Bulletin of the Iraq Natural History Museum

Pollen grains of the five cultivated species of Pinus L., 1753 from Subsect. Pinaster (Order Pinales, Family Pinaceae) were collected from the Orman Botanic Gardens at Giza in addition to the herbarium specimens. They were examined by light and scanning electron microscopy to detect the taxonomic value of their pollen characteristics. The pollen grains were bisaccate. An artificial key constructed according to the morphology of pollen grains recognizes the five species that belong to Pinus: P. pinea Linnaeus, 1753; P. canariensis Smith, 1828; P. halepensis Miller, 1768; P. roxburghii Sargent, 1897; and P. brutia Tenore, 1811. The differential items included the presence or absence of apertures, e.g. the monosulcate colpus that presents in P. pinea and P. brutia; pollen shape without sacci that could be perprolate as in P. pinea or prolate as in the remaining species; pollen shape (outlined with sacci) in polar view that could be haploxylonoid as in P. pinea and P. roxburghii or diploxylonoid as in the remaining species; in addition to cappa and sacci exine sculpture. A dendrogram from the Community Analysis Package statistical program for data analysis supported the separation of five species of Pinus in Egypt and showed that P. canariensis and P. halepensis were closely related, as well as P. brutia and P. roxburghii. The cluster separated P. pinea into a separate group, but it was more closely related to P. canariensis and P. halepensis. The cluster tree was illustrated, visualized, and confirmed by a heat map based on the R programming language for effective manipulation of the data.

Trichomes are extensions of the epidermis, frequently used as diagnostic traits for determining plant species. Solanum L., 1753 is a widespread and taxonomically complex genus. Although the genus Solanum has been the subject of numerous types of research, little attention has been given to the trichomes of the wild species found in Egypt. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to examine trichome types in ten wild Solanum species and assess their taxonomic importance. Using light, scanning electron microscopy and line drawings, indumentum characteristics on the abaxial leaf surface are investigated. The results showed a wide range of variation in trichome density on a 1mm2 area of leaf blade (sparse, moderate, and dense), nature (glandular or non-glandular, simple or stellate), and structure (number of composing cells in simple non-glandular and glandular stalk and head; the number of radiating rays in stellate hairs). SEM revealed the existence of unique wax structures, including warty granules in addition to flakes. Our observations are consistent with the general characteristics of the subgenus Leptostemonum and the subgenus Solanum. This work provides strong evidence for the separation and interspecific delimitation of the investigated Solanum species using trichome morphology as a significant taxonomic trait.

A survey and revised checklist of the species belonging to the family of Compositae for the specimens which are collected and deposited previously at the herbarium of the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum, in addition to the current specimens collected for the period 2016-2021. A total of 85 species belonging to 49 genera and 16 tribes are revised with their synonyms, locality, and distributions, flowering and fruiting period.

During July - August of 2021, thirty-one leeches were collected from two localities in Erbil and its suburbs for studying the morphological features of jaws, denticles, and salivary gland cells. Leeches were two blood-sucking species; Hirudo orientalis (Utevsky & Trontelj, 2005) (Family, Hirudinidae) and Limnatis paluda (Tennent 1859) (Family, Praobdellidae). The investigations conducted using a stereomicroscope (SM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). H. orientalis jaws were white and rigid, bearing sharp teeth, while L. paluda jaws were gray and soft bearing fewer blunt teeth with plentiful papilla and both are monostichodont. In the present study, the salivary glands of adult leeches were examined by SEM. They are composed of unicellular glands arranged in grape patterns with spherical, ovoid, and pear shapes in various cell sizes; the cell bunches of gland cells were highly developed and interconnected to one another by tiny channels. A bigger canal that led to the jaws was created by combining channels from each bunch.

During July - August of 2021, thirty-one leeches were collected from two localities in Erbil and its suburbs for studying the morphological features of jaws, denticles, and salivary gland cells. Leeches were two blood-sucking species; Hirudo orientalis (Utevsky & Trontelj, 2005) (Family, Hirudinidae) and Limnatis paluda (Tennent 1859) (Family, Praobdellidae). The investigations conducted using a stereomicroscope (SM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). H. orientalis jaws were white and rigid, bearing sharp teeth, while L. paluda jaws were gray and soft bearing fewer blunt teeth with plentiful papilla and both are monostichodont. In the present study, the salivary glands of adult leeches were examined by SEM. They are composed of unicellular glands arranged in grape patterns with spherical, ovoid, and pear shapes in various cell sizes; the cell bunches of gland cells were highly developed and interconnected to one another by tiny channels. A bigger canal that led to the jaws was created by combining channels from each bunch.

