A new genus and new species of the pselaphine tribe Batrisini, Smetanabatrus kinabalu gen. et sp. n., is described from Sabah, East Malaysia. Both sexes of the new species have securiform maxillary palpi, with the male exhibiting extreme abdominal modification. Illustrations of the habitus and major diagnostic features, as well as a discussion on the taxonomic placement of the new taxon is provided. A key to genera of the Batrisini from Borneo is provided.
Decacotyle cairae n. sp. (Monogenea: Monocotylidae) is described from the gills of an unidentified species of Pastinachus collected in the South China Sea off Sematan and Mukah, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia. D. cairae can be distinguished from the other six members of the genus by the presence of two simple unsclerotised accessory structures on the dorsal surface of the haptor in combination with a long, narrow, looping male copulatory organ. The host specimens of Pastinachus collected in Borneo also appear to be a new species and the monogenean data support this conclusion. A key to species of Decacotyle is given and their host-specificity is discussed.
Dermacentor tamokensis n. sp. and Dermacentor pseudocompactus n. sp. (Acari: Ixodidae) are described based on adults ex wild boar and vegetation from China, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam and males ex wild boar from Nepal, respectively. Adults of D. tamokensis n. sp. are similar to those of D. taiwanensis Sugimoto, 1935 and D. atrosignatus Neumann, 1906 but can be distinguished by the colour pattern of the conscutum and scutum, the size and density of punctations on the pseudoscutum and scutum, the width of the cornua, and the shape of female genital structures. Males of D. pseudocompactus n. sp. are most similar to those of D. compactus Neumann, 1901 but can be distinguished by the colour pattern, sculpture and punctations of the conscutum, and the shape and length of the coxal spurs.
Malaria vector surveys were carried out in 8 provinces in Lao PDR in 1999. The surveys were conducted in 4 provinces - Savannakhet, Champasak, Luang Perbang and Sayaboury in May and in another 4 provinces - Bolikhamsay, Sarvan, Sekong and Vientiane in December 1999. Bare leg collection were carried out indoors and outdoors from 6 pm to 5 am. All anopheline mosquitos were identified, dissected and the gut, gland and ovaries were examined. A total of 438 Anopheles mosquitos belonging to 19 species were obtained. Of these only 3 species were found to be infected with oocysts - An. maculatus, An. dirus and An. minimus. All these species were found biting both indoors and outdoors. An. aconitus was the predominant species obtained in the December collection but its vectorial status remains unknown.
A new digenean, Allassogonoporus callosciuri n. sp. from the plantain squirrel Callosciurus notatus from the Malaysian state of Sarawak, Borneo, is described. The new species differs from: A. amphoraeformis by the size of the ventral sucker and the position of the vitellarium and uterus; and from A. marginalis by the smaller oral sucker, the position of the testes and vitellarium; from A. vespertilionis by the position of the vitellarium, testes and ovary; from A. asymmetrica by the position of the testes and uterus. Gilford's (1955) and Dubois' (1963) opinions on the synonymy of Allassogonoporus and Myotitrema is supported. No representatives of the family Allassogonoporidae have been reported previously from sciurids or South-East Asia.
The effects of selective logging on the diversity and species composition of moths were investigated by sampling from multiple sites in primary forest, both understorey and canopy, and logged forest at Danum Valley, Sabah, Malaysia. The diversity of individual sites was similar, although rarefied species richness of logged forest was 17% lower than for primary forest (understorey and canopy combined). There was significant heterogeneity in faunal composition and measures of similarity (NESS index) among primary forest understorey sites which may be as great as those between primary understorey and logged forest. The lowest similarity values were between primary forest understorey and canopy, indicating a distinct canopy fauna. A number of species encountered in the logged forest were confined to, or more abundant in, the canopy of primary forest. Approximately 10% of species were confined to primary forest across a range of species' abundances, suggesting this is a minimum estimate for the number of species lost following logging. The importance of accounting for heterogeneity within primary forest and sampling in the canopy when measuring the effects of disturbance on tropical forest communities are emphasized.
