Samples of marsh frog included 148 sexually mature males were collected in Baghdad
from December 1992 to December 1993 to December 1993. The testis weight was expressed
as percentage of the body weight. The percent mean weights of testis were at their minimal
weight (0.255%) during April (spawning period).
Testis weight has increased until reached its greatest average weight in August (0.785%).
During the winter there is a slight decrease in weight with a more obvious fall at the spawning
months. From the results obtained from the present work on Rana ridibunda and from the
observations on annual cycle in testis weight of some temperate zone anurans we notice that
testes tend to be lowest after spawning and the te

The survey and checklist of invasive species of the insects in some different localities of Iraq are revised; 24 invasive species were documented until December 2018 during the current investigations. The species distributions, common names and synonyms are given.

The current investigation included all of exotic species in Iraq, which are not collected during this study.

The Aaliji Formation in wells (BH.52, BH.90, BH.138, and BH.188) in Bai Hassan Oil Field in Low Folded Zone northern Iraq has been studied to recognize the palaeoenvironment and sequence stratigraphic development. The formation is bounded unconformably with the underlain Shiranish Formation and the overlain Jaddala Formation. The microfacies analysis and the nature of accumulation of both planktonic and benthonic foraminifera indicate the two microfacies associations; where the first one represents deep shelf environment, which is responsible for the deposition of the Planktonic Foraminiferal Lime Wackestone Microfacies and Planktonic Foraminiferal Lime Packstone Microfacies, while the second association represents the deep-sea environme

A comparative investigation of the anatomical characters through a microscopical examination of the prepared transverse sections of the stem was carried out. Six plates with 32 photomicrographs were provided to convincingly show the considerable variations of anatomical characters within the nine examined species. The matrix of 18 anatomical characters which included nine quantitative and nine qualitative was applied for the clustering analysis (CA) followed by the principal component analysis (PCA) using the Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data, PC-ORD.
The results exhibited significant variations among the species resulting in the construction of an artificial key; this key accurately represents a sufficient tool to display the

The habitat type and food availability always influence the population size of many
organisms. Bird’s feeding pattern should be abstracted to complete avian community structure
data. The agronomy main research farm of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology
is a well-managed multi-crop agro-ecosystem which provides a suitable ground for ecological
research. In a multi-crop farmland, the association of Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica Linnaeus,
1758, with the Indian mustard Brassica juncea (L.) Czernajew, 1859 crops have been
recorded for the first time while hovering only on this field. A flock of Barn swallows was
recorded in 32 field visits while flying continuously over the Indian mustard field after
flow

The present study introduces description of a new species of genus Arboridia Zakhvaticin 1946, based on a large collection of Cicadellids. External morphological characters particularly male genitalia were discussed and illustrated. The genus Arboridia Zalchvatkiia (Typhlocybinae: Erythroneurini) contains small slender, fragil and attractively coloured and patterned leafhoppers. It was erected by Zakhvatkin in 1946 (Zalchvatkin, 1946). The overall length of adults ranges from 2.5 to 3.4 mm. Members of this genus can be recognized by inner apical cell of forewing which is long with oblique base; Cu confluent with this base at a point near the middle of the length of inner apical cell; two prominent circular deep brown spots on vertex (Zal

The Tel Hajar formation in the studied area has been divided into five microfacics units:

1) Fine hiogenic dolomite facies.

2) Sandy rich dolomite facies.

3) Dolomite diagenetic facies.

4) Recrystal1ized wackestone in microfacies.

5) Mudsione facies.

Microfacics reflect shallow marine water with open Circulation in the lower part of the formation and the environment of the upper is enclosed between upper tide and tide. The most important diagenesis was recrystallization and spary calcite deposit inside fossils chambers and pores.

  In 2010, the tomato leaf miner Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) was reported for the first time in Iraq. The larvae can feed on all parts of tomato plants and can damage all the growth stages. The main host plant is tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum, but it can also attack other plants in Solanaceae family. In this study it was found attacking alfalfa plants, Medicago sativa in Baghdad Province. This finding reveals that alfalfa also serves as a host plant for T. absoluta in Iraq.

The genus Larra Fabricius, 1793 (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) is recorded for the first time from Vietnam. Three species and two subspecies belonging to this genus as follows: L. amplipennis (F. Smith, 1873); L. carbonaria (F. Smith, 1858); L. fenchihuensis Tsuneki, 1967; L. polita polita (F. Smith, 1858) and L. polita luzonensis Rohwer, 1919 are presented. Keys to both sexes of the three species and two subspecies reported here are provided.

The family Ormyridae has been very much neglected by workers and only two species has been recorded so far from Iraq. The present study, based mainly on my collection, deals with five species, of which one is new to science. The new species is described together with notes on locality data, host records, distribution and taxonomical remarks for all the species.

