ISSUE 25 • October 2024
ANICdotes
The official newsletter of the Australian National Insect Collection
CSIRO NATIONAL FACILITIES AND COLLECTIONS
www.csiro.au

Inside this issue
The Director’s Introduction: The Relocation Edition
Medal of the Order of Australia for David
New ANIC baby
Coleoptera hall happenings
But wait, there’s more!
ICE2024 in Kyoto
A warm welcome to IAS
Joint SPNHC-TDWG Conference in Okinawa
A rare entomopathogenic fungus joins ANIC
Back in time
Cleaning up, clearing out
Weevils move house (with bonus winter holiday)
Relocation underway!
Extra relocation snippets
Recent publications
The Director’s Introduction: The Relocation Edition
David Yeates, Director

With so much going on around us at Black Mountain we decided to focus on images rather than text in this issue of ANICdotes. Yes, our new collections building is completed and we are putting it through its final paces before we move everything in and get busy with research again. It has been a pleasure working with the professionals at International Art Services (IAS) during this stressful time as the collection is on the move. While many of the photos in this issue focus on aspects of ANIC being decanted and moved, we also feature staff honours, conference attendance, workshops, and some preliminary research results. Being spring, the season of new beginnings, we also feature the new additions to staff families, bringing joy and sleep deprivation to exhausted parents! 
A number of ANIC staff attended the International Congress of Entomology in Kyoto, Japan, at the end of August. Adam Ślipiński and Andreas Zwick co-organised popular symposia and other staff and students presented on recent research. Juanita Rodriguez is the President of the International Society of Hymenopterists and is using her influence to promote the careers of early career female scientists. The conference was well organised, Kyoto is a beautiful city, and we were all energised by the interactions with new and old colleagues. 
Adam Ślipiński and Lingzi Zhou organised an intensive Cerambycidae identification course to coincide with the publication of the prionine volume of the Australian Longicorn Beetles book series late in 2023. Mario dos Rios of Queen Mary University, London, visited us early in 2024 to work with Hermes Escalona on the ‘big tree’ from the 1000 Insect Transcriptomes project. David Yuan, our type curator, has been very busy being both a new father and also presenting on our primary type audit project at the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) conference, also in Japan, just after ICE.
I am often sent images of insects to identify, but earlier this year I was sent the most incredible photo that blew my mind. It turned out to be a large hawkmoth infected with a entomopathogenic fungus that has sprouted fruiting bodies on long threads all over the moth. See the photo, read more about the specimen on page 7.  
The decant of ANIC into the new building is a painstaking and logistically challenging exercise, with all dry specimens passing through a cycle of freezing (a winter holiday) before being installed in the new building. In addition, all staff and equipment have been moved to the new building, providing a perfect opportunity to reorganise and recurate parts of the collection. We anticipate that by the next edition of ANICdotes (#26), we will be able to properly showcase the collection in 
its new home.
Medal of the Order of Australia for David
Nicole Fisher
David Hatherly, an ANIC and Australian National Herbarium volunteer since 2017, receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for services to the community. See our previous issue (April 2024) for further details. Congratulations David! 

New ANIC baby
On the 16th of June 2024, ANIC technicians David Yuan and Manda Faizi-Yuan welcomed their daughter Mina to the world.
Coleoptera hall happenings
Last year, ANIC was visited by Mario dos Reis (Queen Mary University of London) to start the work on a gigantic insect dating for the 1KITE (1K Insect Transcriptome Evolution) Project. 
Dr Lingzi Zhou and Dr Adam Ślipiński visiting the Department of Industry Tourism and Trade agriculture collection in Northern Territory to examine species of Dermestidae, Bostrichidae, and Cerambycidae, July 2024
ANIC-led Cerambycidae identification training for DAFF officers, held in the old ANIC building, April 2024. Left to right: Justin Bartlett (Queensland Department of Agriculture), Adam Ślipiński, Lingzi Zhou, Jo Benevenute-Parish (Federal Department of Agriculture), Mike Elias, Adam Broadley (Federal Department of Agriculture)
But wait, there’s more!
