Thismia malayana: A new species of Parasitc Plant from Peninsula Malaysia.

Thismias, Thismia spp., are a curious group on Monocotyledonous Plants found in the evergreen forests of tropical and subtropical Asia, northern and eastern Australia to New Zealand, the north-central USA, Costa Rica and southern tropical America. They are Mycoheterotrophs, obtaining nutrition parasitically from the network of Mycorrhizal Fungi which exchange nutrients with the Plants of the forest, but contributing nothing themselves to the relationship. Thismias do not photosynthesize, enabling them to live on the darkest parts of the forest floor, and live most of their lives below ground, occasionally producing intricate, but often inconspicuous, flowers at most a few centimetres high, which are pollinated by Fungus Knats or similar small Insects.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 31 May 2024, Mat Yunoh Siti-Munirah of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, independent researchers Chin Hardy-Adrian, Sharipudin Mohamad-Shafiq, and Zainuddin Irwan-Syah, and Abd Halim Hamidi of the Negeri Sembilan Forestry Department, describe a new species of Thismia from Peninsula Malaysia.

The new species is named Thismia malayana, where 'malayana' is derived from 'Malaya' the old name for Peninsula Malaysia. The species is described from a specimen collected in the Kuala Pilah District of Negeri Sembilan State, Malaysia, on a trail leading to Gunung Angsi mountain, in February 2023.

Thismia malayana (A) flowering plant (A1) floral tube, inner surface (A2) annulus and stamen filaments, view from inside (B) inflorescence with anthetic flower and several young fruits (B1) style and stigma (B2) annulus, top view (C) flower, side view (D), (E) stamens, view from inside and from outside, (E1) stamen supraconnectives: one pair of club-shaped inwards-pointing, one pair of acute outwards-pointing, and one central appendage (F) stamen supraconnectives, apical view (G) stamen tube, view from below (H), (H1) fruit after dehiscence, top view, (H2) seeds I shoot base with roots. Siti-Munirah et al. (2024).

Thismia malayana exists as a vermiform root, light brown, unbranching and about 1 mm in diameter, which produces a light brown herbaceous Plant, reaching a maximum height of about 10 cm. This above-ground Plant comprises a stem about 6 cm long and 0.2 cm in diameter, from which grow 2-4 scale-like brown leaves, and 1-4 asymmetrical, tube-shaped flowers, up to about 7 mm long and 5 mm in width, brown-to-off-white in colour, with orange longitudinal ribs, and an opening surrounded by six triangular tepals. 

Thismia malayana with scales (the finest grade is 0.5 mm) (A) side view (B) top view (C) the size compared to the 20-sen coin (23.59 mm in diameter). Photos by Chin Hardy-Adrian from uncollected plants. Siti-Munirah et al. (2024).

 

Thismia malayana is known from only two localities, one in the Gunung Angsi Forest Reserve in Negeri Sembilan State, and the other in Tengku Hassanal Wildlife Reserve in Pahang State. In both locations it grows in moist, shady areas of Diptocarp forests, at elevations of 200-450 m above sealeavel, usually producing flowers and fruit between December and February (although flowering in June has also been observed). 

Habitat (in situ) of Thismia malayana in Ulu Bendul Recreational Park in Gunung Angsi Forest Reserve (A), (B) and the Tengku Hassanal Wildlife Reserve (C)–(E). (A) Thismia malayana at its habitat, which is located right next to the main trail to Gunung Angsi. (B) Mat Yunoh Siti-Munirah showing the habitat of Thismia malayana. (C) Path to Lata Bujang and Gunung Benom (D) The plants growing on rotten wood (E) Sharipudin Mohamad-Shafiq observing a Thismia malayana in its habitat. Photos by Mat Yunoh Siti-Munirah (A), (B) and Sharipudin Mohamad-Shafiq (C)–(E). Siti-Munirah et al. (2024).

Thismia malayana is known only from two locations, with less than 10 individual Plants observed. Both locations are in protected areas, although on is quite close to a forest trail, where it might be disturbed by visitors. The species is extremely cryptic in nature, making it likely that is exists in other areas and has not been discovered. For these reasons, Siti-Munirah et al. recommend that the species be classified as Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. 

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Haliaeetus leucogaster: Observation of a novel hunting method being used by the White-bellied Sea-eagle to target Flying Foxes.

