Four new species of black flies are described, and three others are reported as newly recorded, based on adults reared from pupae, pupae and larvae collected in and near Tam Dao National Park, Vinh Phuc Province, Vietnam. New species include Simulium (Gomphostilbia) hongthaii sp. nov., S. (G.) tamdaoense sp. nov. (both species placed in the asakoae species-group), S. (Simulium) taythienense sp. nov. and S. (S.) xuandai sp. nov. (the two latter species placed in the striatum species-group). Newly recorded species are S. (G.) brinchangense Takaoka, Sofian-Azirun & Hashim, S. (Nevermannia) aureohirtum Brunetti and S. (S.) brevipar Takaoka & Davies. These discoveries increase the number of species of black flies known in Vietnam from 21 to 28.
The megophryid frogs Leptobrachella brevicrus, Leptolalax dringi and Megophrys dringi are species exclusively known from highly localised areas in isolated mountain ranges on Borneo. The tadpoles and adults in this study were collected at the shared type locality for the three species in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo). The species identities of larvae were determined via comparison to syntopic adults using DNA barcoding techniques based on partial 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene sequences. The genetic data supported the status of the three taxa as valid species. Descriptions of colouration in life and after preservation, external morphological features, morphometric measurements and ecological notes in comparison to congeneric species are supplied. The tadpoles of L. brevicrus and L. dringi show similar adaptations to a fossorial lifestyle. These include an elongated, vermiform body, a relatively long tail and small eyes. Both were found in the gravel beds of a small mountain stream. In contrast, the larvae of M. dringi are adapted to occupying and feeding at the surface of pools within the stream.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Cassia fistula is widely used in traditional medicine to treat various types of ailments. The evaluation of toxic properties of C. fistula is crucial when considering public health protection because exposure to plant extracts can result in undesirable effects on consumers. Hence, in this study the acute oral toxicity of C. fistula seeds extract was investigated in mice.
RESULTS: Oral administration of crude extract at the highest dose of 5000 mg/kg resulted in no mortalities or evidence of adverse effects, implying that C. fistula in nontoxic. Throughout 14 days of the treatment no changes in behavioural pattern, clinical sign and body weight of mice in both control and treatment groups. Also there were no any significant elevations observed in the biochemical analysis of the blood serum. Further, histopathological examination revealed normal architecture and no significant adverse effects observed on the kidney, heart, liver, lung and spleen.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results suggest that, the oral administration of C. fistula methanolic seeds extract did not produce any significant toxic effect in mice. Hence, the extract can be utilized for pharmaceutical formulations.
Infectious bursal disease is one of an OIE list of notifiable diseases. Chicken is the only host that manifests clinical signs and its pathogenicity is correlated with the distribution of antigens in organs. This study was conducted to determine disease pathogenesis and virus tissue tropism by in situ PCR, immunoperoxidase staining (IPS), and HE staining. Twenty four chickens were infected with very virulent Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (vvIBDV). Fifteen chickens were kept as a control group. Infected chickens were sacrificed at hrs 2, 4, 6, 12, days 1, 2, 4, and 6 post-inoculation (pi). While, control chickens were euthanized on days 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 pi. Different tissues were collected, fixed in 10% buffered formalin, and processed. At hr 2 pi, virus was detected in intestinal, junction of the proventriculus and gizzard, cecal tonsil, liver, kidney, and bursa of Fabricius. At hr 4 pi, virus reached spleen, and at hr 6 pi, it entered thymus. At hr 12 pi, virus concentration increased in positive tissues. The latest invaded tissue was muscle on day 1 pi. Secondary viraemia occurred during 12-24 h pi. In situ PCR was the most sensitive technique to highlight obscure points of infection in this study.
The final instar larva of Orthetrum borneense Kimmins, 1936, is described and figured for the first time based on exuviae from three male and six female larvae collected in Sarawak, Borneo (East Malaysia). It is compared with an early instar larva, which was matched to the adult O. borneense by DNA barcoding, and the known larvae of other species of this genus that occur in the region.
