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The invasion history of alien Prosopis (mesquite) in Israel and Jordan is presented, with a detailed description of the introduction, background and the habitats now infested with Prosopis in these countries. While the number of escaped individuals in Israel is still limited, Prosopis has invaded large areas in Jordan and has become the main invasive alien tree in the Jordan valley. It is also now spreading in the canyons of south Jordan. The distinct prosopis invasion patterns in Israel and Jordan are discussed. Control programs are urgently needed in order to contain the proliferation of Prosopis, which now poses a major threat to natural habitats as well as to fallow fields. The ongoing establishment of dense thickets of Prosopis along wadis with year-round water flow is likely to displace native species such as Acacia raddiana Savi, and to alter the function of natural ecosystems.

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The distribution and diversity of fauna of remote regions, including much of the boreal forest, are incompletely known. We took part in extensive biodiversity surveys in the Far North of Ontario (north of 51° N), Canada from 2009 to 2015. In the family Carabidae Latreille (Coleoptera), we report new records and range extensions for 600 specimens representing 99 species. We documented the first record for Canada of one species, the first records for Ontario of 11 species, and range extensions (> 100 km from the known range) for 70 species. The range extensions were largely in a northwards direction, with a median distance of 650 km and a positive skew in the distribution of these distances. These new records fill an important gap in knowledge of the distribution of this family.

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