China has the sixth-largest bee fauna with over 1,300 documented species. Yet countless more are expected, making taxonomic work an imperative. Here, we outline the history of bee taxonomy in China and discuss how best we can move into the future and describe all of the many undescribed species remaining. Key challenges include the difficulty of accurately assigning species names due to overseas type material as well as a general need for increased internationalization such as in specimen and data sharing. Only with sustained funding for basic taxonomy will it be possible to know and protect China’s unique bee fauna.

This study provides detailed descriptions and illustrations of a new species, Psilota nigritarsa Huo & Zhao, sp. nov., and a newly recorded species in China, P. nigripilosa Shiraki, 1968. It also offers additional measurements for Psilota bashanensis Huo, Zhao & Liu, 2022. The paper proposes a reclassification of the P. innupta-group in the Palaearctic Region into two subgroups based on the morphology of the male genitalia. An updated taxonomic key for the species of the P. innupta-group within the Palaearctic Region is also provided.

In the Homoneura (Homoneura) picta group, H. (H.) dahanshanensis Liu & Shi, sp. nov. is described as new to science and H. (H.) picta (de Meijere, 1904) is supplemented with detailed descriptions of significant intraspecific variations in abdominal striping patterns and structures of the syntergosternite and hypandrial apodeme. Photographic illustrations of these variations are also provided. A key to the 7 species of the group in China is presented.

Four cynipid gall wasps belonging to three genera are reported with descriptions of their host plants and galls, i.e., Belizinella vicina Kovalev, 1965, Cerroneuroterus folimargo (Monzen, 1954), C. monseni (Dettmer, 1934) and Neuroterus hakonensis Ashmead, 1904. The genus Belizinella and three species, B. vicina, C. monseni and N. hakonensis, are recorded in China for the first time. The species B. vicina is redescribed for the missing or incongruent features from its original description. In addition, the gall host for Ufo rufiventris Wang, Guo, Wang, Pujade-Villar & Chen is also recorded here for the first time.

Dentisphaera Páll-Gergely & Jochum, 2017 is a troglobitic land snails genus known to harbour only one species found in a single cave in North Vietnam. Based on recently collected specimens from China, three species, Dentisphaera lagredeae Chen, Grego & Páll-Gergely, sp. nov., Dentisphaera shzha Chen, Grego & Páll-Gergely, sp. nov. and Dentisphaera zhoui Chen, Lin & Páll-Gergely, sp. nov. are introduced as new to science. The distribution range of Dentisphaera is extended based on the collecting records of these new species.

Eucotylidae is a family of microphalloid digeneans parasitising as adults in the urinary system of birds. There are few molecular data on members of this family, and phylogenetic relationships of its genera and species are still unclear. Here we present new morphological and molecular data on a eucotylid species Tanaisia atra (Nezlobinsky, 1926). Specimens of T. atra were found in Eurasian Coot Fulica atra Linnaeus, 1758 in European and Asian parts of Russia and examined using optical and SEM microscopy and molecular techniques. We report the presence of a well-developed cirrus sac and different types of tegumental scales in this species for the first time. All molecular markers used in our study (ITS2 region, 28S rRNA and cox1gene) indicate that T. atra isolates from European and Asian parts of Russia are conspecific. In phylograms based on ITS2 region and 28S rRNA gene sequences, T. atra clustered with other Tanaisia spp.

Siberian taimen Hucho taimen (Pallas, 1773) is a broadly distributed and popular sport fish with high economic value. However, low abundance and hard-to-reach habitat make the Siberian taimen a relatively understudied species. Here we describe the morphological variability of two size groups of Siberian taimen juveniles from the eastern (Amur River basin) and western (Kama River basin) parts of the species distribution. The largest morphological differentiation of Siberian taimen juveniles was observed at the inter-basin level. In the Amur River basin, Siberian taimen juveniles also differed morphologically even at sites located at a distance of 20 km from each other, which may be explained by a small home-range inhabitation of juveniles leading to the formation of their morphotype determined by local environmental conditions. The pattern of allometry varies in taimen from different rivers, which could be related to the ontogenetic shift of ecological niches and the level of heterogeneity of the river environment.