A new species of Ansonia is described based on genetic and morphological differentiation. Ansonia lumut sp. nov. is most closely related to three other Peninsular Malaysian species, A. penangensis, A. malayana, and A. jeetsukumarani but differs from these and other congeners by at least 6.9% sequence divergence at the 12S, 16S rRNA and t-RNA-val genes and the following combination of morphological characters: (1) SVL 21.0-23.6 mm in males, 27.7-31.6 mm in females; (2) first finger shorter than second; (3) interorbital and tarsal ridges absent; (4) light interscapular spot absent; (5) presence of large, yellow rictal tubercle; (6) dorsum black with greenish-yellow reticulations; (7) flanks with small yellow spots; (8) fore and hind limbs with yellow cross-bars; and (9) venter light gray with fine, white spotting.
An illustrated identification key is provided to 100 genera of Phlaeothripinae from China and Southeast Asia, together with a diagnosis for each genus, and comments on the species diversity. One new genus with a new species, Akarethrips iotus gen.n. & sp.n., and two new species, Heliothripoides boltoni sp.n. and Terthrothrips strasseni sp.n., are described from specimens collected in Peninsular Malaysia and Java respectively. Three Phlaeothripinae genera are synonymised, Mychiothrips Haga & Okajima syn.n. of Veerabahuthrips Ramakrishna, Syringothrips Priesner syn.n. of GigantothripsZimmermann, and Sauridothrips Priesner syn.n. of Gynaikothrips Zimmermann. In addition, four nomenclatural changes are included, Adelphothrips ignotus (Reyes) comb.n. transferred from Mesothrips, Karnyothrips palmerae (Chen) comb.n from Xylaplothrips, Xylaplothrips bogoriensis (Karny) comb.n from Brachythrips, and Oidanothrips notabilisFeng, Guo & Duan considered as a new synonym of Oidanothrips frontalis (Bagnall).
Four new species from three genera of Agraeciini from Malay Peninsula are described: Paragraecia temasek sp. n., Peracca mirzai sp. n., Peracca macritchiensis sp. n. from Singapore, and Lichnofugia malaya sp. n. from Peninsular Malaysia. The first records and descriptions of the female of Liara alata Ingrisch, 1998 and the male of Paragraecia gracilis Ingrisch, 1998 are given.
Two new black fly species, Simulium (Gomphostilbia) brinchangense and S. (G.) tanahrataense, are described on the basis of reared adult females, males, pupae and larvae from Cameron's Highlands, Peninsular Malaysia. These new species are assigned to the asakoae species-group within Simulium (Gomphostilbia) and taxonomic notes are given to distinguish each new species from six known species in Malaysia. Revised keys to identify all 21 species including 13 species from other countries are provided for females, males, pupae and mature larvae. The species diversity of the asakoae species-group in Cameron's Highlands is briefly noted.
Four new species belonging to four genera of the subfamily Pholcinae are reported from Southeast Asia: Belisana protumida spec. nov. (male, female), Khorata bayeri spec. nov. (male), Pholcus schawalleri spec. nov. (male), and Uthina khaosokensis spec. nov. (male).
Two new species of Ancyronyx Erichson, 1847 (Coleoptera: Elmidae) are described from Borneo: A. pulcherrimus (Brunei) and A. reticulatus (Sabah). Habitus views, illustrations of important characters as well as plastron structures of Ancyronyx reticulatus are presented and discussed.
Onychogomphus marijanmatoki is described from a male from Gunung Mulu National Park, Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. One of only two onychogomphine species known from Borneo, it differs from all others of the group in characters of the genital ligula and terminal appendages.
Miyagiella Harbach, subgen. nov., is introduced as a new subgenus of Topomyia Leicester for a remarkable male mosquito, Topomyia discors Harbach, sp. nov., from Sabah, Malaysia. A diagnosis of the subgenus is provided that features unique anatomical characters of the genitalia of the holotype male. Miyagiella is very distinct from the two previously recognised subgenera of Topomyia, but is perhaps more closely related to the nominotypical subgenus than to subgenus Suaymyia Thurman. Salient differences that distinguish the three subgenera are contrasted; the holotype male of To. discors is described and its unique genitalia are illustrated.
