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Four new species, Elachista silfverbergi sp. nov. from Ethiopia and Kenya, E. griseifrons sp. nov. from Ethiopia, E. levis sp. nov. from Tanzania, and E. conica sp. nov. from Ethiopia are described. The habitus and genitalia are diagnosed and illustrated in detail. Identification keys to the Afrotropical species of the E. praelineata species group, based on male and female genitalia, are provided.

A new species of Leptobrachella is described from the coastal forest of Deo Ca Mountain in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam, based on morphological differences and genetic divergences in 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene sequences. The new species is distinguished from other species of the genus Leptobrachella by body size, dorsal skin texture, absence of ventrolateral and femoral glands, absence of lateral fringes on fingers and toes, color pattern of head and body, and iris color. The new species is divergent from other congeners by at least 6.34% uncorrected genetic distance (16S rRNA gene). Leptobrachella deocaensis sp. nov. is genetically closest to L. macrops from Vietnam, with strong nodal support from both BI and ML analyses (1.00/98).

This study presents the first comprehensive mitochondrial genome analysis of three Chironomidae genera, including sequencing, assembling, and annotating mitogenomes from two Paracladopelma species, one Parachironomus species and one Harnischia species. These newly characterized mitogenomes were subjected to comparative genomic analysis alongside twenty previously published Chironomidae mitogenomes, enabling robust phylogenetic reconstruction within the Harnischia generic complex. The Ka/Ks ratio analysis reveals that most protein-coding genes (PCGs) have undergone purifying selection, with ND6, ATP8, and ND5 exhibiting higher ω values and thus greater evolutionary flexibility. Phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood methods demonstrate Robackia as a basal group. This study expands the available mitogenomic database and provides a robust foundation for future phylogenetic analyses of the Harnischia generic complex.

The genus Laureola Barnard, 1960 comprises twelve species distributed across the Afrotropical, Australian, and Oriental regions. In this study, we describe Laureola volamuca Zong, Wang, Jiang & Li, sp. nov., the second species of the genus recorded in China, which was collected from Hainan Island. The habitus of the adult and male appendages of the new species are illustrated. An identification key to the world species of the genus is provided.

Macro-photogrammetry using Structure from Motion (SfM) is widely used in museums and biorepositories to create high-resolution 3D models for educational outreach and proxy specimen access. These models can enable a wide range of analysis, including serving as a latent source of training data for species inventory approaches that leverage machine learning for automated interpretation of 2D imagery. To assess the potential for these models to generate accurate 2D representations, this study investigates how the resulting 3D models' geometric and texture accuracy is impacted by key photogrammetric parameters, specifically horizontal image overlap, vertical image overlap, and focus stacking, emphasizing the impacts on rendered 2D images. In our study, we find that focus stacking, which is commonly assumed to enhance accuracy, provides limited to no benefits for machine learning purposes when compared to an original image. Ten ground beetle specimens of varying shapes, sizes, and colors, including beetles with iridescent carapaces, were modeled using SfM. From these models, both geometric and texture (external coloration and patterning) accuracy were quantitatively assessed. Geometric accuracy was evaluated using the mean absolute error (MAE), comparing modeled and actual specimen measurements across five morphometric features (elytra length, the elytra width, the lengths of the second and third antenna segments, and the length of the first and second tibia). The accuracy of the 2D render texture was measured using % RGB similarity and structural similarity index measure (SSIM) comparing the original images to rendered images. Focus stacking has traditionally been considered essential for improving overall image sharpness within 3D specimen models, however it represents a major bottleneck in the 3D digitization workflow as it requires multiple images per view angle and requires a considerable amount of time and resources to successfully create a 3D model. Results from this study indicate that not only are these methods unnecessary but they lose image fidelity when renders are compared to their original 2D image. Image capture parameters such as horizontal and vertical overlap were found to have a significant impact on model geometric accuracy and rendered 2D image quality, with the overall best-performing method in terms of geometric and texture accuracy as well as model creation consistency, using non-focus-stacked images captured at five vertical angles, with a 20° rotation between each vertical imaging line and 11.25° horizontally between scans. These results challenge the necessity of focus stacking as a blanket, best practice for all use cases in contemporary 3D modeling workflows, indicating that forgoing focus stacking is a potentially beneficial and resource-efficient method of rendering 3D specimen models intended to produce accurate 2D renderings such as those used as training data for deep-learning algorithms.