Collections of adult anopheline mosquitos were made from a cow-baited trap in nine coastal villages located along nearly 160km of northwest peninsular Malaysia. Two collections, separated by 1.5 to 6 months, were made at each site. Nearly 6,000 anophelines of 19 species were collected. The dominant species were Anopheles peditaeniatus. An. sinensis, An. subpictus and An. lesteri paraliae. Small numbers of the malaria vectors An. maculatus (at one site) and An. campestris (at four sites) were collected, but no An. sundaicus were recorded.
Five strains of Ma. uniformis from Malaysia were tested for their susceptibility to infection with subperiodic B. malayi. All were found to be susceptible with infection rates ranging from 62% to 100%. The susceptibility rates were directly related to the microfilarial densities of the cat at the time of feeding. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference (p greater than 0.05) among the means of the indices of experimental infection as well as the percentage of infective mosquitoes of the five strains and an old laboratory colony. They were all equally susceptible to subperiodic B. malayi.
A description is given of cercarial chaetotaxy of two Centrocestinae (Heterophyidae, Opisthorchioidea) from Malaysia: Centrocestus formosanus and Centrocestus sp.--Comparison with cercarial chaetotaxy of taxonomically related groups indicates that 1. The chaetotaxy of the Centrocestinae agrees with that of other Opisthorchioidea, 2. There is an important difference between chaetotaxy of Centrocestinae and other Heterophyidae which suggest that the family is heterogeneous.
Tree architecture, growth, and mortality change with increasing tree size and associated light conditions. To date, few studies have quantified how size-dependent changes in growth and mortality rates co-vary with architectural traits, and how such size-dependent changes differ across species and possible light capture strategies. We applied a hierarchical Bayesian model to quantify size-dependent changes in demographic rates and correlated demographic rates and architectural traits for 145 co-occurring Malaysian rain-forest tree species covering a wide range of tree sizes. Demographic rates were estimated using relative growth rate in stem diameter (RGR) and mortality rate as a function of stem diameter. Architectural traits examined were adult stature measured as the 95-percentile of the maximum stem diameter (upper diameter), wood density, and three tree architectural variables: tree height, foliage height, and crown width. Correlations between demographic rates and architectural traits were examined for stem diameters ranging from 1 to 47 cm. As a result, RGR and mortality varied significantly with increasing stem diameter across species. At smaller stem diameters, RGR was higher for tall trees with wide crowns, large upper diameter, and low wood density. Increased mortality was associated with low wood density at small diameters, and associated with small upper diameter and wide crowns over a wide range of stem diameters. Positive correlations between RGR and mortality were found over the whole range of stem diameters, but they were significant only at small stem diameters. Associations between architectural traits and demographic rates were strongest at small stem diameters. In the dark understory of tropical rain forests, the limiting amount of light is likely to make the interspecific difference in the effects of functional traits on demography more clear. Demographic performance is therefore tightly linked with architectural traits such as adult stature, wood density, and capacity for horizontal crown expansion. The enhancement of a demographic trade-off due to interspecific variation in functional traits in the understory helps to explain species coexistence in diverse rain forests.
Great progress has been made in unravelling the evolutionary history of Asian colobines, largely through the use of dated molecular phylogenies based on multiple markers. The Presbytis langurs are a case in point, with more allopatric species being identified, recognition of Presbytis thomasi from Sumatra rather than P. potenziani from the Mentawai Islands as being the most basal species of the group, and the discovery that P. rubicunda from Borneo is nested among the Sumatran species and only made it to Borneo in the last 1.3 million years. Based on variation in mitochondrial d-loop, it has recently been argued that Malaysia's P. femoralis femoralis is actually P. neglectus neglectus. Unfortunately, despite being available, sequences from the type locality, Singapore, were excluded from the analysis, and none of the newly generated sequences was deposited in GenBank. I manually reconstructed these sequences, which allowed me to present a molecular phylogeny that includes 8 additional sequences from West Malaysia and Singapore. P. neglectus from Malaysia and P. femoralis from Singapore form one monophyletic clade, with minimal divergence. I conclude that recognition of P. neglectus is erroneous and the name is a junior synonym of P. femoralis. Colobine taxonomy and systematics have advanced, and continue to advance, mostly by considering evidence from a wide range of individuals, species and data sets (molecular, behavioural and morphological) rather than focusing on single molecular markers from 1 or 2 species from one small geographic area. For an orderly taxonomic debate where evidence can be evaluated and reinterpreted it is essential that newly generated sequences are deposited in public repositories.