Birds of Prey, Accipitriformes and Falconiformes, also commonly known as Raptors, are known diurnal predators of Bats, Chiroptera. Some of the most frequent predation records by Raptors on Bats involve Fruit Bats, Pteropodidae, of the genus Pteropus, possibly owing to their relatively frequent diurnal activity and in aggregated open roosting places of these Bats. Indeed, predation attempts on Flying Foxes, Pteropus spp. by large Raptors, including the White-bellied Sea-eagle, Haliaeetus leucogaster, have been previously reported in the scientific literature. Risk of predation by diurnal Raptors is an important factor influencing the timing of evening emergence of Flying Foxes from day roosts. More detailed and longterm observations, however, appear to be scanty, and this type of predator-prey interaction is still poorly understood. Also, all such observations of attacks by diurnal Raptors on Flying Foxes have only been reported from Australia and the Pacific, with no records for Southeast Asia.

In a paper published in the Journal of Bat Research & Conservation on 20 February 2020, Sheema Abdul Aziz of Rimba Research, Marcus Chua of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum of the National University of Singapore, and the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, and Gopalasamy Reuben Clements, also of Rimba Research and the Department of Biological Sciences and Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University, report an opportunistic observation from Peninsular Malaysia on 28 September 2017, during which they observed a pair of White-bellied Sea-eagles employing a novel hunting technique to predate on the Island Flying Fox, Pteropus hypomelanus, on Tioman Island, off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, in the South China Sea.

The Island Flying Fox is found on islands of South and Southeast Asia ranging from the Maldives, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Philippines, Melanesia, Sulawesi, Papua New Guinea, and islands off the Malay Peninsula and Sundaland. It is listed as a species of Least Concern on the  International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, with a decreasing population trend. n Peninsular Malaysia, where this observation was recorded, the species is listed as Endangered and Protected.

The predation attempt occurred around 11.50 am local time, when a single Sea-eagle snatched a Flying Fox directly from its roost tree by the beach. The site was a known roost of the species on the western coast of the island, where the Bats roost on several coastal tree species next to the beach. Although the catch event was outside of their line of sight, Abdul Aziz et al. heard a cacophony of vocalisations (probably from the Flying Fox colony), and later observed the Sea-eagle Flying out to sea clutching a struggling Flying Fox in its talons. Once the Sea-eagle was about 100 m out from the shore, it dropped the Flying Fox into the sea while another Sea-eagle flew in circles a short distance away. 

A White-bellied Sea-eagle holding an Island Flying Fox in its talons over the sea while another Eeagle flew a short distance away. Abdul Aziz et al. (2020).

After the Flying Fox was dropped into the sea, Abdul Aziz et al. observed that instead of drowning, it was able to swim at the surface using synchronised forearm strokes back towards the beach. Although there is no known record of the swimming ability of this species in the scientific literature, Flying Foxes are known to swim in a manner similar to other swimming Bats. The pair of Sea-eagles then flew back to land, and perched in a tree by the beach. They were clearly observing the Flying Fox as it swam.

An Island Flying Fox, struggling to get ashore after being dunked in the sea by a White-bellied Sea-eagle. Abdul Aziz et al. (2020).

The Flying Fox took 20 mins to swim close to shore through the waves; however, at this point it was snatched again by one of the Sea-eagles, which proceeded to fly a little further out to sea and repeated the action of dropping the Flying Fox into the water. The Flying Fox then swam back again and started crawling up the beach. The movement of the Bat on land was slow and laboured, and its left patagium (wing membrane) was punctured. At this point Abdul Aziz et al. were forced to cut their observations short as they had to move to another site, and left their observation spot near the beach. It was thus unclear whether the Sea-eagles repeated this treatment, and if so, how many times further.

An Island Flying Fox, struggling to get ashore after being dunked in the sea by a White-bellied Sea-eagle for a second time. Abdul Aziz et al. (2020).

Informal enquiries with nearby residents on the island who were present during the observation confirmed that such predation attempts involving this sequence of events happened quite frequently at this particular roost, and appeared to be common at this location. Although the main food of the White-bellied Sea-eagle includes Fish and Sea Snakes in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, these Birds also feed on Crustaceans, Birds, Reptiles, and Mammals, including Pteropus Bats. The success rate of this predation technique is unknown. Although Abdul Aziz et al. cannot tell whether the Sea-eagles were taking turns, it is possible that they may have been hunting as a pair using the sea to tire out, or potentially drown, a large prey animal with the strength and ability to fight back, and potentially even making use of the Bats’ swimming ability to achieve this. White-bellied Sea-eagles are known to exhibit cooperative hunting behaviour. The closely-related Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, has also been recorded hunting in numbers to tire or weaken Ducks in the water, or taking turns to haul heavy prey.