The identity of the common lowland freshwater crab in western Sarawak, Borneo, East Malaysia, Parathelphusa oxygona Nobili, 1901 (family Gecarcinucidae), is clarified. The species is redescribed and figured, and its taxonomy discussed. Specimens from western Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, which have been referred to P. oxygona are here referred to a new species, Parathelphusa nobilii. The new species can be differentiated from congeners by its relatively more swollen branchial regions of the carapace, wider and lower external orbital tooth, relatively more slender male abdomen and a straight male first gonopod.
An integrative taxonomic analysis of three newly discovered populations of the gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus Gray from Merapoh, Pahang; Gunung Stong, Kelantan; and Gunung Tebu, Terengganu indicate they are part of the C. pulchellus complex and each is a new species and thusly named Cyrtodactylus sharkari sp. nov., C. jelawangensis sp. nov., and C. timur sp. nov., respectively. Each species bears a unique suite of morphological and color pattern characters separating them from each other and all other nominal species in the C. pulchellus complex. Their phylogenetic relationships to each other and other species in the C. pulchellus complex were unexpected in that they are not in accordance with the general distribution of the species in this complex, underscoring the intricate historical biogeography of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. These descriptions highlight our current lack of knowledge concerning the herpetological diversity and distribution of species in northeastern Peninsular Malaysia.
Pycnotarsobrentus inuiae Maruyama & Bartolozzi, gen. nov. and sp. nov. (Brentinae: Eremoxenini) is described from the Lambir Hills National Park, Borneo (Sarawak, Malaysia) based on specimens collected from Crematogaster difformis F. Smith, 1857 ant nests in the myrmecophytic epiphytic ferns Platycerium crustacea Copel. and Lecanopteris ridleyi H. Christ. A second species of Pycnotarsobrentus is known from Malaysia but is represented by only one female and consequently not yet described pending discovery of a male. Pycnotarsobrentus belongs to the tribe Eremoxenini and shares some character states with the African genus Pericordus Kolbe, 1883. No species of Eremoxenini with similar morphological modifications are known from the Oriental region.
A new species of Leptolalax is described from Kinabalu National Park in western Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. The new species had been assigned to L. dringi, L. gracilis, or L. fritinniens in the past. It differs from all congeners, including these species, by a unique combination of morphological characters, including small body size, rounded snout, narrower interorbital than upper eyelid, basal toe webbing, smooth skin with tiny tubercles on dorsum and dorsal side of head, small pectoral glands, absence of supraaxillary glands and ventrolateral glandular ridges, spotted venter, advertisement call consisting of long series of 1-149 notes, each composed of three or four pulses, and dominant frequency at 6.90-7.35 kHz, without prominent frequency modulation.
Donald Henry Colless (24 August 1922–16 February 2012) was a taxonomist at the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) from 1960 until his retirement in 1987. He continued working in ANIC as an Honorary Fellow until his death in 2012. Don’s main scientific interests were in the taxonomy and biology of true flies, and in the theory of phylogenetic reconstruction and classification. Don was trained in entomology at the University of Sydney, and spent nearly two decades of his early career in Asia studying mosquitoes and disease transmission, first in the Army during the Second World War in New Guinea and Borneo (1942–45), then after the war in North Borneo (1947–1952) and as a lecturer in the Department of Parasitology at the University of Malaya (1952–1960) in Singapore. We list the 127 scientific papers and book chapters that Don published during his scientific career that spanned 64 years. Six of these papers were published in the prestigious international journal Nature, and he was Chief Curator of the ANIC from 1971–1977. Don had extremely broad taxonomic interests, publishing on the taxonomy of 18 families of Diptera that spanned the phylogenetic breadth of the order. He described as new to science the fly families Perissommatidae and Axiniidae, thirteen new genera and over 120 species and, with David McAlpine, authored the Diptera chapters in both editions of The Insects of Australia (Melbourne University Press, 1970 and 1991). He published a number of influential critiques of cladistic theory in the 1960's and 1970's, and advocated a phenetic approach to the discovery of taxonomic groups, and phylogenetic reconstruction.
A dobsonfly species group, the Protohermes dichrous group, endemic to Borneo, is characterized by the straight directed male ninth gonostylus with a narrow base and the elongate male ectoproct. Protohermes goodgeri sp. nov. and P. karubei sp. nov. from northern Borneo (eastern Malaysia) are herein described as new species placed in the P. dichrous group.
