A new blind loach species, Triplophysa erythraea sp. nov., from a karst cave in Hunan Province, central south China, is described based on morphology and cyt b gene sequencing. It can be distinguished from other species of Triplophysa by the following combination of characters: eyes absent; body scaleless and colorless; caudal-fin 17; maxillary barbel longest; fins transparent, compressed pectoral-fin reaching 2/3 distance between pectoral-fin and pelvic-fin origins; pelvic-fin and dorsal-fin origins relative; posterior chamber of airbladder well developed, long, oval, and dissociative.

Excessive sugar consumption could lead to high blood glucose levels that are harmful to mammalian health and life. Despite consuming large amounts of sugar‐rich food, fruit bats have a longer lifespan, raising the question of how these bats overcome potential hyperglycemia. We investigated the change of blood glucose level in nectar‐feeding bats (Eonycteris spelaea) and fruit‐eating bats (Cynopterus sphinx) via adjusting their sugar intake and time of flight. We found that the maximum blood glucose level ofC. sphinxwas higher than 24 mmol/L that is considered to be pathological in other mammals. AfterC. sphinxbats spent approximately 75% of their time to fly, their blood glucose levels dropped markedly, and the blood glucose ofE. spelaeafell to the fast levels after they spent 70% time of fly. Thus, the level of blood glucose elevated with the quantity of sugar intake but declined with the time of flight. Our results indicate that high‐intensive flight is a key regulator for blood glucose homeostasis during foraging. High‐intensive flight may confer benefits to the fruit bats in foraging success and behavioral interactions and increases the efficiency of pollen and seed disposal mediated by bats.

Introduction: Avian head lice comprise a diverse group of distantly related genera of lice that exhibit a strongly convergent morphology. Due to their lack of free-living stages, their strong morphological adaptations to living on the host’s head, and the limited opportunities for transfer between hosts during mating or nesting, the lateral transmission of head lice between non-conspecific hosts may be presumed to be restricted. Despite this, many species of head lice are ostensibly host generalists. We here examine lice of the head louse genus Philopteroides Mey, 2004, from bulbuls (Passeriformes: Pycnonotidae).Methods: We use two different methods, ParaFit and Jane, to get insights on the co-evolutionary history of Philopteroides species and their bulbul hosts. Jane was run with a variation of event costs.Results: Our phylogenetic analysis indicate that several morphologically cryptic species can be found in this group, most of which appear to be host specific. However, co-phylogenetic analyses indicate that host-switching has been common in the history of these lice, and co-speciation events have been rarer than expected. Moreover, lowest-cost co-evolutionary reconstructions under a variety of event costs are indistinguishable from random. An expanded dataset with more Philopterus-complex lice was found to be evenly balanced between host-switching and co-speciation events.Discussion: The transfer of avian head lice between host species is poorly understood, but evidently fairly common. Several potential routes are discussed, but direct evidence is missing. Potentially, the presence of multiple bulbul species at fruiting trees may be an important factor in this transfer. However, such transfer routes also do not explain why Philopteroides lice on bulbuls appear to be distinct from those of other hosts. Moreover, as many of the species recovered in our analysis are morphologically indistinguishable, cryptic speciation appears to be common in this group.

The modelling of habitat suitability and the prediction of the spatial distribution of species are important for the conservation of endangered species. In this paper, the evaluation of habitat suitability of the Chinese horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus sinicus) in the Wuling Mountains was studied. The global positioning system (GPS), remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) were used to obtain ground survey data and analyse the habitat factors driving the distribution of R. sinicus. The binary logistic regression model and the Maximum Entropy Model (MAXENT model) were used to analyse the habitat suitability of R. sinicus, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the models. The results showed that both models had high prediction accuracy, but the results of the MAXENT model were more stable than those of the binary logistic regression model when the sample size changed, indicating that the MAXENT model was the optimal method. Thena jack-knife test was used to determine the importance of the influencing factors. The results showed that the main factors influencing habitat selection were annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, the nearest distance from a settlement and vegetation fractional coverage (VFC). The suitable habitat was mainly distributed in the middle region of the study area. Marginally suitable habitat was located on the edge of suitable habitat, and unsuitable habitats were mainly distributed in the southern and northwestern regions.

This paper describes a new species of macrophagous terrestrial leech distributed in Wuling Mountain area in Central China. On the basis of morphological and structural observation, mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene sequence analysis and phylogenetic tree inference, this leech was identified as a new species of the genus Odontobdella in the family Salifidae, and named Odontobdella gaowangjiensis sp. nov. The main distinguishing features are: mid-body somites decem-annulate, c1 = c2 = c3 = c4 < b3 = b4 < c9 = c10 > c11 = c12 in adults, while in juvenile specimens, quinquannulate, b1 = b2 = a2 < b5 (c9 = c10) > b6; post-anal annuli present; eyespots in six pairs on somites II, III, IV and V; second pair on somite II largest; each of three myognaths bearing two conical stylets arranged in tandem, parallel to body axis; male gonopore in somite XI c11/c12 (slightly posterior to middle of somite XI b6), female gonopore in somite XII c11/c12 (slightly posterior to middle of somite XII b6), gonopores separated by ten annuli (= one full somite); atrial cornua heart-shaped, curved laterad; ovisacs tubular, extending to somite XVII. Type specimens were deposited in the Animal Collection, College of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Jishou University, Hunan, China.

This paper describes a species of non-bloodsucking aquatic leeches distributed in Shibadong Cave, Huayuan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan Province, belonging to the Wuling Mountains of central China. Based on morphological examination, mitochondrial DNA COI gene sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis, the leech was identified as a new genus in the family Salifidae and named Shibabdellagen. nov. after its collecting locality, “Shibadong Cave,” with the type species named Shibabdella wulingensissp. nov. The genetic distances between this new genus and other genera in the family Salifidae ranged from 19.01% to 23.75% based on COI gene sequence alignment. Morphologically, the main distinguishing features are as follows: one complete somite consists of nine annuli; the pharynx appears tubular, reaching XIV c₁–c₄, with three myognaths anteriorly; accessory copulatory pores are absent; male and female gonopores are located in the ventral center and annular furrow of somite XII c₂/c₃ (57^th/58^th annuli) and somite XII c₁₁/c₁₂ (63^rd/64^th annuli), respectively, separated by six annuli. The atrium appears spherical in shape and lacks a pre-atrial loop. Ovisacs are strip-like and extend to the middle of somite XXI, then fold in the opposite direction.