A new species of Bent-toed Gecko, Cyrtodactylus gunungsenyumensis sp. nov. of the sworderi complex, is described from Hutan Lipur Gunung Senyum, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia and is differentiated from all other species in the sworderi complex by having a unique combination of characters including a maximum SVL of 74.7 mm; low, rounded, weakly keeled, body tubercles; 34-40 paravertebral tubercles; weak ventrolateral body fold lacking tubercles; 38-41 ventral scales; an abrupt transition between the posterior and ventral femoral scales; 20-23 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; enlarged femoral scales; no femoral or precloacal pores; no precloacal groove; wide caudal bands; and an evenly banded dorsal pattern. Cyrtodactylus gunungsenyumensis sp. nov. is a scansorial, karst forest-adapted specialist endemic to the karst ecosystem surrounding Gunung Senyum and occurs on the vertical walls of the limestone towers as well as the branches, trunks, and leaves of the vegetation in the associated karst forest. Cyrtodactylus gunungsenyumensis sp. nov. is the seventh species of karst forest-adapted Cyrtodactylus and the sixteenth endemic species of karst ecosystem reptile discovered in Peninsular Malaysia in the last seven years from only 12 different karst forests. This is a clear indication that many species remain to be discovered in the approximately 558 isolated karst ecosystems in Peninsular Malaysia not yet surveyed. These data continue to underscore the importance of karst ecosystems as reservoirs of biodiversity and microendemism and that they constitute an important component of Peninsular Malaysia's natural heritage and should be protected from the quarrying interests of foreign industrial companies.
Limited deep studies are available in the field of early stages of pathogenesis of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection and tissue tropism of NDV. In this study, 24 specific pathogen free (SPF) chickens of white leghorn breed were infected with Newcastle disease (ND) by intranasal administration of 10⁵ 50% EID50/0.1 mL of velogenic NDV (vNDV). A second group of 15 chickens were kept as a control group. Chickens were monitored every day to record clinical signs. Infected chickens were euthanized by cervical dislocation at successive times, namely at hours (hrs) 2, 4, 6, 12, days 1, 2, 4, and 6 post-inoculation (pi). Whereas, control group chickens were euthanized on days 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 pi. Tissues of brain, trachea, lung, caecal tonsil, liver, kidney, spleen, heart, proventriculus, intestine, and thymus were collected, fixed in 10% buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, and sectioned. HS staining, immunoperoxidase staining (IPS) and in situ PCR were applied. It was concluded that at hr 2 pi, virus seemed to be inclined to trachea and respiratory tract. Meanwhile, it attacked caecal tonsils, intestine and bursa of Fabricus. While primary viraemia was ongoing, virus created footing in kidney and thymus. At hr 4 pi, proventriculus, liver, and spleen were attacked. However, at hr 6 pi, brain and heart were involved. Secondary viraemia probably started as early as hr 12 pi since all collected tissues were positive. Tissue tropism was determined in trachea, caecal tonsil, liver, bursa of Fabricius, intestine, proventriculus, lung, spleen, thymus, kidney, heart, and brain.
The presence of the Afro-Australian genus Conochironomus Freeman, 1961 (Diptera: Chironomidae) in Asia has been recognised only informally. An unpublished thesis included Conochironomus from Singapore, and the genus has been keyed from Malaysia without named species. Here, the Sumatran Conochironomus tobaterdecimus (Kikuchi & Sasa, 1980) comb. n. is recorded from Singapore and Thailand. The species is transferred from Sumatendipes Kikuchi & Sasa, 1980, rendering the latter a junior synonym (syn. n.) of Conochironomus Freeman. Conochironomus nuengthai sp. n. and Conochironomus sawngthai sp. n. are described as new to science, based on adult males from Chiang Mai, Thailand. All species conform to existing generic diagnoses for all life stages, with features from male and female genitalia, pupal cephalic tubercles and posterolateral 'spurs' of tergite VIII providing evidence for species distinction. Some larvae are linked to C. tobaterdecimus through molecular barcoding. Variation in other larvae, which clearly belong to Conochironomus and are common throughout Thailand, means that they cannot be segregated to species. Larval habitats include pools in river beds, urban storage reservoirs, drains with moderately high nutrient loadings, and peat swamps. Endochironomus effusus Dutta, 1994 from north-eastern India may be a congener but may differ in adult morphology, thereby precluding formal new combination until discrepancies can be reconciled. Many problems with vouchering taxonomic and molecular material are identified that need to be rectified in the future.
A new species of limestone cave-adapted gecko of the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex, C. hidupselamanya sp. nov., is described from an isolated karst formation at Felda Chiku 7, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. This formation is scheduled to be completely quarried for its mineral content. From what we know about the life history of C. hidupselamanya sp. nov., this will result in its extinction. A new limestone forest-adapted species, C. lenggongensis sp. nov., from the Lenggong Valley, Perak was previously considered to be conspecific with C. bintangrendah but a re-evaluation of morphological, color pattern, molecular, and habitat preference indicates that it too is a unique lineage worthy of specific recognition. Fortunately C. lenggongensis sp. nov. is not facing extinction because its habitat is protected by the UNESCO Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley due to the archaeological significance of that region. Both new species can be distinguished from all other species of Cyrtodactylus based on molecular evidence from the mitochondrial gene ND2 and its flanking tRNAs as well as having unique combinations of morphological and color pattern characteristics. Using a time-calibrated BEAST analysis we inferred that the evolution of a limestone habitat preference and its apparently attendant morphological and color pattern adaptations evolved independently at least four times in the C. pulchellus complex between 26.1 and 0.78 mya.
