Sciency Thoughts: Kampot Province

Monday, 17 December 2018

Circulocryptus kompantsevi & Carinocryptus semenyukae: Two new species of Cryptodesmid Millipedes from Southeast Asia.

Millipedes, Diplopoda, are highly successful soil dwelling Arthropods found in soil in all temperate and tropical regions. Flat-backed Millipedes, Polydesmida, are predominantly leaf-litter dwelling Millipedes noted for the prominent keels on the sides of their segments, which gives them a wide, flat appearance, and the ability to produce the toxin hydrogen cyanide as a defence. The Polydesmid Family Cryptodesmidae currently comprises 35 species, grouped into 13 genera, scattered across tropical and subtropical Asia.

In a paper published in the journal Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on 26 June 2018, Sergei Golovatch of the Institute for Problems of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, describes two new species of Cryptodesmid Millipedes from Southeast Asia.

The first new species is placed in the genus Circulocryptus, which currently contains two species from Vietnam and Java, and given the specific name kompantsevi, in honour of Aleksandr Kompantsev, who collected the specimen from which the species is described, a male found inside a rotting Fungus in the Phnom Pokor National Park in the Elephant Mountains of Kampot Province, Cambodia. This specimen is 16 mm in length, with 20 segments and is a light pink colour with yellowish white legs.

Circulocryptus kompantsevi. (A) Lateral view; (B) dorsal view; (C) anteroventral view; (D) posteroventral view. Pictures not to scale. Golovatch (2018).

The second new species is placed in a new genus, named Carinocryptus, in reference to a prominent mid-dorsal ridge (carina) seen in the species, and given the specific name semenyukae, in honour of Irina Semenyuk, who collected the specimens from which the species is described, 2 males, three females and two juveniles found in a stream valley within a mixed tropical forest in the Kon Ka Kinh National Park of Gia Lai Province, Vietnam. These Millipedes range from 9.0 to 9.5 mm in length (adults), have 20 segments and are a creamy brown in colour.

Carinocryptus semenyukae, male. (A) lateral view; (B) dorsal view; (C) anteroventral view; (D) posteroventral view. Pictures not to scale. Golovatch (2018).

Impatiens bokorensis: A new species of Balsam from Phnum Bokor National Park, Cambodia.

Balsams of the genus Impatiens are found across the northern Hemisphere and tropical regions. They are annual or perennial herbaceous plants or small shrubs, distinguished by their seed capsules, which explode when touched, and can scatter seeds over several meters. Due to this habit some Balsams have become highly invasive plants, rapidly coming to dominate ecosystems where they have no natural predators or pathogens.

In a paper published in the journal PhytoKeys on 7 February 2017, Seong-Hyun Cho of the International Biological Material Research Center at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Bo-Yun Kim and Han-Sol Park of the Department of Life Science at Hallym University, Chhang Phourin of the Forestry Administration of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Young-Dong Kim, also of the Department of Life Science at Hallym University, describe a new species of Balsam from Phnum Bokor National Park, in Kampot Province, Cambodia.

The new species is named Impatiens bokorensis, where 'bokorensis' means 'from Bokon'. It is an annual herb reaching about 40 cm in height, which were found growing on sandstone tables in an evergreen tropical forest at about 1050 m above sealevel. The plants flowered in August and bore fruit in November.