Spergularia iraqensis sp. nov. is described as a new species from Iraq. This species has been collected from Diyala Province in the central east of Iraq; it is closely related to Spergularia rubra (L.) J. Presl & C. Presl, 1819 and Spergularia bocconei (Scheele) Graebn., 1919.
The distinguishing of the morphological characteristics of the new species alongside the two similar species are discussed with photographs, and an identification key is given for Spergularia iraqensis and other closely related species.

The present study provides a new insight into valuable information on the diverse structure of the Anisakid population and discusses the limited species richness in the Nemipterus japonicus (Bloch,1791) (Perciformes, Nemiperidae). The fishing area consists of various locations in the Arabian Gulf (29°58 0 33 00 N48°28 0 20 E). A total of 315 marine fish were examined, (n=287) were infected. Larval stages (n= 763) encysted within the mesenteries peritoneum and viscera of fish organs were isolated, with a prevalence of 91.11% of infection and, the intensity was 2.65. Molecular analysis was carried out on thirty individuals who have examined the morphology and showed some appearance differences, by amplifying internal transcribed spacers

Land snails constitute an important group of mollusks distributed worldwide. This study reports on land snails found in Iraq. A survey of terrestrial gastropods was performed during their activity seasons in gardens, agricultural lands and nurseries in Iraq from March 2022 to September 2023. Fifteen terrestrial snails belonging to seven families were documented. The species Euchondrus michonii (Bourguignat, 1853) was identified and recorded based on several distinct conchological characters for the first time in Iraq. The recently collected specimens, along with those previously recorded in Iraq, were included in this checklist. Essential information on each species is also presented. As there is no previous checklist or study that provi

    Specimens of the sesarmid crab Nanonsesarma sarii  (Naderloo and Türkay 2009) were    collected from the intertidal zone of Khor Al-Zubair, Basrah, Iraq 2012 far from the Arabian Gulf coasts. Morphological features of this species are highlighted and a figure is provided. 

This study included a survey and review of the scientific names of the marsh insects (aquatic and surrounding it) for the purpose of unifying and updating the database.
The survey reveals 109 species under 77 genera that belong to 32 families and 7 orders as follow: Coleoptera (44 species), Diptera (7 species) Ephemeroptera (2 species), Hemiptera (14 species), Hymenoptera (11 species), Lepidoptera (2 species) and Odonata with 29 species.
Information of specimens' collection for each species, synonyms and geographical distribution were provided.

The morphometric parameters of Acinopus (Acinopus) laevigatus Ménétriés, 1832 (Coleoptera, Carabidae) were studied and their altitudinal variability was assessed. The length of head is the most variable, and the smallest value of the coefficient of variation is observed for the width of elytra. The length of body parts (head, pronotum, elytra) were more variable compared to their width. The correlation relationship between the morphometric parameters of different parts of the body was analyzed. A high correlation was found between the elytra length (EL) and the total body length (BL) (r=0.93), and the lowest correlation was found between the elytra width (EW) and the pronotum length (PL) (r=0.57). According to all measurement indicato

The aim of this study is to calculate the ene expenditure from fatty substance contents of the
frog. Rana ridibunda during its hibernation. It was found that, almost, all frogs enter
hibernation during the last week of December and emerge from hibernation during the first
week of March. Hence, January and February are considered the hibernation period.
December is the pre-hibernation period and March is the post-hibernation period. The
reduction in percent of body lipid during the hibernation period was 4.8% in males and 7.7%
in females. The reduction in percent of lipid of fat bodies during the hibernation period was
2.758% in males and 0.733% in females.
The calorific value of R. ridibunda lipid amounted to 1233

During a period of two years, from January 1995 till December 1996, the first survey on fish parasites in Bahr Al-Najaf depression, mid Iraq, was achieved. A total of 6992 fishes, belonging to 11 species, were collected and inspected for external and internal parasites. These fishes were infected with three protozoans (Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Trichodina domerguei and Myxobolus pfeifferi), two monogeneans (Dactylogyrus cornu and Gyrodactylus elegans), two digenetic trematodes (Clinostomum complanatum and Ascocotyle coleostoma), one nematode (Contracaecum sp.) and one acanthocephalan (Neoechinorhynchus iraqensis). Five fish species were recorded as new h

Seven fish species were collected from the drainage network at Al-Madaen region, south of
Baghdad with the aid of a cast net during the period from March to August 1993. These fishes
were infected with 22 parasite species (seven sporozoans, three ciliated protozoans, seven
monogeneans, two nematodes, one acanthocephalan and two crustaceans) and one fungus
species. Among such parasites, Chloromyxum wardi and Cystidicola sp. are reported here for
the first time in Iraq. In addition, 11 new host records are added to the list of parasites of
fishes of Iraq.

Tanqua anomala (von Linstow,1904) specimens were recovered, from the lining wall of the gastro-intestinal tract of the dice snake Natrix tessellate tessellate (Laurenti, 1768) collected in Baghdad city, central Iraq. Measurements of the males, females and a comparison of the nematode with other studies tabulated. Reporting of Tanqua anomala from this snake represents the first record for Iraq as well as a new host record.