ANIC Research Scientist Dan Huston and wife Rebecca welcomed twin daughters on the 15th of October. After a short and uncomplicated labour, Morgan Athena (right) was born at 2.6 kilos. 16 minutes later Ember Jean arrived at 3.1 kilos. Both are healthy and growing well. Their older sister Petra (2.75 years) is delighted with her new baby sisters.
ICE2024 in Kyoto: International Congress of Entomology
A host of ANIC staff and students attending ICE in Kyoto this year–an invaluable opportunity to catch up with colleagues from around the globe!
Imagine, if you will, the images we cannot include in RTF format: Dipterists swarm together! L to R: Yuyu Wang (Hebei Agricultural University, China) Keith Bayless (ANIC), David Yeates (ANIC), Li Shi (Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, China) Yunlan Jiang (Hebei Agricultural University, China), Yue-Tian Gao (China Agricultural University) 
Bottom left: Ian Naumann and Dr Jinping Zhang, CABI, Beijing at ICE, Kyoto. Jinping is a biocontrol entomologist working on natural enemies of invasive species, including Anastatus which attack eggs of pest stink bugs
Top right: International Society of Hymenopterists Executive committee at ICE. L to R: Emma Kärrnäs, Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, Juanita Rodriguez, Natalie Dale-Skey, Miles Zhang, Jessica Awad, Craig Brabant, Taisuke Kawano
Bottom right: Women in the International Society of Hymenopterists breakfast at ICE. Clockwise from front left: Mollie Slater-Baker, Buntika Butcher, Jill Oberski, Juanita Rodriguez, Natalie Dale-Skey, Jessica Awad, Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, Atiyeh Naghizadeh, Fiorella Ramirez Esquivel, Iona Cunningham-Eurich
An entomology conference hosted in Japan is obviously not complete without a display of local artistry, including these amazingly intricate origami beetles

A warm welcome to IAS
ANIC is delighted to welcome International Art Service (IAS) Fine Art Logistics onboard for the relocation! IAS has been contracted to assist with packing, transport and quarantine of our specimens on their way to the new building. We appreciate their enthusiasm, dedication and flexibility in the face of the ever-changing relocation schedule and flow-on effects
Joint SPNHC-TDWG Conference in Okinawa
David Yuan
Davis Yuan attended the joint Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) and Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) conference, hosted in Okinawa, Japan this year
Top left: The opening of SPNHC-TDWG conference 2024 in Okinawa
Bottom left: David’s presentation about ANIC type project (in session CTRB02 if anyone wishes to learn more!)
Right: Conference beachcombing and cleanup activity–an opportunity to find some natural curiosities and help dispose of some rubbish properly!
A rare entomopathogenic fungus joins ANIC
You Ning Su
In an exciting new addition to the ANIC, a rare moth infected with an entomopathogenic fungus has arrived at the collection, thanks to the sharp observation of a mushroom enthusiast on a Facebook group. The specimen, discovered in northeastern New South Wales, was brought to David Yeates’ attention by a friend who shared an image of what appeared to be a moth overtaken by a parasitic fungus.
After reviewing the photos, David contacted Ben Phythian, the collector, who kindly agreed to preserve the specimen for the collection. Ben returned to the site and, to his delight, found the moth still intact two and a half weeks later.
I travelled to the Gold Coast to meet Ben and retrieve the specimen, which is now in quarantine in the freezer. Based on intuition, the fungus was identified as probably belonging to the Akanthomyces genus, known for infecting large moths and butterflies, and the host has been confirmed to be a hawkmoth (Acosmeryx cinnamomea).
This rare discovery offers a unique glimpse into the world of fungal parasitism and enriches ANIC’s holdings, providing valuable material for future research. ANIC is grateful for Ben’s enthusiasm and his significant contribution to advancing scientific understanding.