The genus Ussurohelcon Belokobylskij is recorded for the first time from Vietnam with six new species described and fully illustrated: Ussurohelcon hatinh Long, sp. nov., U. hagiang Long, sp. nov., U. mellicentralis Long, sp. nov., U. mocchau Long & van Achterberg, sp. nov., U. similis Long, sp. nov. and U. tuyenquang Long, sp. nov. Comparative morphological characters of Ussurohelcon species are discussed and a key to Oriental species is also provided.

A new species of semiterrestrial freshwater crab is described from Tapah Hills in Peninsular Malaysia. Geosesarma wongi sp. nov. is the 13^th member of the genus reported from the country and is most similar to G. peraccae (Nobili, 1903) and G. cataracta Ng, 1986, but easily separated by its distinct carapace features and structures of the adult male chela and male first gonopod. The types of G. peraccae are figured for the first time. Geosesarma cataracta is also figured in detail, and the type series is shown to be mixed.

A new skink species, Sphenomorphus tamchucensis sp. nov., is described from Ninh Binh Province, northern Vietnam, based on morphological and molecular evidence. The new species can be distinguished from other Sphenomorphus species by a combination of the following characteristics: size medium (maximal SVL 41.5 mm); primary temporals two; external ear opening without lobules; loreals two; supralabials seven; infralabials six; nuchals absent; midbody scales in 28 rows; dorsal scales smooth, in six rows across the back; paravertebral scales 58-63, not widened; ventral scales in 55-61 rows; 8-10 smooth lamellae beneath finger IV and 13-15 beneath toe IV; toes not reaching to fingers when limbs adpressed along body; dorsal surface of body and tail bronze brown with many tiny dark dots and a discontinuous dark vertebral stripe, from middle of neck to tail base; a black stripe, in two scales wide, running from nostril to eye and extending from posterior margin of eye along upper part of flank to middle of tail. In phylogenetic analyses, the new species is recovered as an independent lineage with no clear sister taxon and at least 17.85% genetic divergence from other congeners based on a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene.

As part of a series of investigations on earthworm diversity conducted in northeastern China in recent years, a new species, Amynthas dandongensis Han & Zhao, sp. nov., has been discovered. It belongs to the A. corticis species group characterized by having four pairs of spermathecal pores in segments 5/6/7/8/9. The new species mainly differs from the other members of the A. corticis species group by its relatively small body size and the absence of male pores and genital markings in both the spermathecal and male pore regions. The interspecific pairwise COI genetic distances between A. dandongensis Han & Zhao, sp. nov. and the other closely related species ranged from 15% to 22%. Phylogenetic analyses using mitogenomic coding genes further explored the relationships within the A. corticis species group, clarifying the position of A. dandongensis Han & Zhao, sp. nov. in the group. Additionally, a new record of a cosmopolitan earthworm, Metaphire agrestis (= Amynthas agrestis) (Goto & Hatai, 1899) has been investigated in China. New sequences from specimens collected in northeastern China were analyzed together with "M. agrestis" and "A. agrestis" sequences available from GenBank to further explore phylogeographic relationship. The dataset of all M. agrestis sequences showed intraspecific genetic distances of 0-1%, consistent with the observed morphological similarities. Haplotype network analyses also revealed no genetic isolation among different populations of M. agrestis (= A. agrestis). Moreover, re-examination of previous descriptions and illustrations of the male pores of agrestis indicates that this species should be assigned to the genus Metaphire Sims & Easton, 1872, rather than Amynthas Kinberg, 1867.

We describe a new species of Xestochironomus Sublette & Wirth, 1972 and provide notes on X. luteifurcatus Sublette & Wirth, 1972 from the Dominican Republic. The adult male and female of Xestochironomus digitulus sp. nov. are also described and illustrated. The male and female of X. luteifurcatus are redescribed. Males of the new species can be easily distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: the abdomen of both sexes bears cross bands; the anal point is long, slender; the male gonostylus has a slightly bifurcated apex; and there is a thumb-like lobe at the apex of the gonostylus.