of California Berkeley (UC) or California Academy of Sciences (CAS). Specimens were examined at these herbaria to confirm their presence and to confirm identifications as needed. We list 160 bryophyte taxa on the mountain, including 137 mosses, 20 liverworts, and three hornworts. Forty families and 75 genera are represented, with Pottiaceae having the most species (39). We list separately 22 taxa that we consider unconfirmed on Mount Diablo because they are represented only by herbarium specimens that we could not locate, or for other reasons as given. Our own collections added 19 bryophyte species (17 mosses and two liverworts) since 2014. We did not find 41 of the confirmed taxa reported on Mount Diablo by others. Thirty-three taxa have so far been collected only once on the mountain. These numbers imply that additional taxa occur there and have not yet been found. We discuss the distribution of taxa within different parts of the mountain, and the Mount Diablo bryophyte flora is briefly compared with that of neighboring regions and of California as a whole.

КАЛИФОРНИЙСКАЯ АКАДЕМИЯ НАУК КАК ЯРКИЙ ПРИМЕР АМЕРИКАНСКОГО МУЗЕЙНОГО ОПЫТА: ИСТОРИЯ И СОВРЕМЕННОСТЬ

The article is dedicated to one of the largest museum centers of natural history in the world - the California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, USA), which is, since its founding in 1853, both a research and scientific and educational organization. The California Academy of Sciences, in its current version, presents a prime example of the development of basic museum’s concepts in USA: guardianship, corporate museum, museum communication, achieving the goals of sustainable development of society, the involvement in science the population on the basis of the system “STEM-education” (Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics). The article analyzes the history and modern activities of the museum in terms of exhibition features, scientific and educational practice. Architectural, artistic and engineering solutions, features of internal infrastructure, themes, content and design of the exhibition complex reflect the stated national mission to "explore, explain and sustain"), in accordance with the implementation of the declared environmental concept of sustainable development (fighting global climate warming, the development of technologies of energy conservation, cleanliness and waste of production, etc.). On the basis of our own museum observations, analysis of literary data, we can conclude that museums as social institutions and interactive technologies used in the educational process are most suitable for the task of introducing the widest range of citizens to science and culture. The example of the California Academy of Sciences provides important guidelines for the development of museums in our country.

Neotype designation and re-description of Forsskål’s reticulate whipray Himantura uarnak

A continuing impediment to the taxonomy of the reticulate whipray Himantura spp. species complex is the absence of a type specimen for H. uarnak (Gmelin [ex Forsskal], 1789). Here, reticulate whipray specimens were sampled from the Jeddah region in the Red Sea, the assumed type locality of H. uarnak, and characterized genetically at the cytochrome-oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) locus. One of these specimens now in the fish collection of the California Academy of Sciences was designated as neotype. The maximum-likelihood phylogeny of all available CO1 gene sequences from the genus Himantura had the following topology: ((H. leoparda, H. uarnak), (H. undulata, (Himantura sp. 2, (H. australis + Himantura sp. 1))), H. tutul), where H. uarnak haplotypes formed a distinct lineage sister to H. leoparda. Based on these CO1 gene sequences, the geographic distribution of H. uarnak includes the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the East African coast, and the Arabian Sea. At least one lineage in the reticulate whipray species complex remains to be named.

SUSTENTABILIDADE E TECNOLOGIA NAS OBRAS DE RENZO PIANO

In this article, an analysis and comparison of two expressive works by the Italian architect Renzo Piano is proposed, following a logical line of the current High Technology for an EcoTechnology. This objective is achieved through bibliographic studies that allow the necessary theoretical detailing, in addition to the analysis of projects in focus: TheNational Center for Science and Technology (NEMO), in Amsterdam, and the California Academy of Natural Sciences, in the United States, from an architectural point of view. Similarities can be seen between the projects, mainly chronologically punctuated developments from the oldest to the most recent. The study shows, in this way, that it is possible to understand an improvement of the architect in view of the architectural currents, making his intentions and cares more clearly projected over time clearer.The theory of architectural study is Tectonics in line with the search for reduced impacts on the environment