In Egypt, the taxonomic identity of the taxa under genus Retama Raf., 1838 (Fabaceae) is still unclear and its morphological resemblance precludes its identification. The current study aims to resolve the taxonomic identity of the species belonging to genus Retama in Egypt and clarify the morphological, molecular, and geographic distribution characterised each species. To achieve these goals, the fresh and herbarium Retama specimens were used for morphological investigations using 94 macro-morphological characters while the Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) markers were used for the molecular identity. This revision revealed the identification of two distinct species namely: Retama raetam (Forsskk.) Webb. and Retama monosperma (L.) Boiss with five forms under R. raetam (Forms 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8). In addition to Form 5 from under R. monosperma; the morphological and molecular identities of forms showed variations in the meanwhile it's clustering were congruent. The geographic distribution of the Retama taxa in Egypt was elucidated. This study highlights the urgent need for Retama species conservation, due its vulnerability to climatic change.

In the present study, the malacophagous leech Alboglossiphonia weberi (Blandchard, 1897) (Annelida, Hirudinida, Glossiphoniidae) was recorded for the first time in the freshwaters of the Fergana Valley in the eastern part of Uzbekistan during 2020-2022. This species of leech is a new species for the hirudofauna of Uzbekistan and Central Asia. The article describes its morphological and ecological characteristics and presents a distribution map and photographic pictures of the species.

Blyth’s Swift, endemic to the Indian subcontinent, is one of the four taxa of the Pacific Swift Apus pacificus complex. It is known to breed in high altitudes (>2,000 m) and disperse widely in winters, as far as the southern extremity of Nilgiri Region of the Western Ghats of India. However, the true extent of its non-breeding range remains uncertain. The present study reports the extended breeding range of the species and also an attempt to confirm its breeding range using the Species Distribution Modeling (SDM). In April 2020 in Anaikatty Hills of Southern Western Ghats, Coimbatore, we recorded an assemblage of four aerial foraging Aves; Indian Swiftlet Aerodramus unicolor (Jerdon, 1840), Asian Palm Swift Cypsiurus balasiensis (J.E. Gray, 1829), Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica (Laxmann, 1769), and a large-sized swift. After referring to the experts’ field guides and discussions, we confirmed the species’ identification as the Blyth’s Swift Apus pacificus leuconyx (Blyth, 1845). The observed individuals of the Blyth’s Swift were carrying food bolus, confirming active breeding of the species in the Nilgiri region of the Southern Western Ghats of India. Also, the available breeding records were projected using Species Distribution Model SDM, the breeding range included the extent of Southern Western Ghats. We claim the first confirmed breeding record of the Blyth’s Swift in the region and an extension of the species breeding range.

This review examines the reported impacts of three major linear infrastructure developments, namely railways, roads and power lines on avifauna. These infrastructures are proliferating worldwide posing serious threats to wildlife including avifauna. The major impacts involved with linear infrastructures are habitat degradation, fragmentation, direct mortality by collision and electrocution. The factors affecting collision mortality can be divided into intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The intrinsic factors include species morphology and species behavior whereas the extrinsic factors are the external factors such as weather, landscape features and the technical aspects of the infrastructure. Power lines affect a large number of birds, killing more than one billion birds globally each year. Studies suggest the implementation of anti-collision devices such as wire markers; flight diverters and physical barriers like trees, diversion poles or noise barriers are effective mitigation measures to reduce bird mortality due to the linear infrastructures. Therefore, understanding the overall impact of linear infrastructures is crucial for effectively managing their impacts on avifauna and helping make future developments less destructive and more sustainable.

The aim of this study is to describe the leech species that are used in some of the alternative medicine clinics in Baghdad Province based on morphometric measurements and colouring pattern of the body. A collection of twenty leeches was provided from some clinics. All specimens were identified and described based on standard available keys. The morphometric characteristics and colouring patterns were recorded and the indicated that these leeches were Hirudo orientalis Utevsky & Trontelj, 2005 and H. verbana Carena, 1820.

The skull is one of the largest bones in the body. It is classified into flat bones that maintain the important organic structures; which are the brain, eyes, and tongue. The skull is a strong support for preserving these organs but they are various according to the type of animals and the environments in which they live and the nature of their nutrition. There are many differences among living organisms in terms of the bones in the skull, their difference or disappearance and their length in the shape of the head. The samples were taken from the scientific storage in the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum; Cape hare Lepus capensis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Red fox Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) and the study was conducted on them in a comparative morpho-anatomical way; it is noted that it differs from one animal to another. The dentition formula was added because the dental tissue is embedded in the jaw bone. Differences were noted in the current study in comparison to other previous studies. However the study of bones needs development in methods and requires an extensive investigations in Iraq as a result of the dissimilarities in species and the nature of living; in addition to the species itself, differences are registered.

In this study, the genus Xylocopa Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) was revised. There were 4 species registered in our investigations: X. hottentotta Smith, 1854; X. olivieri Lepeletier, 1841; X. pubescens Spinola, 1838 and X. valga Gerstäcker, 1872, the first species was described as being found for the first time for the insect fauna of Iraq, which were obtained from Solanum melogena L. flowers. Key to the species was constructed and supported by figures of the main diagnostic characters and some morphological features, illustrated and compared with other species, which are recorded in the current survey.