A discriminant function was developed for sex differentiation of Corn Buntings Miliaria calandra wintering in northern Spain. The function, y = 0.136A + 0.288W -26.837, where A is wing length in mm and W is body weight in g, gives positive values for males and negative values for females. The error of this function was 3.9% lower than other published biometric criteria for sex differentiation in Corn Buntings.
The number of tandem repeats in the mitochondrial control region were used to differentiate the Red‐backed Shrike Lanius collurio, Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator, Great Grey Shrike (subspecies Lanius excubitor excubitor) and the Southern Grey Shrike (subspecies L. meridionalis meridionalis, L. m. koenigi, L. m. pallidirostris and L. m. aucheri). The Red‐backed and Woodchat Shrikes lacked repeats whereas the Great Grey and Southern Grey had two, three and 2 + 3 repeats. A subspecies of Southern Grey (L. m. koenigi) had 2 + 3 + 4 repeats. These findings are discussed in terms of the taxonomy of the Lanius genus, especially with respect to the Great Grey and Southern Grey Shrikes.
Two new species of cavernicolous Collembola belonging to genera Pygmarrhopalites Vargovitsh, 2009 and Pseudosinella Schäffer, 1897 from "Cueva del Saliente" (Almería, Spain) are described: Pygmarrhopalites crepidinis Jordana & Baquero, n. sp. is characterized by trichobothria A, B and C forming a straight line towards posterior end; Ant. IV with five subsegments; all claws with inner tooth, all empodia with corner tooth, and empodial filaments surpassing tip of corresponding claw; anterior lobe of tenaculum with two apical chaetae; dens with 3, 2, 1,…, 1 anterior chaetae, and one external posterior spine. Pseudosinella najtae Jordana & Baquero, n. sp. is characterized by the absence of eyes; chaetotaxy R0R1R2011/10/0100+2, Abd. IV accessory chaeta s absent, all claws with four teeth, paired teeth at different level (41 and 52% of claw length from basis), all empodia with serrate external edge, labrum with all chaetae ciliated; labium posterior without M1, with M2rEL1L2, r smooth microchaetae; remaining of labial chaetae (both posterior and anterior) ciliated. In addition one other species was found in the same cave: Troglopedetes absoloni (Bonet, 1931). The explorations of this cave have been carried out by the second author. The "Cueva del Saliente" is part of a study on cave fauna in Andalusia. In this cave a total of 4453 specimens (38 taxa) have been captured during an annual sampling period (October 2012 to August 2013).
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