Six species in the genus Busonia Distant are described and illustrated, including five new species from Thailand and Malaysia: Busonia curvata, B. fusca, B. lactata, B. micrata, B. serrata, spp. nov., and one newly recorded species from China: Busonia albilateralis Maldonado-Capriles. A redescription of this genus is provided together with a key to species for separation of males.
Five new species of the family Rotundabaloghiidae are described from Indonesia and Malaysia. Angulobaloghia pedunculata sp. nov. differs from the other Angulobaloghia Hirschmann, 1979 species in the shape of the genital shield of the female. Rotundabaloghia (Rotundabaloghia) wangi sp. nov. has one pair of short and pilose setae (V8) on the ventral idiosoma, which is unique in the subgenus Rotundabaloghia (Rotundabaloghia) Hirschmann, 1975. Rotundabaloghia (Circobaloghia) javaensis sp. nov. has a small triangular anterior process on genital shield of female, which has not been detected previously in South-East Asian members of this subgenus. The long and thick ventral seta (V4) in Depressorotunda (Depressorotunda) robusta sp. nov. is a character state so far unknown in the subgenus Depressorotunda (Depressorotunda) Kontschán, 2010. Depressorotunda (Depressorotunda) hirca sp. nov. has two apically serrate anterior branches on the margin of the female genital shield.
We consider the genus Janohyphella Selvakumar, Sivaramakrishnan & Jacobus, 2014 (Ephemeroptera:Teloganodidae) to be a new junior synonym of Teloganella Ulmer, 1939 [=Janohyphella, syn. n.] based on comparative examination of new and previously studied materials from Malaysia and India. Thus, we propose the following new combination, Teloganella indica, comb. n., and provide new or modified diagnoses for this species, T. umbrata Ulmer, 1939 and the genus Teloganella Ulmer, 1939.
The Scirtothrips genus-group is here considered to comprise 11 genera, and an identification key to these is presented. These genera are Ajothrips Bhatti, Anascirtothrips Bhatti, Biltothrips Bhatti, Cercyothrips Morgan, Drepanothrips Uzel, Ephedrothrips zur Strassen, Kenyattathrips Mound, Parascirtothrips Masumoto & Okajima, Scirtidothrips Hood, Scirtothrips Shull and Siamothrips Okajima. One genus, Sericopsothrips Hood, is considered a new synonym of Scirtothrips, with the only species now referred to as Scirtothrips palloris (Hood) comb.n. A second species in the genus Siamothrips is described from Malaysia as Siamothrips initium sp.n.
We describe Cyrtodactylus psarops sp. nov. and C. semicinctus sp. nov., two new species of bent-toed geckos from montane forests in the southern Bukit Barisan Range of Sumatra, Indonesia. The new species are closely related to one another and to C. semenanjungensis, a lowland species currently known only from Peninsular Malaysia. Three characters of the new species immediately distinguish them from most congeners in the Sunda Region: they lack transversely enlarged subcaudals, have a precloacal depression, and have a greatly enlarged scale positioned at the apex of a continuous series of femoral and precloacal pore-bearing scales. They differ from one another in cephalic pattern, tuberculation of the brachium, and in numbers of cloacal tubercles, dorsal bands, and ventrals in a transverse row. The greatly enlarged scale at the apex of the precloacal pores appears to be a rare apomorphy of these two species and C. agamensis.
A new species of semiterrestrial gecarcinucid freshwater crab, Terrathelphusa secula, is described from Danum Valley in Sabah, East Malaysia, eastern Borneo. In the form of its carapace, third maxilliped, and male second gonopod, it most closely resembles T. ovis Ng, 1997, and T. telur Ng, 1997, from eastern Sarawak and Brunei, respectively. It differs markedly from these and other congeners in its proportionately much wider carapace, and a male first gonopod that is strongly curved and sickle-shaped.
All life stages (adult female and male, first-instar nymph, second-instar male and female nymphs, and prepupa and pupa) of a new species of Asterolecaniidae, Bambusaspis transversa Lagowska & Martin sp. n., from bamboo in Malaysia, are described and illustrated. The adult female and first-instar nymphs are compared with those Bambusaspis species considered to be closest to the new species.