A new, diminutive species of Rock Gecko Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. of the C. kumpoli group, is described from Tuba Island, Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia and is differentiated from all other species in the kumpoli group by having a unique combination of morphological and color pattern characteristics, including a maximum SVL of 37.0 mm; 10 or 11 supralabials; eight or nine infralabials; 15-18 semi-linearly arranged paravertebral tubercles; lateral caudal furrow present; lateral caudal tubercles on the anterior portion of the tail; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; five or six precloacal pores; 28 or 29 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; smooth ventrals; smooth subcaudals with an enlarged median row of scales; subcaudal region light-grey and speckled with yellow; absence of light-colored ocelli on the shoulder; no yellow postscapular band; dorsum light-brown with sage-green blotches and black spots; flanks with scattered yellow spots; absence of black gular markings in both sexes; and 13.0-22.0% uncorrected pairwise sequence divergences in the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene (ND2). Cnemaspis tubaensis sp. nov. is the fourth species of Cnemaspis to be described from the Langkawi Archipelago and underscores the underestimated biodiversity of the islands which is in need of more thorough herpetological inventories.
Drepanosticta emtrai sp. nov. is described from Vietnam (holotype male Ha Tinh Province, 9 vi 2015, to be deposited in RMNH). The new species is allied to D. carmichaeli (Laidlaw, 1915) and a number of other species of Drepanosticta including D. vietnamica Asahina, 1997. New illustrations of the paratype of D. vietnamica are provided and the species is discussed. The Drepanosticta carmichaeli-group, to which the above mentioned species belong, is defined and discussed.
A new species of the genus Tropidophorus is described from Putai, upper Baleh, Kapit districts, Sarawak, East Malaysia (Borneo). Tropidophorus sebi sp. nov. is diagnosable from congeners from Borneo by the combination of the following characters: head shields present, dorsal and lateral scales smooth; parietal scales in two pairs; supraciliaries eight; supraoculars four; supralabials seven; infralabials four; postmental undivided; longitudinal scale rows 58; ventrals 53; transverse scale rows at midbody 34; subcaudals 98; preanals enlarged, single; and subdigital lamellae of Toe IV 19. In addition, we determine the phylogenetic position of this species within the Tropidophorus group based on mitochondrial markers, and present a key to identification of the known Bornean species in the genus.
Lomanius annae sp. nov. is described from southern Vietnam. The species is characterized by the greatly developed dorso-basal process on cheliceral hand of males and by the partial effacement of all mesotergal grooves. The genus Lomanius contains four generic synonyms and currently comprises eight valid species distributed in China, Java, peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. The new species displays a general morphology similar to the former genus Paralomanius, with a combination of sexually dimorphic interocular mound (which is very large and strongly leaned back in males) and pedipalpus (which is extremely elongate in males). This morphological suite of features is herein called facies reclinobunoides. The replacement name Metibalonius triceratops nom. nov. is proposed for Trispinibunus abnormis Roewer, 1915, which is a junior secondary homonym of Ibalonius abnormis Strand, 1911. Finally, numerous morphological structures found in Podoctidae are recognized and named: (1) the cheliceral comb, present on cheliceral fingers, (2) the chained tubercular ridges, present on dorsal scutum and (3) several others related to the ocular region. The distribution of these two structures among podoctid species is not fully known, but both are absent in the former Ibaloniinae. We suggest that both structures may be useful to define supra-generic groups in the clade composed of the former Podoctinae and Erecananinae.
This paper presents a taxonomic revision of 28 described species of the genus Sirthenea Spinola, 1837 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Peiratinae) distributed in the Afrotropical, Oriental, Palearctic, Oceanian and Australian zoogeographical regions. The following new synonymies are proposed: Sirthenea africana Distant, 1903 = S. rapax Horváth, 1909, syn. nov. = S. leonina Horváth, 1909, syn. nov. = S. bequaerti Schouteden, 1913, syn. nov. = S. leontovitchi Schouteden, 1931, syn. nov.; Sirthenea picescens Reuter, 1887 = S. atrocyanea Horváth, 1909, syn. nov.; S. rodhaini Schouteden, 1913 = S. collarti Schouteden, 1931, syn. nov. = S. angolana Villiers, 1958, syn. nov.; S. flavipes (Stål, 1855) = S. clavata Miller, 1948, syn. nov. = S. bharati Sucheta Chopra, 1988, syn. nov. = S. koreana Kerzhner Lee, 1996 syn. nov. = S. melanota Cai Lu, 1990, syn. nov. = S. nigripes Murugan Livingstone, 1990, syn. nov.; S. obscura (Stål, 1866) = S. glabra (Walker, 1873), syn. nov. A neotype is designated for S. picescens Reuter, 1887. Three species, S. erythromelas (Walker 1873), S. fulvipennis (Walker, 1873) and S. sobria (Walker, 1873), are excluded from the genus Sirthenea. Two new species from the Oriental Region, S. kali sp. nov. (India) and S. setosa sp. nov. (Malaysia) are described. Identification keys are provided for the subgenera and species from each zoogeographical region treated. Drawings of dorsal habitus and genitalic structures, drawings and images of selected morphological characters, and distribution maps of all valid species are presented.
