Thirty-one new species of the genus Leclercera Deeleman-Reinhold, 1995 from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand are described: L. mianqiusp. nov. (♂♀), L. thamsangensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. yandousp. nov. (♂♀), L. thamkaewensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. xiangbabangsp. nov. (♂♀), L. jianzuiyusp. nov. (♂♀), L. yamaensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. banensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. dumuzhousp. nov. (♀), L. suwanensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. maochongsp. nov. (♀), L. shanzisp. nov. (♀), L. duandaisp. nov. (♂♀), L. hponensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. lizisp. nov. (♂), L. xiaodaisp. nov. (♀), L. yanjingsp. nov. (♀), L. ekteenensissp. nov. (♂), L. zhamensissp. nov. (♂), L. sanjiaosp. nov. (♀), L. selasihensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. paiensissp. nov. (♀), L. yuanzhuisp. nov. (♀), L. zanggaensissp. nov. (♀), L. aniensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. renqinensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. shergylaensissp. nov. (♂♀), L. pulongensissp. nov. (♂), L. tudaosp. nov. (♂♀), L. duibaensissp. nov. (♂), and L. jiazhongensissp. nov. (♂♀). Types are deposited in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IZCAS) in Beijing.
Previously, the genus Merizocera Fage, 1912 comprised only seven species from Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. In this study, 28 new species are described from South and Southeast Asia: M. baoshan Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. betong Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. colombo Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. galle Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. hponkanrazi Li, sp. nov. (♂), M. kachin Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. kandy Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. mandai Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. krabi Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. kurunegala Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. lincang Li, sp. nov. (♀), M. mainling Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. nyingchi Li, sp. nov. (♀), M. peraderiya Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. phuket Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. putao Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. ranong Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. ratnapura Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. salawa Li, sp. nov. (♂), M. tak Li, sp. nov. (♀), M. tanintharyi Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. tengchong Li, sp. nov. (♂), M. thenna Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. uva Li, sp. nov. (♀), M. wenshan Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. wui Li, sp. nov. (♂♀), M. yala Li, sp. nov. (♀), and M. yuxi Li, sp. nov. (♂♀). Among them the genus Merizocera is reported for the first time from China, Myanmar, and Singapore.
Malaria, a devastating disease, has claimed numerous lives and caused considerable suffering, with young children and pregnant women being the most severely affected group. However, the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of Plasmodium and the adverse side effects associated with existing antimalarial drugs underscore the urgent need for the development of novel, well-tolerated, and more efficient drugs to combat this global health threat. To address these challenges, six new hydantoins derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antiplasmodial activity. Notably, compound 2c exhibited excellent inhibitory activity against the tested Pf3D7 strain, with an IC50 value of 3.97 ± 0.01 nM, three-fold better than chloroquine. Following closely, compound 3b demonstrated an IC50 value of 27.52 ± 3.37 µM against the Pf3D7 strain in vitro. Additionally, all the hydantoins derivatives tested showed inactive against human MCR-5 cells, with an IC50 value exceeding 100 μM. In summary, the hydantoin derivative 2c emerges as a promising candidate for further exploration as an antiplasmodial compound.