Back in time
The new collections building, this time, a year ago! It’s now rather more than just a couple of holes in the ground. Photo taken by David Yeates from the Herbarium’s Map Room–an excellent vantage point over the construction!
Cleaning up, clearing out
Bonnie Koopmans
An issue with before and after photos is that I never think to take the ‘before’ photo until I’m halfway done! Nevertheless, I knew that rehoming the wasp nest collection would be incredibly satisfying. With help from wonderful Ant Man Jon Lewis, the nests were transferred from random plastic bags and inappropriate tubs (I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!) into standardised archival boxes for both relocation and longer-term storage purposes. Not pictured: the nests discarded prior to taking the ‘before’ photo–victims of a lack of data and improper storage, with many mud nests that had simply reverted to bags of dirt over time. Proper labels for the new boxes are on the to-do list so we can tell what is inside each one at a glance. Bare offices are now the norm throughout ANIC, and anyone who has visited us previously will understand what a mammoth task it has been to clear out! 
Weevils move house (with bonus winter holiday) 
Debbie Jennings
1.	Security check: Jake (IAS) making the final adjustments on the drawer transport units, each made from four cabinets to ensure drawer safety. Weevils were the first group to move out of ANIC and into the new building–a momentous occasion in the relocation process!
2.	Cabinets patiently waiting in the departure lounge
3.	Boarding
4.	Transport inspection with Sean (IAS) and Federica Turco
5.	Seatbelt safety demonstration conducted by Bowdi. 
6.	Disembarkment and arrival at the temporary winter holiday accommodation: freezer shipping containers. A low temperature treatment was chosen for the quarantine of specimens to ensure no pests were introduced to the new collections building during the relocation.
7.	Out of holiday mode and into the new building
8.	The first weevils safely installed in their new home
Relocation underway!
Christine Fernance
The Digitisation Team is very excited to be setting up our new digs in the new collections building. Here is a before of our workspace at ANIC (right) and after (below) in the new Digitisation Suite, including one of our GigaMacro imaging bays (far right).
Extra relocation snippets
1. 	James Nicholls and Angus (IAS) preparing to move -80oC freezer contents–definitely best done in winter
2. 	Hymenoptera drawers being labelled with barcodes by the IAS team to ensure they move into the exact specified cabinet and location in the new collections building
3. Rani and Niamh admiring the Ulysses butterflies!
Recent publications
Adams, M.W.D., Walker, J.A., Rose, H.A., Jones, B.R., Zwick, A., Yang, H., Nicholls, J., Hartley, D., Bent, S., Carlile, N., Hutton, I., Ho, S.Y.W. & Lo, N. (2024) Plio-Pleistocene decline of mesic forest underpins diversification in a clade of Australian Panesthia cockroaches. Systematic Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12654
Bickerstaff, J.R.M., Walsh, T., Court, L., Pandey, G., Ireland, K., Cousins, D., Caron, V., Wallenius, T., Ślipiński, A., Rane, R., Escalona, H. et al. (2024) Chromosome structural rearrangements in invasive haplodiploid ambrosia beetles revealed by the genomes of Euwallacea fornicatus and Euwallacea similis (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Scolytinae). Genome Biology and Evolution, evae226 https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evae226
Bond, S.J., Huston, D.C., Patel, S., Hodda, M., Yadav, S., & Bellgard, S.E. (2024). Scientific data and background behind the first detection of Meloidogyne enterolobii in Australia. Australasian Plant Disease Notes, 19, 16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13314-024-00539-0
Bouguerche C, Huston D.C., Karlsbakk E, Ahmed M, Holovachov O. (2024). Untangling the Derogenes varicus species complex in Scandinavian waters and the Arctic: description of Derogenes abba n. sp. (Trematoda, Derogenidae) from Hippoglossoides platessoides and new host records for D. varicus (Müller, 1784) sensu stricto. Parasite, 2024; 31, 26. https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2024024 
Caron E., Monné M., Ferreira V., Costa C., Cupello M., Aloquio S., Linzmeier A., Vaz-de-Mello F., Leivas F., Souza-Gonçalves I., Ślipiński A. et al. (2024) Coleoptera of Brazil: what we knew then and what we know now. Insights from the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil. Zoologia (Curitiba), 41. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-4689.v41.e23072
Dang, L.H., Tong, X.L. & Mound, L.A. (2024) New synonymy among gall thrips of the Asian genus Mesothrips, with revision of species from China (Thysanoptera, Haplothripini). Zookeys, 1196, 121–138. 
