A new paper on the taxonomy of a Seychelles endemic moth, Thalassodes antithetica, has been published by ICS trustee Pat Matyot, co-authored together with his colleagues Ivan Bolotov, Maik Bippus, Vitaly Spitsyn Yulia Kolosova and Alexander Kondakov.

275 endemic species of Lepidoptera have been described from Seychelles yet information regarding endemics is very poor, because the majority are known from a single or a few specimens. This paper is a  full redescription of the species with DNA barcoding data and a revision its taxonomic position.

Aurelie Duhec has reported a Black-crowned Night Heron at La Passe, Silhouette on 16 July 2016. This species was unrecorded in Seychelles until 1992, when an immature was reported by Neil McCulloch and Adrian Skerrett at Victoria mudflats on 27 October 1992. Further sightings followed on Mahe, especially in the Roche Caiman area, until birds were recorded as continuously present from November 1995 onward. The first sighting on Silhouette was on 12 April 1997 and birds have probably been continuously present on the island in very small numbers since that date. 

"Aride Island - Tread Lightly", recently launched at the British High Commission on 16 June, is now available online at the following link:

http://www.boco.org.uk/book.aspx/Aride-Island-%E2%80%93-tread-lightly

 Melinda Curran and Migla Daugnoraite report from Aride Island that a Brown Noddy that has adopted an orphaned chick in addition to its own young. Both chicks are being fed and cared for by the parents. The full story was published in Seychelles Nation on 11 July and can be downloaded here.