An Exploratory Analysis of Dietary Components in Relation to Symptoms of Anxiety

Abstract Objectives Determine reliability of GAD-7 and MASQ in the assessment of symptoms of anxiety and dietary correlates. Methods Cross-sectional, mixed methods design of adult men and women greater than 18 years of age consented; no exclusion criteria (N = 275) entitled, “Food Mood Project (FMP). Data collection occurred December 5, 2015 to August 3, 2016. The project contains two parts: Part 1: electronic demographic assessment (e.g., education, age, gender, marital status, military affiliation, and occupation), completion of five mobile formatted, electronic validated questionnaires (e.g., GAD-7, MASQ, EDE-Q, Zung, and GRIT), and 3-day electronic dietary food and beverage record with self-reported emotional evaluation. Participants who fully completed part 1 [ALL questionnaires and 3-day food record with subjective affect appraisal pre-, during, post- each feeding episode were invited to participate in part 2 (N = 135). Part 2: 90-minunte in-person medical and nutritional interview (N = 106) by author exploring personal and familial medical history, physical activity trends, personal beliefs about food, dieting history, 24-hour dietary recall, sleep hygiene (PSQI), and spiritual health (i.e., SWB), as well as, assessing cognitive set-shifting via trail making test (TMT). Statistical consultation with Deakin University (Australia) and University of California, Berkeley (United States) utilizing SPSS, R, and Stata for linear regression, ANOVA, and PCA, and t-tests for dietary data [manually analyzed using NDSR]; a > 0.05. Results Coefficient of reliability for GAD-7 is 0.869 and Total MASQ is 0.822 as a practical application assessment of symptoms of anxiety. Linear regression examining macronutrient content and MASQ scores for subset of completed Part 1 data (n = 31) reveals mean total carbohydrates by participants was 192.86 gm daily and significantly correlated with total MASQ score (R2 = 0.023; P = 0.027). Conclusions GAD-7 and MASQ have excellent reliability for assessing symptoms of anxiety. Preliminary results notes carbohydrate variability is correlated with reported symptoms of anxiety. Funding Sources Academic funding through University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Nutritional Sciences Vision 20/20 Award (2014), Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2015), and California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2017).

The millipede genus Globanus Attems, 1914, endemic to São Tomé and Príncipe, with the description of a new species (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae).

During a soil zoological expedition to São Tomé and Príncipe in 2010 by the California Academy of Sciences, millipedes of the genus Globanus were collected. Samples of G.marginescaber (Karsch, 1884) and G.integer (Karsch, 1884) were recovered in addition to those containing a new species. Globanusdrewesisp. nov. is described and additional records, illustrations, and descriptive notes are given for the other two species. A key to all three species of the genus is provided, and a distribution map is presented. The monotypic genus Lobogonus Demange, 1971, which includes L.trilobatus Demange, 1971, from Sierra Leone, mainland western Africa, is revalidated and removed from synonymy under Globanus. Lobogonus is illustrated from a type specimen.

The bees of the genus Centris Fabricius, 1804 described by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

In this paper the primary types of Centris bees described by the British entomologist Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell deposited in the Natural History Museum (London) and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History (Oxford) in the United Kingdom, as well as in the United States National Museum (Washington), American Museum of Natural History (New York), the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (Philadelphia), and in the California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco) in the United States were studied. To stabilize the application of the name C. lepeletieri (= C. haemorrhoidalis (Fabricius)), a lectotype is designated. The study of the primary types allow proposing the revalidation of C. cisnerosi nom. rev. from the synonymy of C. agilis Smith, C. nitida geminata nom. rev. from C. facialis Mocsáry, C. rufulina nom. rev. from C. varia (Erichson), C. semilabrosa nom. rev. from C. terminata Smith and C. triangulifera nom. rev. from C. labrosa Friese. Centris bakeri syn. nov., C. bimaculata carrikeri syn. nov., C. fusciventris matoensis syn. nov., C. heterodonta syn. nov. and C. elegans grenadensis syn. nov. are proposed as a new junior synonyms of C. varia, C. claripennis Friese nom. rev., C. caurensis, C. dentata Smith and C. elegans Smith, respectively. Centris ruae is withdrawn from the synonymy of C. transversa Pérez and proposed as a new junior synonym of C. nitida Smith. In addition, a lectotype for C. buchholzi Herbst (= C. wilmattae) is designated. Information on the repository of the lectotype of C. lepeletieri and images of most primary types studied here are also provided.

California Passes Nation’s First Law on School Start Times

California Passes Nation’s First Law on School Start Times

A new Pseudopyrochroa Pic, 1906 from Yunnan, China with a key to adultPseudopyrochroa males from the Province and correction on type repository for Frontodendroidopsis pennyi Young (Coleoptera: Pyrochroidae: Pyrochroinae).

A new species of the fire-colored beetle genus Pseudopyrochroa Pic, 1906, is described from northwestern Yunnan Province, China. The new species, Pseudopyrochroa grzymalae, is superficially similar to P. cardoni (Fairmaire), known from Kashmir and Sikkim. A complete species diagnosis is presented along with a key to adult males of the five known Yunnan Pseudopyrochroa species. The repository for the holotype of Frontodendroidopsis pennyi Young is corrected from the California Academy of Sciences to the Institute of Zoology, Bejing.