Fauna of Cladocera (Crustacea: Branchiopoda) of Sabah state of Malaysia, Borneo Island, was evaluated for the first time. Samples from 40 locations were studied, and 31 species of Cladocera were revealed, including three species of Sididae, one species of Daphnidae, one species of Moinidae, four species of Macrothricidae, two species of Ilyocryptidae, and 20 species of Chydoridae. One species of Ilyocryptidae, Ilyocryptus yooni Jeong, Kotov and Lee, 2012, is recorded for Malaysia for the first time, and one more, Anthalona sp., is probably new for science. Of 31 species recorded for Sabah, only three are true planktonic species and 28 are substrate-associated species. Absence of large natural lakes, habitats with most rich cladoceran fauna, can be an important factor limiting diversity of Cladocera in Sabah.
M. megabinluyog spec. nov. is described from a location in Brunei on the island of Borneo. Additional illustrations of its sister species M. astamii are provided.
The nematode Pseudoplatycoma malaysianis n. gen. n. sp. is described from the Sulu Sea (Malaysia). The new genus is classified in the subfamily Platycominae Platonova 1976. Revision of the new genus and four other genera in Platycominae, resulted in four species from the genus Platycomopsis being transferred to other genera: P. dimorphica and P. mazjatzavi to the genus Platycoma; P. effilata to the genus Micoletzkyia; and P. gibbonensis to the genus Anticoma. Pilosinema is regarded as a asynonym of Platycomopsis and Platycomopsis paracobbi is regarded as a synonym for P. cobbi. A key for identification of the genera and species of Platycominae is presented.
Simulium (Gomphostilbia) hiroyukii is described based on females, males, pupae and larvae collected in Mount Murud, Sarawak, Malaysia. This new species is assigned to the Simulium darjeelingense species-group of the subgenus Gomphostilbia, and is characterized by the darkened fore coxae and the pupal gill with eight long filaments, of which middle and dorsal triplets have elongated primary and secondary stalks, respectively.
Four new species of Cephennomicrus are described from Malaysia: C. curvidens sp. n., C. gentingensis sp. n. (both from the Genting Highlands, West Malaysia), C. santubongensis sp. n. and C. muluensis sp. n. (both from Sarawak, East Malaysia). Male genitalia of all new taxa are illustrated and diagnostic characters are discussed.
A new genus Trachyibana gen. nov. is described and illustrated on the basis of Trachyibana sarawakiensis sp. nov. from Malaysia. The new genus belongs to the family Trachyuropodidae, on the basis of its fringed internal malae, the T-shaped dorsal setae and the position of hypostomal setae h3 (lateral to h1-h2-h4). The new genus differs from the other trachyuropodid genera and species by its lemon-shaped idiosoma, the presence of deep opisthogastric ventral furrows, and the absence of strongly sclerotised dorsal structures.
A new species of the Oriental genus Elacatophora, E. euconnoides sp. n., is described from the Cameron Highlands, West Malaysia. Diagnostic characters, including the male genitalia, are illustrated and discussed. A new case of subjective synonymy was discovered: Elacatophora minae (Makhan & Ezzatpanah, 2011) is placed as syn. n. of E. soesilae (Makhan & Ezzatpanah, 2011).
Oxytelus species are widespread over all continents except Antarctica. Southeast Asia is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world. In this paper, we review the Oxytelus species currently known from Southeast Asia. Seven species are described as new to science: O. castaneus sp. nov. (Vietnam), O. finitimus sp. nov. (Laos), O. grandiculus sp. nov. (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand), O. insulanus sp. nov. (Malaysia and Indonesia), O. lompobatangensis sp. nov. and O. poecilopterus sp. nov. (Indonesia), and O. sublividus sp. nov. (Vietnam and Laos). Seven new synonymies are proposed: O. ruptus Fauvel = O. sublucidus Cameron, O. lucens Bernhauer = O. malaisei Scheerpeltz, O. puncticeps Kraatz = O. (Anotylus) micantoides Scheerpeltz, O. subferrugineus Cameron = O. kedirianus Cameron, O. megaceros Fauvel = O. kalisi Bernhauer, O. subincisus Cameron = O. fruhstorferi Cameron, O. antennalis Fauvel = O. cheesmani Bernhauer. Lectotypes are designated for the following names: O. armiger Fauvel, O. bellicosus Fauvel, O. discalis Cameron, O. gigantulus Fauvel, O. ginyuenensis Bernhauer, O. javanus Cameron, O. kalisi Bernhauer, O. kedirianus Cameron, O. lucens Bernhauer, O. lucidulus Cameron, O. mandibularis Cameron, O. megaceros Fauvel, O. nilgiriensis Cameron, O. subferrugineus Cameron, O. subincisus Cameron, O. sublucidus Cameron, O. subsculptus Cameron, O. antennalis Fauvel (New Caledonia, New Guinea and Australia), O. cheesmani Bernhauer (New Hebrides), O. cheesmanianus Cameron (Papua New Guinea), O. hingstoni Cameron (India), and O. tibetanus Bernhauer (China). The species O. (Anotylus) transversipennis Scheerpeltz is transferred to the genus Anotylus. Other than the new species, nine previously known species are redescribed, a key to 30 species and line drawings or color photographs of 42 species are provided. Thus, a total of 30 species are recorded from Southeast Asia.