The Island Flying Fox on the surface of the water (red arrow) after it was dropped by the Sea-eagle holding it. Abdul Aziz et al. (2020).

Such intriguing predation behaviour by Sea-eagles on Flying Foxes appears to be a novel scientific record that has never before been reported in the literature. White-bellied Sea-eagles generally forage by quartering, high soaring, or still hunting from a perch, and then attacking in a glide or dive to snatch prey from ground, trees, or water surface. A literature search using Web of Science and Google Scholar returned no notes on the hunting behaviour that we observed. Furthermore, there are no records of White-bellied Sea-eagles feeding or hunting on land in the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Although this particular Flying Fox colony has since moved to a different roost location, as of early 2019, it is worthvconducting more systematic observations to determine whether this predator-prey interaction is still occurring there and elsewhere, and to attempt to better understand it to determine its impact on the Bat population.

Island flying fox swimming towards the beach. Abdul Azis et al. (2020).

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Pahangone mirabilis: A new species of Dwarf Spider from Pahang State, Peninsula Malaysia.

Dwarf Spiders, Erigoninae, are one of the largest Spider groups, with over 2000 described species. As their name suggests, they tend to be very small, often less than a millimetre in length, and never longer than six, and are typically found in soil or leaf litter, where they produce sheat webs in which to catch their prey. The group are at their most diverse in cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with over 300 species in northern Europe and over 650 from North America, but are much less common in the Southern Hemisphere, being completely absent from Australia and New Zealand. The group is less studied in Southeast Asia, but the local fauna appears to be quite distinct from that of more northerly parts of Eurasia.

In a paper published in the journal Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on 23 July 2018, Andrei Tanasevitch of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, describes a new species of Dwarf Spider from Pahang State in Malaysia.

The new species is named Pahangone mirabilis, where 'Pahangone' derives from 'Pahang', where the species was discovered and 'Erigone' the genus which gives its name to the Erigoninae, and 'mirabilis' means 'amazing'. The species is described from two specimens, one male and one female, both collected from Frazer’s Hill in Pehang State. The male is 2.25 mm in length and pale brown in colour, with enlarged eyes, the female 2.30 mm long, and pale brown with yellow legs.

 Pahangone mirabilis, male specimen in dorsal view. Tanasevitch (2018).

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Vatica najibiana: A new species of Dipterocarp from Peninsula Malaysia.

Dipterocarps are tropical forest trees in the Mallow Family, Malvales, found predominantly in Southeast Asia, where they often form the dominant part of the flora, as well as in South Asia and Africa, and, to a lesser extent South America. The name Diptrerocarp means 'winged fruit', the distinguishing feature of these trees, nuts with distinctive 'wings' which enable them to glide long distances after being shed, aiding distribution of the trees, Members of the genus Vatica are small-to-medium sized trees with smooth bark and leaves found in Southeast Asia.

In a paper published in the journal PhytoKeys on 10 May 2018, Abdul Rahman Ummul-Nazrah, Mohd Amin Mohd Hairul, Imin Kamin, Ruth Kiew and Poh Teck Ong of the Forest Research Institute Malaysia, describe a new species of Vatica from Kelantan and Pahang states in Peninsula Malaysia.

The new species is named Vatica najibiana, in honour of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, for his interest in nature conservation and protection of the environment. It is a small tree, reaching 5-7 m in height, with a bole width of 15-17 cm. The trunk is a smooth dark brown with faint horizontal bands, and large patches of white Lichen. The leaves are elliptical to lance shaped, and the nuts 7-10 mm in diameter.

Vatica najibiana. (A) Plant in its natural habitat. (B) Bole. (C) Inner bark. (D)–(E) Leafy shoots with infructescences (F) Fruit. Imin Kamin & Abdul Rahman Ummul-Nazrah in Ummul-Nazrah et al. (2018).