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1196.118131
Dashevsky, D., Richard J. Harris, Christina N. Zdenek, Melisa Benard-Valle, Alejandro Alagón, José A. Portes-Junior, Anita M. Tanaka-Azevedo et al. (2024) Red-on-Yellow Queen: Bio-Layer Interferometry Reveals Functional Diversity Within Micrurus Venoms and Toxin Resistance in Prey Species. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-024-10176-x
Encinas-Viso, F., Goodwin, E., Saunders, M.E., Florez, J., Lumbers, J. & Rader, R. (2024) The missing links: Bee and non-bee alpine visitor observation networks differ to pollen transport networks. Ecological Entomology, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13311
Fang, Z., Tang, C.-T., Sinclair, F., Csóka, G., Hearn, J., McCormack, K., Melika, G., Mikolajczak, K.M., Nicholls, J.A., Nieves-Aldrey, J.-L., Notton, D.G., Radosevic, S., Bailey, R.I., Reiss, A., Zhang, Y.M., Zhu, Y., Fang, S., Schönrogge, K. & Stone, G.N. (2024) Network structure and taxonomic composition of tritrophic communities of Fagaceae, cynipid gallwasps and parasitoids in Sichuan, China.  Insect Conservation and Diversity 
https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12768
Giannotta, M.M., Smith, I., Michie, M., Blasdell, K., Dunn, M., Nicholls, J., Heath, A.C.G., Rodriguez, J. & Gofton, A.W. (2024) Molecular characterisation of Australasian Ixodiphagus (Hymenoptera; Encyrtidae; Encyrtinae) reveals unexpected diversity and a potential novel host switch. International Journal for Parasitology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpara.2024.09.001
Goedderz, S., Clements, M.A., Bent, S.J., Nicholls, J.A., Patel, V.S., Crayn, D.M., Schlüter, P.M. & Nargar, K. (2024) Plastid phylogenomics reveals evolutionary relationships in the mycoheterotrophic orchid genus Dipodium and provides insights into plastid gene degeneration. Frontiers in Plant Science, 15, 1388537. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1388537
Halliday, B. (2024) A collection of mites in the family Laelapidae from rodents in Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 39, 9–12. https://doi.org/10.18195/issn.0312-3162.39.2024.009-012
Huang T., Zhou Y.-L., Janák J. & Zhou H.-Z. (2024) Four new species and a key to Australian species of the genus Diochus Erichson (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Staphylininae, Diochini). Zootaxa, 5512, 343–372. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5512.3.2
Huston, D.C. (2024). Haplosplanchnata (Suborder): Two Hosts with Half the Guts. In: S. L. Gardner & S. A. Gardner, eds. Concepts in Animal Parasitology. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. pp. 423–427. https://doi.org/10.32873/unl.dc.ciap039 
Jenkins Shaw, J., Perkovsky E., Ślipiński A., Escalona H., Solodovnikov A. (2024) An extralimital fossil of the genus Diagrypnodes (Coleoptera: Salpingidae: Inopeplinae). Historical Biology, 36 (7), 1196–1203. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2023.2206858
Jolfaei, M.S.C. & Rodriguez, J. (2024) Molecular Phylogeny, Species Delimitation and Taxonomic Revision of the Australian Spider Wasp Genus Heterodontonyx Haupt, 1935 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Advances in Entomology, 12 (2), 105–128. https://doi.org/10.4236/ae.2024.122009
Lawrence J. F., Zhou Y.-L., Ślipiński A. (2024) The Australian Ptilodactylidae (Coleoptera), with New Subfamily, Key to Genera and Descriptions of Two New Species. Annales Zoologici, 74 (2), 305–324, 320. https://doi.org/10.3161/00034541ANZ2024.74.2.005
