The spider genus Glenognatha Simon, 1887 (Tetragnathidae) currently has 34 nominal species distributed in Afrotropical region, Indo-Malaya, Nearctic, Neotropics, Oceania and Palearctic regions (Cabra-García Brescovit 2016; World Spider Catalog 2020). It has one representative in India: Glenognatha dentata (Zhu Wen, 1978) (World Spider Catalog 2020). The genus Pachygnatha Sundevall, 1823 currently comprises 46 nominal species distributed in Africa, Holarctic, South and South-East Asia (World Spider Catalog 2020). Biswas and Roy (2004) recorded this genus in India, while they described Pachygnatha silentvalliensis Biswas Roy, 2004. The species is known from its original verbal description only since the genitalic illustrations were apparently not published along with the description (Biswas Roy 2004), thus leaving its identity obscured. To redescribe and illustrate this species, we examined its type material and found that Biswas and Roy (2004) had misidentified the species and in fact it belongs to Tylorida Simon, 1894. In this paper, we describe a new Glenognatha species from the southern Western Ghats of India, transfer Dyschiriognatha ganeshi Bodkhe, Manthen Tanikawa, 2014 to Glenognatha and synonymise P. silentvalliensis with Tylorida marmorea (Pocock, 1901).
The first representative of the genus Cerapus in Malaysian waters, Cerapus bumbumiensis sp. nov. is described from specimens sampled from Pulau Bum Bum, Sabah (east Malaysia). The main identifying characteristics of this new amphipod species are: pereonites 1, 2 with constriction; male gnathopod 2 carpochelate, carpus large with long defining posterior tooth and well-developed anterodistal tooth; pereopod 6 coxa with fine hair/fringe setae ventrally; and telson with deep cleft. An updated identification key for the 23 known species in the genus is also presented.
The phygadeuontine genus Apophysius (Ichneumonidae) is reviewed for the first time. Six new species are described, A. baolocensis Pham, Matsumoto Broad sp. nov., A. constrictus Pham, Matsumoto Broad sp. nov. and A. taynguyenensis Pham, Matsumoto Broad sp. nov. from the Central Highlands of Vietnam, A. latus Pham, Matsumoto, Konishi, Sheng Broad sp. nov. from China and Vietnam, A. takasukai Pham, Konishi Broad sp. nov. from the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, and A. pentaceratops Broad sp. nov. from Sarawak, Malaysia. A key to the nine known species of the genus Apophysius is included.
Nipponophloeostiba thayeri Shavrin, sp.n. from Borneo Island, Sabah (Malaysia) is described, illustrated and compared with Japanese N. verrucifera Watanabe, 1962.
An integrative taxonomic analysis of the Sphenomorphus stellatus group recovered a newly discovered museum specimen from Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam as a new species most closely related to S. preylangensis from Phnom Chi in central Cambodia, approximately 175 km to the northeast. Most notably, S. phuquocensis sp. nov. lacks the derived condition of having black dorsal stripes that diagnose S. annamiticus-the sister species to S. preylangensis plus S. phuquocensis sp. nov. A BioGeoBEARS analysis recovered the ancestor of the S. stellatus group to likely have ranged across forested regions on an exposed Sunda Shelf from southwestern Indochina to Peninsular Malaysia prior to diverging into northern and southern lineages separated by the Gulf of Thailand. Episodic fluctuations in sea levels and concomitant changes in the physiography of the Mekong Delta contributed to the fragmented distribution within and between species of the northern lineage. Sphenomorphus phuquocensis sp. nov. represents the second species of reptile endemic to Phu Quoc Island.
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 Miltochrista obliquilinea (Swinhoe, 1901) species-group is revised. Four new species are described: M. konta Volynkin, Černý N. Singh, sp. n. (Thailand, Laos and Vietnam), M. adelfika Volynkin, N. Singh, Černý, Kirti Datta, sp. n. (India, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam), M. stenovalva Volynkin, N. Singh, Černý, Kirti Datta, sp. n. (India and Thailand) and M. lavides Volynkin, Černý N. Singh, sp. n. (Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam). The lectotype for Lyclene obliquilinea Swinhoe, 1901 is designated. Adults, male and female genitalia are illustrated.
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.