The island of Borneo lies within one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Despite this, its documented gekkonid diversity is not commensurate with other areas of Southeast Asia. The megadiverse genus Cyrtodactylus is especially underrepresented. Limestone-karst ecosystems, in particular, harbor many endemic Cyrtodactylus species, but only one karst-dwelling species is currently recognized from Borneo. This paper adds two additional karst-dwelling Cyrtodactylus species-C. muluensis sp. nov. and C. limajalur sp. nov.-from Sarawak, Malaysia. Cyrtodactylus muluensis sp. nov. is endemic to Gunung Mulu and is distinguished from its congeners by having a precloacal groove, 31-38 ventral scales, a maximum SVL of at least 88 mm, enlarged subcaudals, 19-20 subdigital lamellae, and a banded dorsal body pattern. Cyrtodactylus limajalur sp. nov. is endemic to the Serian region and is distinguished from its congeners by having 33-42 ventral scales, enlarged subcaudals, a precloacal pit, a maximum SVL of at least 94 mm, 5-6 enlarged femoral scales, 19-22 subdigital lamellae, and five distinct bands on the dorsum. Both species are phylogenetically distinct and deeply divergent from all other congeners. The description of two new karst-dwelling species highlights the need to conserve karst habitats and the endemic species they harbor.
Three species new to science of the Gryllid subfamilies Gryllinae and Pteroplistinae are described from Brunei: (1) Mimicogryllus splendens Tan, Gorochov Wahab, sp. nov., (2) Pteroplistes bruneiensis Tan, Gorochov Wahab, sp. nov., and (3) Tembelingiola belaitensis Tan, Gorochov Wahab, sp. nov. A new species of cricket of the subfamily Phaloriinae is also described from Sandakan, eastern Sabah: Vescelia sepilokensis Tan, Gorochov, Japir Chung, sp. nov.
Podolestes parvus sp. nov. is described and illustrated from both sexes from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo (holotype male Maludam National Park, Betong Division, Sarawak, 10 vii 2012, deposited in RMNH). The new species is closest to P. atomarius Lieftinck, 1950 and is the smallest species yet known in its genus. A full set illustrations of P. atomarius is provided for comparison. [Species Zoobank URL: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:EE7ABAB0-8683-4D25-8A2C-76977931FD87].
The 'Cephennomicrus group' of Cephenniini includes nine genera distributed mostly in SE Asia (but with some species known also from other continents, except for the Americas). Four new Oriental species are described: Cephennococcus penangensis sp. n. (W Malaysia), Cephennomicrus matangensis sp. n. (E Malaysia), Cephennomicrus selangorensis sp. n. (E Malaysia), and Trurlia nova sp. n. (E Malaysia). Cephennomicrus selangorensis is unique in having the pronotum in both sexes with broad lateral impressions demarcated from the disc by a sharp ridge, a modification slightly similar to that of only one (Australian) congener.
Seven new species of the genus Deltoplastis Meyrick are described: D. acutangulata Wang et Yu, sp. nov., D. anatoliana Wang et Park, sp. nov., D. multidentalis Wang et Yu, sp. nov. and D. similihoristis Wang et Yu, sp. nov. from China; D. aculeata Wang et Yu, sp. nov. and D. spatuliunca Wang et Yu, sp. nov. from Malaysian Borneo; and D. ovidiscalis Park et Wang, sp. nov. from Vietnam. Deltoplastis horistis (Meyrick, 1910) is newly recorded in China and its female is described for the first time. Images of adults and genitalia of the new species are provided.
The genus Marcepania is a sole member of the tribe Marcepaniini, known to occur in SE Asia. The five hitherto described species inhabit the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. The first species discovered in the Philippines, Marcepania princesa sp. n. is described here, based on a male specimen found on the island of Palawan. It is most similar to its geographically closest relative, M. elongata of northern Borneo.