Three new species of the family Pyroptera were discovered and named after The Chinese entomologist Zheng Leyi

Litchi News A few days ago, Lin Xiaolong, a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Life Sciences of Nankai University, Professor Yan Chuncai, Lecturer Liu Wenbin and other scholars from the School of Life Sciences of Tianjin Normal University published articles in the international journals of Zookeys and Zootaxa to introduce their newly discovered three new species of the family Shake Mosquito: Zheng's Narrow Shake Mosquito, Zheng's Northern Heptagonal Shake Mosquito, and Zheng's Single Coarse-bellied Shake Mosquito. With the discovery and naming of new species, we congratulated Mr. Zheng Leyi, a famous entomologist in China and a professor at the School of Life Sciences of Nankai University, on his 90th birthday.

Insects are a major taxon of the biological world and an important part of biodiversity. In recent years, with the advocacy of the Convention on Biological Diversity, countries have begun to focus on monitoring insect diversity. The discovery and determination of species can provide basic information in the areas of biodiversity conservation, agricultural sustainability, biosecurity and medicine and health.

The three new species of the family Pyroptera were found in the national nature reserves of Yunnan and Hainan in China.

Stenochironomus zhengi Lin & Liu (2021, subfamily) was collected in Martens nets from Daweishan National Park in Yunnan Province, with an upper tarsal vessel that extends significantly beyond the posterior margin of the IX dorsal plate that can be distinguished from other species in the genus.

Boreoheptagyia zhengi Lin & Liu (2021, subfamily Oligocephalica) was collected by means of lanterns from Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, inhabiting streams next to hot springs. Features such as antennae 7 whips and covered micro-hairs in other areas of the wings except for the bare area of the hip horns can distinguish them from other species in the genus. The article also reported on the new Chinese record species Boreoheptagyia kurobebrevis (Sasa & Okazawa, 1992), gave a search table for the genus in China and provided a neighbor tree of boreoheptagyia of the genus Boreoheptagyia based on a COI barcode sequence, with species distances greater than 11%.

Monopelopia zhengi Lin (2021, subfamily Long-legged crappy mosquito) was collected by means of lamp-luring from Jianfengling National Nature Reserve in Hainan Province, and the characteristics of this species such as the middle and hind feet with two shin distances and the tapering of the front end of the carrier are significantly different from other species in the genus. At the same time, the genus is a new record genus in China.

Lin Xiaolong introduced that the three new species of mosquitoes found in the study have made people have a new understanding of the species diversity in China, and provide biodiversity data for the world's mosquito research work in China. In addition, the research results also have important theoretical and practical significance for subsequent pest control, water environment quality assessment and aquaculture.

"Mr. Zheng Leyi is a giant of entomology in China. Under his care and leadership, Professor Wang Xinhua of Nankai University carried out research on mosquito systemology in China, laying the foundation for the expansion of systematic research on mosquitoes in China and winning wide recognition from international peers. Lin Xiaolong said.

Zheng Leyi, entered Nankai University in 1955 to study, studied under the famous entomologist Professor Xiao Caiyu, graduated in 1960 and stayed in school to teach, engaged in insect taxonomy research for more than 60 years, achieved rich scientific research results, made important contributions in taxonomic research and animal taxonomy theory of suborder Heteroptera hemiptera, published more than 270 papers, named more than 400 new genera, compiled "Principles and Methods of Animal Taxonomy", edited "Insect Classification" and other textbooks, edited "Chinese Bug Insect Identification Manual", "Chinese Bug Insect Identification Manual" Zoology of China: Subfamily Blind Bugs and Zoology of China: Flora and Bugs of China and other classic works on insect taxonomy and hemiptera research have trained dozens of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and won the "Entomological Society of China Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2017.

Source: Litchi News