The genus Telostholus Haupt, 1929 is newly reported from Malaysia, with four species that are newly described and illustrated: T. bifasciatus Loktionov, sp. nov. (Pahang), T. clypeatus Loktionov, sp. nov. (Pahang), T. malayensis Loktionov, sp. nov. (Pahang), and T. tomentosus Loktionov, sp. nov. (Pahang). A key to the Malaysian species is given.
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.
Liopeltis is a genus of poorly known, infrequently sampled species of colubrid snakes in tropical Asia. We collected a specimen of Liopeltis from Pulau Tioman, Peninsular Malaysia, that superficially resembled L. philippina, a rare species that is endemic to the Palawan Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex, western Philippines. We analyzed morphological and mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the Pulau Tioman specimen and found distinct differences to L. philippina and all other congeners. On the basis of these corroborated lines of evidence, the Pulau Tioman specimen is described as a new species, L. tiomanica sp. nov. The new species occurs in sympatry with L. tricolor on Pulau Tioman, and our description of L. tiomanica sp. nov. brings the number of endemic amphibians and reptiles on Pulau Tioman to 12.
The spider genus Desis Walckenaer, 1837 is the type genus of the spider family Desidae Pocock, 1895. Desis spiders hide in silk sacs between rocks or shells during high tide and forage during low tide (Baehr et al. 2017). Four Desis species have been recorded from Asia: Desis gardineri Pocock, 1904 (India), Desis inermis Gravely, 1927 (India), Desis japonica Yaginuma, 1956 (Japan) and Desis martensi L. Koch, 1872 (Malaysia) (World Spider Catalog 2020). Until now, only one species of the family Desidae, Badumna tangae Zhu, Zhang Yang, 2006, has been reported from China (Zhu et al. 2006). Here, we describe a new species of Desis and report the genus from China for the first time.
The marine water strider Halobates sexualis Distant, 1903 was originally described from the estuary of Jambu River (Distant 1903). This species has been recorded from Malaysia (Cheng 1985, Zettel Tran 2009, Ikawa et al. 2012), Sri Lanka (Andersen Foster 1992, Ikawa et al. 2012) and Thailand (Román-Palacios et al. 2018). In the pioneering work by Herring (1961) on this genus, he mentioned the type locality to be "Estuary of the Jambu River, Malaya." Andersen and Foster (1992) provided notes on the whereabouts of the type locality of this species and mentioned that it was probably located in northern Malaya (Kuala Jambu) immediately south of the border of Thailand on the Gulf of Siam coast. Andersen and Cheng (2004) further backed this up by mentioning Malaysia in the range of H. sexualis, which was not recorded from Malaysia until 2009 (Zettel Tran 2009) but also stated that it was not verified personally. However, Distant (1903) mentioned the collection locality as "Estuary of the Jambu River, Jhering." According to the Map of the Malay Peninsula published around the same time period in 1898 by Stanford, London (RASGBI 1898), Jambu or Jering is located along the coast of Yaring (formerly Jhering/Jering) which is a District Town in Pattani Province of Thailand. This location is about 120 km northwest of the previously presumed location by Andersen Foster (1992; see fig. 24) and is most likely the site of collection, which is in present-day Thailand. The type locality of this species should thus be attributed to Thailand instead of Malaysia.
Based on the specimens collected in Mt. Trusmadi, Sabah, Malaysia, three new species of the genus Promalactis are described: P. clavivalvata sp. nov., P. abasiloba sp. nov. and P. trusmadiensis sp. nov. In addition, females of three previously known species (P. folivalva Wang, 2018, P. sectoralis Wang et al., 2013 and P. trigonilobata Wang, 2018) are described for the first time. Two species (P. sectoralis Wang et al., 2013 and P. pileata Wang, 2019) are newly recorded for Malaysia. Images of both adults and genitalia of the new species and the genitalia of the newly described females are provided.