Vatica najibiana was found at only two locations, one in the Relai Forest Reserve in Gua Musang District, Kelantan State, and one near Merapoh in Gua Tanggang District, Pahang State, both on the summit of isolated karst limestone hills, and about 40 km apart. The total known habitat of the trees covers less than 10 km², with the Gua Tanggang location having no protection, and the Relai Forest Reserve location, while in theory protected, is considered to be threatened by encroachment by oil palm plantations, which are often expanded by burning other vegetation. For this reason the species is considered to be Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

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Family forced to evacuate home after landslide in Pahang State, Malaysia.

A family of five has been forced to evacuate their home after a landslide in the town of Mentakab in the Temerloh District of Pahang State in Peninsula Malaysia on Sunday 29 October 2017. The incident happened at about 4.00 pm local time, on the road downslope of the property, but has apparently partially undermined the building. The family has been ordered to leave by local authorities in case of further land slippage.

Property in Temerloh District, Pahang, partially undermined by a landslip on 29 October 2017. Pahang Civil Defence Force.

he cause of the event is as yet unclear, but Peninsula Malaysia has been suffering an exceptionally wet rainy season, with numerous floods and related occurrences. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Malaysia has become increasingly landslip-prone in recent years due to extensive deforestation, which leaves soil exposed to heavy tropical rainfall. Concerns have also been raised about the large number of construction sites on steep hillslopes in urban areas, where workers are particularly vulnerable to landslip events during the rainy season.

Pahang has a wet tropical climate with rain averaging over 200 mm per month, but has distinct wetter and dryer periods within this. October and November are typically the months with the highest rainfall,  usually over 390 mm in each month, associated with monsoon winds from the South China Sea.

Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate.

 Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. Geosciences/University of Arizona.

Southeast Asia has two distinct Monsoon Seasons, with a Northeast Monsoon driven by winds from  the South China Sea during the Southern Hemisphere Summer and a Southwest Monsoon driven by winds from the southern Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere Summer. Such a double Monsoon Season is common close to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest.

The winds that drive the Northeast and Southwest Monsoons in Southeast Asia. Mynewshub.

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Pyrophleps ellawi: A new species of Clearwing Moth from Peninsula Malaysia.

Clearwing Moths, Sensiidae, are found across much of the globe, being particularly numerous in the tropics. They lack the wing scales typical of Lepidopterans (Butterflies and Moths), instead having clear wings, combined with body-shapes and colouration resembling that of Wasps or Hornets. This is considered to be an example of Batesian Mimicry (a harmless organism evolving to resemble a harmful one) which enables the Moths to be active during daylight hours without suffering heavy predation. The larvae of Clear-winged Moths bore into wood or plant roots, with some species being considered agricultural pests.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 21 August 2017, Marta Agnieszka Skowron Volponi of the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Gdansk and Paolo Volponi of the ClearWing Foundation for Biodiversity, describe a new species of Clearwing Moth from Pahang State in Peninsular Malaysia. 

The new species is placed in the genus Pyrophleps, and given the specific name ellawi, n honour of El Law, a dedicated Malaysian Conservation activist, for his assistance with work in Malaysia. These Moths range from 9.5 to 12 mm, and are black in colour with some orange and white markings, and a silvery or bluish sheen.

Pyrophleps ellawi has a strong blue sheen in sunlight. Representatives of this species vary in the number of orange scales on the thorax. The scales form two longitudinal stripes, either dashed or solid. Skowron Volponi & Volponi (2017).

The Moths were found along sand and pebble river banks in tropical forests, close to the town of Merapoh, and in the Taman Negara National Park. They were closely associated with the Potter Moth Coeleumenes burmanicus, the two species being hard to tell apart on the ground and impossible in the air. The Moths even engaged in mud-dabbling, a behaviour associated with gathering mud to make pots by Potter Wasps (Potter Wasps are parasitiods, and seal a host animal, usually a Spider, infected with a larva, inside a pot to be consumed).

Pyrophleps ellawi puddling on a river bank. Note the curled-up hind leg tarsi. Skowron Volponi & Volponi (2017).

Skowron Volponi and Volponi note that while Clearwing Moths are known to be mimics of Wasps, most species are known only from morphological descriptions, and pinned specimens preserved in an unnatural position, with the effect that the full extent of their mimicry, which includes adopting the posture and behaviour of the mimicked species. To this end they have produced a video of the Moth in the wild which can be seen here.

Male specimen of Pyrophleps ellawi. Pinned for museum preservation, which enables inspection of the anatomy of delicate specimens, but does not preserve the posture of the living animal. Skowron Volponi & Volponi (2017).

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