Platythyrea janyai: A new species of Ant from southern Thailand and western Malaysia.

The genus Platythyrea currently contains 38 species of large stinging Ants from tropical regions of the Americas, Australia, Africa and East Asia, which nest in cavities in live or dead trees (or in the case of some African species, Termite mounds). In all species in this genus in which reproduction has been studied, the workers are able to reproduce parthogenically (i.e. workers can lay eggs which produce clones of themselves), with some species also producing sexual queens and males.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 16 January 2018, Natthaporn Phengsi of the Department of Biology at Burapha University, Weeyawat Jaitrong of the Natural History Museum in Khlong Luang, Jiraporn Ruangsittichai of the Department of Medical Entomology at Mahidol University, and Salinee Khachonpisitsak, also of the Department of Biology at Burapha University, describe a new species of Platythyrea from southern Thailand and western Malaysia.

The new species is named Platythyrea janyai, in honour of Janya Jareanrattawong of the Royal Forest Department of Thailand, for his help with collecting the specimens from which the species is described. The specie is described from four workers collected from dead wood on the forest floor in lowland rainforest in the Khao Pu Khao Ya National Park in Phatthalung Province in southern Thailand; the species was also observed in the Khao Chong Botanical Garden in Trang Province, also southern Thailand, and in the Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve in Selangor State, Malaysia. The described specimens are between 6.63 and 6.96 mm in length, and are dark brown in colour, with reddish and yellowish markings.

Platythyrea janyai, worker. (A) Body in profile view. (B) Head in full-face view. (C) Body in dorsal view. Phengsi et al. (2018).

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A new species of Rotifer from Thailand.

Rotifers, or Wheel Animals, are a group of microscopic or near microscopic animals (50 μm-2 mm in length) found in non-marine (and, rarely, marine) waters around the world. Rotifers are bilaterally symmetrical, with worm- or box-shaped bodies and a distinctive feeding apparatus with a funnel-like mouth surrounded by tufts of cilia, which rotate rapidly, creating a current that sucks food into the mouth. Many Rotifers are planktic, forming an important part of the freshwater plankton, while others attach themselves to a substrate. A few species are colonial, and one group, the Bdelliods, have apparently been reproducing entirely asexually for millions of years.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 4 July 2013, Phuripong Meksuwan of the Plankton Research Unit at the Department of Biology at Prince of Songkla University and Pornsilp Pholpunthin and Hendrik Segers of the Freshwater Laboratory at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, describe a new species of Rotifer from Thale Noi Lake in Phatthalung Province, Thailand, discovered during a review of freshwater Rotifers from Thailand.

The new species is placed in the genus Collotheca, and given the specific name orchidacea, in reference to its Orchid-like appearance. Collotheca orchidacea is described from a three specimens, all female. It is a 340 μm long attached Rotifer with a funnel-shaped mouth surrounded by five cilia-bearing lobes and a short foot, found living on the bladder traps of Pipeworts (carnivorous plants).

Collotheca orchidacea, line drawings in (E) frontal and (F) dorsal views. Scale bars are 100 μm. Meksuwan et al. (2013).

The approximate location of Thale Noi Lake in Phatthalung Province, the only location from which Collotheca orchidacea is known. Google Maps.

See also Fossil Tapeworm eggs from the Permian, Two new species of terrestrial Flatworm from Brazil and Blue Flatworms invade Menorca.

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