A survey of a limestone forest at Gunung Baling, Kedah, West Malaysia lead to the discovery of an undescribed species of Bent-toed Gecko from the Cyrtodactylus pulchellus complex. Cyrtodactylus evanquahi sp. nov. can be distinguished from all other species in the C. pulchellus complex by a suite of morphological and color pattern characteristics: prominent tuberculation, higher number of dark body bands, and a smaller maximum SVL. It is further differentiated from all other species as follows; no tubercles on the ventral surface of the forelimbs, gular region, or in the ventrolateral folds; 31-34 paravetebral dorsal tubercles; 18-23 longitudinal rows of tubercles; 29-33 ventral scales; 22-23 subdigital lamellae on the fourth toe; 32-36 femoroprecloacal pores; a shallow precloacal groove in males; body bands and nuchal loop edged with a thin white line bearing tubercles; no scattered white spots on the dorsum; six or seven dark body bands much thinner than interspaces; 9-11 dark caudal bands on original tail; bands on the original tail separated by immaculate white caudal bands. It is further differentiated by an uncorrected pairwise genetic divergence of 6.50-15.67% from all other congeners in the C. pulchellus complex. It is most closely related to C. pulchellus from Penang Island ∼76 km to the southwest. In addition to the new samples from Gunung Baling, we added four samples of C. bintangrendah from the new locality of Belukar Semang, Perak. The discovery of yet another new species of the C. pulchellus complex from a limestone habitat continues to underscore the high degree of endemism and the importance of these unique habitats for biodiversity, and the continued need for their conservation.
Four new species of the rare glandulariine genus Siamites Franz are described: S. langkatensis sp. n. (Indonesia); S. thantonus sp. n. (Thailand); S. sumatrensis sp. n. (Indonesia); and S. sabahensis sp. n. (E Malaysia). The Indonesian species represent the first records of Siamites on Sumatra, and the Malay species is the first Siamites known to occur in Sabah; the number of nominal Siamites species increases to eight.
Both sexes of Anastatus mantoidae Motschulsky, the type species of Anastatus Motschulsky, 1859, and females of Anastatus echidna (Motschulsky), the type species of Cacotropia Motschulsky, 1863, the oldest junior synonym of Anastatus (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae: Eupelminae), are redescribed and illustrated based on original type material and compared to more recently collected material. Anastatus mantoidae, previously known only from Sri Lanka, is newly reported from Indonesia (Java and Sumatra) and Thailand, and a very similar species, A. motschulskyi n. sp., is newly described based on both sexes from Malaysia (Sabah) and Thailand and compared to A. mantoidae. Anastatus echidna, also originally known only from Sri Lanka, is newly reported from India, Pakistan and Thailand, and potential synonymy of one or both of Anastatus amarus (Subba Rao, 1957) and Anastatus acherontiae Narayanan, Subba Rao Ramachandra Rao, 1960, under A. echidna is discussed.
The Oriental leafhopper genus Balala Distant is reviewed and newly recorded from Malaysia and Thailand. Four known species are redescribed and illustrated, with Balala lui newly recorded from Malaysia. And four new species are reported with descriptions and figures. A key to males of Balala species is provided. The female ovipositor of B. nigrifrons is described and photographed for the first time.
Protosticta joepani sp. nov. is described from Malaysian Borneo (holotype male Bario, Kelabit Highlands, Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, deposited in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden). It is the sister species of P. kinabaluensis Laidlaw, 1915; some descriptive notes and a set of illustrations are provided of the latter species. A COI gene tree for both species is provided. The placement of both P. joepani and P. kinabaluensis is discussed, but although it is very unlikely that they belong in Protosticta sensu stricto, the issue is left open here.
A reappraisal of the taxonomic status of the Dark-necked Slug Snake (Asthenodipsas malaccana Peters, 1864) across its range revealed that populations from Borneo are not conspecific with true A. malaccana from the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, and is therefore described herein as new. Asthenodipsas borneensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from A. malaccana and other congeners by the absence of a preocular and suboculars, seven or eight supralabials with 3rd and 4th in contact with orbit, 4-7 infralabials with 2nd or 3rd pair in contact, two pairs of posterior inframaxillaries, 15/15/15 rows of dorsal scales, presence of sharp vertebral keel, divided subcaudals, maximum recorded SVL=441 mm, 166-179 ventrals, 35-48 subcaudals, head white to greyish brown and dorsum beige to orange-brown with a conspicuous dark-brown or black patch on the neck followed by multiple, narrow, vertical, dark bands along the rest of the body and tail. This discovery adds to a growing number of new slug snake species recently described from Southeast Asia and highlights the underestimated diversity in this family, especially in Borneo. Taxonomic revisions of the reptiles and amphibians of Borneo are still needed before the true diversity of the island and the relationships of the various taxa can be fully understood.