MYCOTROPHS RICH: A Japanese research team discovered two new species in the Betung Kerihun National Park, West Kalimantan.
Marine Water Mites
A NEW species of marine water mite (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Pontarachnidae) was discovered in Brunei Bay by a team of researchers from the University of Montenegro and the University of Brunei Darussalam.
Water mites are related to spiders and they have eight legs and a soft body.
There are over 40 species of the marine mite located in Borneo waters; a low number and many more are expected to be found.
Almost nothing is known about the life cycle.
They are usually found amongst coral and embedded in seaweed (algae).
They are microscopic to pinhead in size and sometimes you can see them as tiny dots scurrying along the beach between the high and low tide zone.
Mycoheterotrophic plants
Why did the fungi leave the party? Because they weren’t mushrooms.
“Borneo is one of the richest areas for mycoheterotrophic plants,” stated the leader of a Japanese research team after discovering two new species: S betung-kerihunensis and S brevistyla genus Sciaphila Blume, Triuridaceae in the Betung Kerihun National Park, West Kalimantan.
Mycotrophs (short for mycoheterotrophic) are plants which lack chlorophyll and are parasitic on fungus to obtain nutrients.
They used to be called saprophytes. The fungus is usually attached to the roots.
Rat study
A survey of parasites on rats collected in Bukit Aup Jubilee Park, Sibu by a team led by A Madinah of the Department of Zoology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) found that three species of parasites – Ixodes granulatus, Laelaps nuttalli and Hoplopleura dissicula – are a potential health risk. Ixodes, a tick, is known to carry spotted fever, typhus and rickets.
A mite – Laelaps nuttalli, carries foot and mouth disease, while Hoplopleura dissicula – a sucking louse – can carry plague.
The research was reported in the Sept 2013 issue of the prestigious ‘Journal of Bio Tropical Medicine’.
Number of frog species declines by one
Examination of museum specimens led by Annemarie Ohler of the National Museum of Natural History, Paris has discovered two Bornean frog specimens, Pyxicephalus khasianus and Rana laticeps are the same frog.
The name Rana laticeps will be dropped because it was recorded in 1882 while Pyxicephalus was described in 1871.
Both had been used interchangeably throughout the literature. First come, first served.
ANT-LIKE: Eight new species of the Myrmarachne spider have been discovered in Borneo.
Eight new jumping spiders
There are now 22 species of Myrmarachne, the jumping spider who waves its front legs in the air to mimic the antenna of ants in Borneo.
Eight new species, from Borneo, were recently made known to science by Takeshi Yamasaki of Kagoshima University and Abdul Hamid Ahmad of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
It is thought that the spiders prey on the ants, fooling them to believe they are also ants.
The Malaysian Nature Society
Established in the 1940, the Malaysian Nature Society is the oldest scientific and non-governmental organisation in Malaysia. Our mission is ‘to promote the study, appreciation, conservation and protection of Malaysia’s nature heritage’. Our 5,000-strong membership, spread across 12 branches nationwide, come from all walks of life, bound by a common interest in nature. For further information on membership or our activities in Kuching, call Kwan on 019-8349499. For information on our activities in Miri, call Nazeri Abghani on 085-453185. You can also visit www.mns.org.my or http://[email protected].