Li Y., Moritz C., Brennan I. G., Zwick A., Nicholls J., Grealy A. & Ślipiński A. (2024) Evolution across the adaptive landscape in a hyperdiverse beetle radiation. Current Biology, 34 (16): 3685–3697.e3686. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.080
Li Y.-D., Jin Z.-Y, Ślipiński A., Huang D.-Y & Cai C. (2024). A new species of the extant genus Bulasconotus from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Colydiinae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 64, e202464015. https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2024.64.015
Li Y.-D., Kolibáč J., Liu Z.-H., Ślipiński A., Yamamoto S., Yu Y.-L., Zhang W.-T. & Cai C.-Y. (2024) Foveapeltis gen. nov., an unusual cleroid genus with large hypomeral cavities from mid-Cretaceous amber (Coleoptera: Cleroidea). Ecology and Evolution, 14 (7), e11589. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11589
Mašán, P. & Halliday, B. (2024) Ochaechulla spinturniciformis, a new genus and species of mite in the family Laelapidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) from Slovakia. Acarologia, 64 (3), 697–710. https://doi.org/10.24349/tcet-6u2k
McHugh J.V., Ślipiński A., Nabozhenko M.V., Perkovsky E.E. & Sadyrin, E.V. (2024) A new species of Cerylonidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) described from Baltic amber using X-Ray microtomography. Historical Biology, 36 (8), 1482–1486. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2023.2220001
Mound, L.A. (2024) New generic synonyms amongst Thysanoptera Phlaeothripinae listed from Europe and the Mediterranean area. Zootaxa, 5428 (1), 146–150. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5428.1.8
Mound, L.A. & Tree, D.J. (2024) A further Phlaeothripidae species with blue-green gut contents (Thysanoptera). Australian Entomologist, 51 (1), 56–60. 
Mound, L.A. & Tree, D.J. (2024) New Thysanoptera-Tubulifera from Callitris Trees. Australian Entomologist, 51 (2): 92–98.
Mound, L.A. (2024) From Linnaeus to 2024—a history of Thysanoptera taxonomic diversity studies. Zootaxa, 5481 (5), 563–572. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5481.5.5
Orlova, M.V., Halliday, B., Reeves, W.K., Doronin, I.V., Mishchenko, V.A., Vyalykh, I.V. & Kidov, A.A. (2024) Review of the distribution and biology of the snake mite Ophionyssus natricis (Acari: Macronyssidae). Acarologia, 64 (2), 637–653.  https://doi.org/10.24349/gmr0-8m9o
Rentz, D.C.F., Field, A.R. & Su, Y. (2024) New species of the genus Shelfordina Hebard with taxonomic and ecological notes and a key to the known Australian species (Blattodea: Ectobiidae: Pseudophyllodromiinae). Zootaxa, 5529 (1), 110–122. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5529.1.5
Rodriguez, J., Frese, M., Dettmann, M., Jolfaei, M.S.C. & Macdonald, J. (2024) A new exceptionally preserved sawfly fossil (Hymenoptera: Pergidae) and an evaluation of its utility for divergence time estimation and biogeography. Systematic Entomology, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12653
Saboori, A., Halliday, B., Hakimitabar, M. & Cakmak, I. (2024) A new species of Leptus (Trombidiformes: Erythraeidae) from Australia. Biologia, 79, 1809–1815. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-024-01672-y
Tweed J.M.H., Ashman L. G. & Ślipiński A. (2024) Excastra albopilosa, a remarkable new genus and species of Lamiinae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from southeastern Queensland, Australia. Australian Journal of Taxonomy, 54, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.54102/ajt.iv1x5