One eighth of the bird species in the world is considered globally threatened; the avifauna of Iraq comprises 409 species and is considered as the major indicator of the health of Iraq’s biological resources. The Iraqi geography falls into five main regions among which is the desert and semi-desert areas which cover much of the country area. Al-Najaf desert is still one of the poorly known regions from the biodiversity point of view. Birds of conservation concern are detected in Al-Najaf desert during 31 field trips to 20 sites conducted from August 2018 to April 2020, (citing literature records, and personal interviews with locals).The factors caused the bird numbers to decline in Al-Najaf desert include hunting and trapping, logging,

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.

In this study; the genus of Sinoxylon Duftschmid, 1825 (Coleoptera, Bostrichidae) was revised. There were 3 species registered in our investigations: S. anale Lesne, 1897; S. ceratoniae (Linnaeus, 1758) and S. muricatum (Olivier, 1790), the last species was redescribed as being found for the first time for the Iraqi faunal insects. Key to the species were constructed and supported by figures of the main diagnostic characters and some morphological features.

Two means used for saving fish samples, namely Freezing and Preservatives represented by Alcohol and Formalin. The Freezing was used in saving samples collected newly, in addition to use Alcohol and Formalin with different concentrations 70% of Alcohol and 10% of Formalin. The concentrations of some heavy metal elements were examined, such as Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium, Manganese, Magnesium, Zinc, Iron, Copper and Boron in samples saved in Formalin and Alcohol and frozen at different durations. The concentration of some elements has been changed during the saving duration. The study was performed on the concentration of heavy elements in the Liza abu muscles of saved and frozen fish.

Abstract. Al-Abbawy DAH, Al-Thahaibawi BMH, Al-Mayaly IKA, Younis KH. 2021. Assessment of some heavy metals in various aquatic plants of Al-Hawizeh Marsh, southern of Iraq. Biodiversitas 22: 338-345. In order to describe the degree of contamination of aquatic environments in Iraq, heavy metals analysis (Fe, Ni, Cr, Cd, Pb, and Zn) was conducted for six aquatic macrophytes from different locations of Al-Hawizeh Marsh in southern Iraq. The six species were Azolla filiculoides (floating plant), Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton pectinatus, Najas marina (submerged plants), Phragmites australis, and Typha domingensis (emergent plants). The results indicate that cadmium, chromium, and iron concentrations in aquatic plants were above the

    This study was based on the determination of aphid species that infested Chrysanthemum sp. (Asterales, Asteraceae) in the middle of Iraq; five aphid species belong to subfamily Aphidinae were recorded: Aphis fabae Scopoli, 1763, Aphis gossypii Glover, 1877,  Coloradoa rufomaculata (Wilson, 1908), Macrosiphoniella sanborni (Gillette, 1908) and Myzus persicae (Sulzer, 1776). A. gossypii was the most dominant species throughout the study period while M. persicae  is the lesser species.

    A summary of  the main taxonomic characters is presented here and a pictorial key which was designed to separate aphi