A new species, Rhyacophila langkawia sp. n., belonging to the R. curvata Group sensu Schmid (1970) is described. The samples provide also material of the previously undescribed species cited by Schmid (1970) as R. schmidi, a nomen nudum; this species is described as R. schmidirossia sp. n., also in the R. curvata Group. Other sampled species were Rhyacophila curvata Morton, recorded for the first time from Negeri Sembilan (West Malaysia) and Lombok (Indonesia); Rhyacophila stheneboia Malicky & Prommi (Pahang and Negeri Sembilan, West Malaysia), and Rhyacophila anakbatukau Malicky, recorded for the first time from Lombok (Indonesia). Updated lists of the Rhyacophila species found in West Malaysia and Indonesia are provided.
A revision of the genus Leopoldamys is presented, and both the species composition and distribution in Indochina and Sundaic regions is reinvestigated. The phylogeny of the genus is recovered based on Cyt b, COI, and IRBP gene analyses. Five basal and 16 secondary monophyletic phylogenetic lineages were identified. A taxonomic reassessment of the continental and Sundaic populations is performed based on morphological verification of the genetically defined clades. Six clades were recovered in the phylogenetic analyses and correspond to morphologically defined species: L. revertens (distributed in lowlands of eastern and central Indochina), L. herberti (western and central Indochina, northward to northern Vietnam), L. edwardsi (China and northern Vietnam, northward of 21 degrees N), L. milleti (endemic of Dalat Plateau, southern Vietnam), L. sabanus (Borneo), and L. vociferans (lowlands of the Malacca Peninsula, northward to southwestern Thailand). The absence of proper L. sabanus in continental Indochina is revealed. The substitute name for the species known from the majority of Indochina under the name of L. sabanus should be L. revertens. The name L. neilli, which has been ascribed to populations from Thailand and Vietnam, is a junior synonym of L. herberti. Two related but rather divergent clades are found in Sumatra and the Malacca Peninsula. Based on their considerable genetic distances, these forms should be regarded as separate species from the L. sabanus type-bearing populations of Borneo, or as the members of L. sabanus polytypic superspecies. The substitute name for the lineage-bearing taxon from Malacca should be L. vociferans. The continental populations of Leopoldamys can be distinguished from each other by external and cranial characters and may be subdivided into four species. Two of these species (L. revertens and L. milleti) are well distinguished by external and cranial morphology, whereas the other two species (L. herberti and L. edwardsi) may be treated as sibling species that are difficult to distinguish based on morphological characters.
Two new monotypic spittlebug genera and their type species in the family Machaerotidae, subfamily Enderleiniinae, are described and illustrated: Labramachaerota korupa gen. & sp. n. (with type locality in Cameroon) and Kyphomachaerota maaia gen. & sp. n. (with type locality in Sarawak, Malaysia).
The Oriental genus Stigmothrips Ananthakrishnan is synonymised with A draneothrips Hood, a genus in which most species have been described from the Neotropics. Problems with descriptions by T.N. Ananthakrishnan of species from India are discussed, but cannot be fully resolved without access to the holotypes. A key is provided to 23 species of Adraneothrips from Asia and Australia, including four new species: darwini sp. n. from Northern Territory, Australia; hani sp. n. from Taiwan, China; yunnanensis sp. n. from Yunnan, China as well as Java, Indonesia; and waui sp. n. from Papua New Guinea. One species from the Philippines, Adraneothrips makilingensis (Reyes) comb. n., is transferred from Apelaunothrips, and the male of Adraneothrips russatus (Haga) is described and illustrated for the first time, from Yunnan, China. Two species are newly recorded from Australia: coloratus (Mound) previously known only from the Solomon Islands, and russatus (Haga) previously known from southern Japan and southern China but with one female recorded here from Fiji. Further new records are, coloratus from Java, and chinensis (Zhang & Tong) from Malaysia. Colonies of species in this genus are commonly found living on dead leaves, as fungus-feeders, and many species are brightly coloured or bicoloured in patterns of yellow and brown.
Material based on a taxonomic collection in Bukit Fraser, Pahang of Malay Peninsula enables the review of two genera of bush katydid (Phaneropterinae). The female of Elimaea (Rhaebelimaea) pseudochloris Ingrisch, 1998 is described and recorded for the first time outside its type locality, Thailand. One new species of Pseudopsyra from Bukit Fraser is described: Pseudopsyra bispina sp. n.