Chukar partridge Alectoris chukar (Gray, 1830) is the only species of the 46 species of the genus Alectoris to be found in Iraq. At least there are fourteen subspecies of chukar were described from east Europe, the Middle East and west Asia, two of them were known to be found in Iraq, A.c. Kurdestanica (Meinertzhagen, 1923) from Alpine bio-geographical zone of altitude more than 2000m high, and A.c. werae Zarundny and Loudon, 1904, from the foothills of altitude not more than 400m. In between these two regions, there is another bio-geographical region known as the Irano-toranian zone 400-2000m high. Using morphological, ecological, behavioural, reproduction and hybridization criteria this study discove

The ascaroid nematode Contracaecum rudolphii was recovered in large numbers from the
digestive tract of Phalacrocorax carbo collected in Baghdad area, Central Iraq. The infection
rates of the two sexes of the bird and some meristic and morphometric characters of the
parasite that allowed species determination of the nematode Contracaecum rudolphii were
discussed. This finding represents a new host record for this nematode in Iraq.

    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

Duration of each developmental stage of the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus together with the mortality percentage were observed at a combination of five different temperatures namely 20C°, 22.5C°, 25C°, 27.5C° and 30C° and four different humidities namely 55%, 75%, 85% and 95% r. h. Results showed that temperature had the greatest effect on the life cycle period. The higher the temperature the shorter the life cycle was aid versa verea. On the other hand, humidity seems to be less effectiveness, though at the higher temperature and humidity no development was occured. Mortality among all temperatures and humidities appeared nearly the same, but at higher temperature and higher humidity and because of mould g

A total of 400 hard tick specimens (250 ♂♂, 150 ♀♀) were collected from 160 sheep Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758 out of 200 samples examined in the different localities of Iraq, representing an infestation rate of 80% of the sheep. The results of the current research identified eight species of hard ticks belonging to two genera, Hyalomma C. L. Koch, 1844 and Rhipicephalus Koch,1844 and belonging to the Ixodidae family, as follows: Hyalomma anatolicum Koch, 1844, H. excavatum Koch, 1844, H. impeltatum Schulze & Schlottke, 1930, H. scupense Schulze, 1919, Rhipicephalus bursa Canastrini & Fanzago, 1878, R. camicasi Morel, Mouchet & Rodhain, 1976, R. sanguineus Latreille, 1806, and R. turanicus Pomerantsev, 1936. Molecular an

Due to the increase in tick-borne diseases globally, this investigation was proposed to investigate the distribution and intensity of the species belonging to Hyalomma C. L. Koch, 1844 that have been infesting livestock in Diyala Province, central of Iraq. The total percentage of infestation was 14.955% distributed as 19.600% for cow, 12.254% for sheep, and 29.411% for goat. The infestation varies among the districts of Diyala Province, and the highest infestation was in females compared with males, and it was distributed in different sites of animal bodies. The study concludes that the genus Hyalomma is widespread in all districts of the province and that there are six species belonging to this genus, including: Hyalomma anatolicum Koch

The present work aims to study the embryonic development of forebrain (Cerebrum) of a white-cheeked bulbul Pycnonotus leucotis (Gould, 1839) (Aves, Passeriformes, Pycnonotidae). Specimens for embryonic development were processed for paraffin embedding and stained with haematoxylin and eosin for histological study. The forebrain incubation consists of three layers, ependymal, mantle and marginal. The thickness of telencephalon was 43 μm while the thickness of diencephalon was 37 μm in an embryo of 48 hours incubation. The telencephalon consisted of two vesicles called cerebral hemispheres. The thickness of the telencephalon wall was 57 μm. The cerebral hemispheres in the embryo at 72 hours of incubation were differentiated, and the ave

This study aimed to identify and describe one of the bacterial feeder nematode Acrobeloides varius Kim, Kim and Park, 2017 (Rhabditida, Cephalobidae), which was isolated from soil samples that were collected from Baghdad, central of Iraq, and was classified using both morphological and molecular criteria. All specimens of A. varius were cultured, identified and described using morphometric criteria. Selected specimens (Zah. IRQ3 OR994579.1 isolate) of this species were characterized by having the body length of the male ranging from (184.94 – 221.72 μm), the body length of the female ranging (507.38 – 521.92 μm) and the body length of the juvenile ranging from (355.53 – 490.35 μm). Selected specimens of this species were molecul

Recent changes in the subfamily Pimeliinae (Coleoptera, Tenebrionida), including updates at the generic and species levels, are summarized till this study is completed . According to the previous literature and museum collections of the Iraq Natural History Research Center and Museum, a revised and current list of 18 recognized genera and 44 species, organized into 10 tribes, is provided for the fauna of Iraq. The importance of this study is that it is the first updated list for the Pimeliinae subfamily for the entomofauna of Iraq.