This study was conducted to evaluate the meat quality of Dorper sheep weaned at different ages. 3 cuts of sirloin from 3 animals in each treatment groups were used in this study. 9 lambs were grouped into 3 different weaning groups (G1,G2, G3) of 30, 60 and 90 days, respectively. G3 was served as control group based on current practice. When the animals reached the age of 270 days, 3 out of 9 lambs from each of the treated groups were slaughtered for meat quality analysis. Results from this study shows no significant (P
The gamasine genus Berlesia Canestrini, 1884, is revived and further diagnosed, based on descriptions of adult females, males and nymphs of three new species (B. hospitabilis sp. nov., B. multisetosa sp. nov., B. vorontsovi sp. nov.) ectoparasitic on raspy crickets of three genera of Gryllacrididae (Ensifera) from Australia and the Philippines. A tight sister relationship of Berlesia with the monobasic genus Katydiseius Fain Lukoschus, 1983, known only from a pseudophylline katydid in Malaysia, is proposed. The subfamily Katydiseiinae Fain Lukoschus, 1983 (previously included in the family Otopheidomenidae in the superfamily Phytoseioidea) is redefined to include only those two genera, and moved to the dermanyssoid family Laelapidae, while its previously other monobasic genus, Eickwortius Zhang, 1995, is retained tentatively in the family Otopheidomenidae. Among other taxa relevant to Katydiseiinae reviewed here, Berlesia cultrigera Berlese, 1910a is transferred to the genus Orthopteroseius Mo, 1996, at present Otopheidomenidae, as Orthopteroseius cultrigerum (Berlese) comb. nov., and Berlesia nuda Berlese, 1910b is transferred to the genus Prasadiseius Wainstein, 1972, at present Otopheidomenidae, as Prasadiseius nudum (Berlese) comb. nov. A key to the two genera and five species recognized as belonging in Katydiseiinae is presented. Notable morphological traits of Berlesia, including only deutonymphs equipped with well-developed claws and males with dimorphically more elongated salivary stylets, are discussed. The one known life cycle of a species of Berlesia, B. hospitabilis sp. nov., includes protonymphipary, followed by a fully functioning deutonymph, and male copulation with pharate females-traits, rarely or not known among gamasine mite associates of invertebrates. The possible significance of elongate spermatodactyls and male reduced feeding are explored.
The increase of annual organic wastes generated worldwide has become a major problem for many countries since the mismanagement could bring about negative effects on the environment besides, being costly for an innocuous disposal. Recently, insect larvae have been investigated to valorize organic wastes. This entomoremediation approach is rising from the ability of the insect larvae to convert organic wastes into its biomass via assimilation process as catapulted by the natural demand to complete its lifecycle. Among the insect species, black soldier fly or Hermetia illucens is widely researched since the larvae can grow in various environments while being saprophagous in nature. Even though black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) can ingest various decay materials, some organic wastes such as sewage sludge or lignocellulosic wastes such as waste coconut endosperm are destitute of decent nutrients that could retard the BSFL growth. Hence, blending with nutrient-rich low-cost substrates such as palm kernel expeller, soybean curd residue, etc. is employed to fortify the nutritional contents of larval feeding substrates prior to administering to the BSFL. Alternatively, microbial fermentation can be adopted to breakdown the lignocellulosic wastes, exuding essential nutrients for growing BSFL. Upon reaching maturity, the BSFL can be harvested to serve as the protein and lipid feedstock. The larval protein can be made into insect meal for farmed animals, whilst the lipid source could be extracted and transesterified into larval biodiesel to cushion the global energy demands. Henceforth, this review presents the influence of various organic wastes introduced to feed BSFL, targeting to reduce wastes and producing biochemicals from mature larvae through entomoremediation. Modification of recalcitrant organic wastes via fermentation processes is also unveiled to ameliorate the BSFL growth. Lastly, the sustainable applications of harvested BSFL biomass are as well covered together with the immediate shortcomings that entail further researches.
The genus Savarna Huber, 2005 comprises only five species, from southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. In this study, five new species are described from Thailand: Savarna bannang sp. nov. (Yala), S. chiangmai sp. nov. (Chiangmai), S. huahin sp. nov. (Prachuap Kiri Khan), S. satun sp. nov. (Satun), S. thungsong sp. nov. (Nakhon Srithammarat). All new species are described from males and females. The distribution of S. chiangmai sp. nov. represent the northernmost record of the genus.