A new, diminutive species of Rock Gecko Cnemaspis mahsuriae sp. nov. of the affinis group, is described from Gunung Raya on Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Peninsular Malaysia and is differentiated from all other species in the affinis group by having a unique combination of characters including a maximum SVL of 36.6 mm; keeled subtibials and ventrals; 21-24 paravertebral tubercles; no tubercles in the lateral caudal furrows; caudal tubercles not encircling tail; no precloacal pores; 23-26 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; no white ocelli in the shoulder region; no yellow postscapular band; and faint yellow bars on the flanks. Cnemaspis mahsuriae sp. nov. is a forest-dwelling species living in close sympatry or paraptry with the insular endemic C. roticanai Grismer & Chan. The Langkawi Archipelago harbors a unique mix of Malaysian and Indochinese taxa and the frequency of new discoveries from this group of islands is increasing.
Species of the Simulium (Simulium) melanopus species-group in Sabah are taxonomically revised by examining type specimens of S. (S.) crassimanum S. (S.) laterale, and S. (S.) nigripilosum, all described from females by Edwards in 1933, and newly collected samples from the vicinity of Mt. Kinabalu. The females of these three species are redescribed, and their males and pupae are described for the first time based on adults reared from pupae. Simulium (S.) liewi Takaoka, 2007 and S. (S.) kinabaluense Smart & Clifford, 1969 are synonymized with S. (S.) crassimanum and S. (S.) laterale, respectively. Simulium (S.) cheedhangi Takaoka, Sofian-Azirun & Ya'cob, 2015 is newly recorded from Sabah. Two new related species, S. (S.) lardizabalae and S. (S.) timpohonense, are described from males reared from pupae. Keys to identify eight species of the S. melanopus species-group in Sabah are provided for females, males, pupae and mature larvae.
In a meristic, morphometric and distributional study of Neolissochilus from Peninsular Malaysia, Khaironizam et al. (2015) subsumed Lissochilus tweediei Herre in Herre & Myers 1937 and a taxon they called "Tor soro Bishop 1973" into the synonymy of N. soroides (Duncker 1904) based on data collected from museum specimens. However, "Bishop 1973" is not the correct author citation for Tor soro. Instead, Tor (now placed in Neolissochilus) soro was originally described as Barbus soro by Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes (1842:191). Since "Tor soro Bishop 1973" is not a valid name/author combination, Neolissochilus soro, as treated by Khaironizam et al. (2015), cannot be considered a junior synonym of N. soroides.
Here we provide an illustrated key to lepidopteran larvae that occur as pests on rice (Oryza) in Malaysia. We are unaware of a published key for this region for this vital commercial crop, and hence provide one based on easily observable features that could be useful for identification, early detection, and pest management by specialists and non-specialists alike (see discussion in Mukerji & Singh 1951, Sri et al. 2010, Timm et al. 2007, Tillmon et al. 2000, Wagener et al. 2004).
Garra robertsi is described from specimens collected from the Sungai Bongan and Tempassuk rivers in Sabah, Borneo. The species is differentiated from G. borneensis, its only congener on the island of Borneo, in having five (versus four) transverse scale rows above lateral line, the first branched dorsal-fin ray extending beyond the posterior-most extent of any other part of the dorsal fin when depressed (versus not extending posteriorly beyond last ray when depressed), breast with deeply embedded scales (versus exposed scales), fewer tubercles on snout, thin (versus thick) anteromedial fold on the lower lip, absence (versus presence) of a lateral stripe, absence (versus presence) of a stark, contrasting black stripe on lower caudal-fin rays, and other pigmentation characteristics.