A new species of Acroeimeria Paperna & Landsberg, 1989 is described from the spotted house gecko, Gekko monarchus (Schlegel) from Peninsular Malaysia. Oöcysts of Acroeimeria grismeri n. sp. are spheroidal to subspheroidal with a smooth bi-layered wall, measure on average 18.4 × 17.3 µm, and have a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.1; a micropyle and an oöcyst residuum are absent but variable polar granule(s) are present, commonly in Brownian movement. Sporocysts are ellipsoidal and measure on average 8.6 × 6.7 µm, L/W 1.3; Stieda, sub-Stieda and para-Stieda bodies are absent. The sporocyst residuum is composed of numerous spheroidal granules in the center of the sporocyst. This is the initial species of coccidian reported from G. monarchus and one of the few reported from any reptile from Peninsular Malaysia.
We provide an integrative taxonomic analysis of the Lipinia vittigera species complex from mainland Southeast Asia. Based on examination of external morphology, color pattern, and 681 base pairs of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) mitochondrial gene, we demonstrate the presence of four morphologically distinct lineages of Lipinia in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia, showing a sequence divergence ranging 15.5%-20.4%. All discovered lineages are discretely diagnosable from one another by a combination of scalation traits and color patterns. A review of the published distribution data and a re-examination of available type material revealed the following results:(1) distribution of L. vittigera (Boulenger, 1894) sensu stricto is restricted to Sundaland and the Thai-Malay Peninsula south of the Isthmus of Kra; (2) L. microcercus (Boettger, 1901) stat. nov. is elevated to full species rank; the species has a wide distribution from central and southern Vietnam across Cambodia to eastern Thailand; we regard Lygosoma vittigerum kronfanum Smith, 1922 and Leiolopisma pranensis Cochran, 1930 as its junior synonyms; (3) Lipinia trivittatasp. nov. occurs in hilly areas of southern Vietnam, Cambodia, and eastern Thailand; and (4) Lipinia vassilievisp. nov. is currently known only from a narrow area along the Vietnamese-Cambodian border in the foothills of the central Annamite Mountain Range. We further provide an identification key for Lipinia occurring in mainland Southeast Asia.
Studies on fungal taxonomy and fungal diversity are crucial for a better understanding of the interactions between fungi and their habitats. To date, there is no published record on macrofungal diversity in Pulau Bidong, Terengganu. Therefore, this study aimed to identify macrofungi species found with their respective substrates and to determine the macrofungal diversity in the island. The study was conducted at two different occasions and comprised of two trails near Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Research Station in Pulau Bidong, Terengganu. Collectionof fresh macrofungi was made and additional data including host information, distinctive features of each fungal sample and several environmental parameters was also recorded. Fresh specimens were later observed and identified before being dried prior to storage. Overall, 65 macrofungal species with 2 unidentified species belonging to 21 families and 34 genera were recorded. Trail A and trail B recorded diversity index of2.67 and 3.14 for Shannon Index while Simpson index recorded 0.90 and 0.94 respectively. The macrofungal diversity was dominated by family Polyporaceae while rare species discovered were from family of Tricholomataceae, Hericiaceae, Stereaceae, Schizophyllaceae, Sclerodermataceae, Dacrymycetaceae, Tremellaceae, Russulaceae and Clavulinaceae. The most common macrofungal substrates was decayed branches while other macrofungal substrates found were decayed trunks and leaves, soil,termite mounds, and living tree. In conclusion, the macrofungal species were randomlydistributed with high diversity in both trails. Therefore, it is recommended that anincrease in sampling trips, sampling efforts and areas covered be provided to increase the number of macrofungal species discovered and accuracy of diversity studies in the future.
Trimeresurus bite is a serious medical problem in Asia. However, at present only a few monospecific Trimeresurus antivenoms are available. Investigation of the cross-neutralization capacity of three Trimeresurus antivenoms indicates that the antivenoms exhibit broad cross-reactivity. A polyvalent Trimeresurus antivenom was also found to be effective in neutralization of the haemorrhagic, necrotizing and thrombin-like activities of heterologous Trimeresurus venoms.