Furcantenna malayanasp. nov. is described from Peninsular Malaysia, based on a single female collected in 1962. The other two known species of this genus are also known from single specimens, from Southeastern China and Nepal. A key to the species is given, and the taxonomy and distribution of the genus are discussed.
Betta nuluhon, new species, is described from a hill stream habitat in western Sabah. This species is allied to both B. chini and B. balunga, and differs from rest of its congeners in the B. akarensis group in having the following combination of characters: yellow iris when live; mature males with greenish-blue iridescence on opercle when live; mature fish with distinct transverse bars on caudal fin; slender body (body depth 22.1-25.2 % SL); belly area with faint reticulate pattern (scales posteriorly rimmed with black); absence of tiny black spots on anal fin; lateral scales 29-31 (mode 30); predorsal scales 20-21 (mode 20). Notes on a fresh series of B. chini are also provided.
Three new Indo-West Pacific species of pinnotherid crabs are described, one each of Arcotheres, Buergeres and Nepinnotheres. Arcotheres pollus, described from Paway Island, Mergui Archipelago, is most similar to A. boninensis (Stimpson, 1858), A. pernicola (Bürger, 1895) and A. purpureus (Alcock, 1900), sharing a transversely ovate carapace and long, slender, almost styliform dactyli of P4 and 5 that are about twice the length of those of P2 and 3. Buergeres choprai, described from Papua New Guinea, is most similar to B. deccanesis (Chopra, 1931) from eastern India but differentiated by segment proportions and setation of the walking legs. Buergeres tenuipes (Bürger, 1895) is synonymised with B. ortmanni (Bürger, 1895), which is also reported for the first time from Indonesia. A male of an undetermined species of Buergeres from the Philippines, possibly B. ortmanni, is figured and described, documenting the gonopod morphology in Buergeres for the first time. A key to the species of Buergeres based on females is provided. Nepinnotheres fulvia sp. nov. is also described from Papua New Guinea, and resembles N. cardii (Bürger, 1895) from the Philippines and Malaysia but can be distinguished by features of the chelipeds and maxilliped 3.
Marphysa sanguinea Montagu, 1813, the type species of genus Marphysa, was described with few characteristics and subsequently reported in tropical and temperate waters as a cosmopolitan species. Recent comparative studies have shown that M. sanguinea has a limited distribution to the Northeast Atlantic. As a result, species from the tropical and subtropical zones are now being redescribed as new species. However, this issue is not completely resolved because of the taxonomic status of seven nominal species, considered as junior synonymies of M. sanguinea. Herein, we examined the type and additional materials from five species in synonymy M. sanguinea and performed a compared analysis with the neotype of M. sanguinea. Additionally, we reviewed specimens from two localities in the mid-Pacific Ocean and the Adriatic Sea, where M. sanguinea was previously reported. As a result of this study, three species were reinstated (M. californica Moore, 1909, M. leidii de Quatrefages, 1866, and M. parishii Baird, 1869) and two subspecies, are now raised to species level (M. americana n. status and M. brevibranchiata n. status). In addition, two new species from Hawaii and Croatia are described: M. baileybrockae n. sp. and M. birgeri n. sp., respectively. Morphological comparisons with most species currently assigned to the M. sanguinea complex are presented. This work provides more support for rejecting the hypothesis that M. sanguinea is a cosmopolitan species and we encourage the use of novel and traditional morphological characters to differentiate species within the complex.
A new species of Clidicini ant-like stone beetles, Clidicus mawarensis sp. n., is described and illustrated. The holotype male was collected in East Malaysia (Borneo: Sabah); the new species belongs to a group of large-bodied Clidicus, and shows similarities to C. ganglbaueri Reitter; the male has unusually complex structures of the aedeagal apical region.
The red-bellied form of Calliophis intestinalis (Laurenti, 1768) sensu lato was originally reported from Pahang, west Malaysia. To determine the taxonomic status of this form, we examined the type specimens of Elaps sumatranus Lidth De Jeude, 1890, Calliophis intestinalis everetti (Boulenger, 1896), and Callophis furcatus var. nigrotaeniatus Peters, 1863. The results indicated that the red-bellied form of C. intestinalis should be named as Calliophis nigrotaeniatus comb. nov., whose valid species status was based on morphological and molecular analyses. We designate a lectotype and redescribe the species, which is genetically close to Calliophis bilineatus (Peters, 1881) from the Philippines, and is clearly distinguishable from other congeners by possessing a pair of gray or dark blue lateral stripes and by being bright red on the ventrum. Elaps sumatranus and C. i. everetti are relegated to subjective junior synonyms of C. nigrotaeniatus.