First Report of Phytoplasma (16SrI) Associated with Yellow Decline Disease of Royal Palms [Roystonea regia (Kunth) O. F. Cook] in Malaysia

Royal Palms (Roystonea regia) with symptoms such as severe chlorosis, stunting, collapse of older fronds and general decline were observed in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with phytoplasma universal primer pair P1/P7 followed by R16F2N/R16R2 and fU5/rU3 as nested PCR primer pairs, all symptomatic plants tested positively for phytoplasma. Results of phylogenetic and virtual RFLP analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the phytoplasma associated with Royal Palm yellow decline (RYD) was an isolate of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris’ belonging to a new 16SrI‐subgroup. These results show that Roystonea regia is a new host for the aster yellows phytoplasma (16SrI). This is the first report on the presence of 16SrI phytoplasma on Royal Palm trees in Malaysia.     

Sea cucumbers of the genus Stichopus Brandt, 1835 (Holothuroidea,Stichopodidae) in Straits of Malacca with description of a new species

Five sea cucumber species including one new species of the genus Stichopus are reported from the shallow coral reefs of Straits of Malacca. The new species Stichopus fusiformiossa has unusual fusiform spicules in the tentacles, which are not found in the other species of the genus. Pseudo-tables and large perforated plates are newly recorded for Stichopus hermanni Semper, 1868 and Stichopus vastus Sluiter, 1887, respectively.     

沙巴奇花—肯氏大花草

马来西亚沙巴因为东南亚最高的山--基纳巴卢山(Mt. Kinabalu,海拔4095 m,在当地被称为神山)而闻名于世。但沙巴也是全世界生物多样性最为丰富的地区之一,仅兰花的种类就多达1500种以上。在这里生长的大花草也吸引大量的游客,当地土著人每发现一处有大花草开花的地方都会围起来,派专人管理,并向游客收取门票。     

Problems in the harvest of edible birds' nests in Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Due to the value of their nests, there is great pressure on the populations of black-nest swiftlets (Collocalia maximus) and white-nest swiftlets (Collocalia fuciphagus) in the Malaysian provinces of Sarawak and Sabah. The problems are particularly acute at Gunung Mulu National Park, in spite of a complete ban on collection there, and at Niah National Park, where every participant in a complex collection and trading system has an incentive to take more nests than permitted. More successful harvest systems function in Sabah's Gomantong and Madai Caves. Recommendations for improved management of the nest harvest include addressing corruption, ensuring that local people with traditional rights to collect nests do not lose income to illegal immigrant labor and to traders, improving research and education about the swiftlets' behavior and ecology, and moving value-added processing of the nests closer to the caves where they originate and to the people who collect them.     

Management framework for sustainable development indicators in the State of Selangor, Malaysia

The perception that better information on environment and development is the determinant of effective rational decision- and policy-making processes provide the impetus for global interest in the use of sustainable development indicators (SDIs). Accordingly, proposals for SDIs are framed either on organisational goals or on disciplinary and multidisciplinary theories—aiming to reduce uncertainties in choosing the best alternative among a set of options concerning sustainability. Despite the fact that many SDI initiatives are explicitly aimed at improving policy-making, it is not apparent that political settings and organisational realities are taken into consideration in designing the framework for sustainability assessment. Ignoring the realities of policy-making dynamics can result in poor institutionalisation of the SDI development process, and therefore reduced impact of indicators. Linkage of SDIs to policy processes must also take into account the complex role of information in policy processes. The importance of societal values, cultural contexts and behaviour of bureaucracies must be understood and used to assist the assessment of progress towards sustainability using SDIs. Essentially, objective knowledge must be tampered with pragmatism in governance. This paper highlights the case of SDI development in the state of Selangor where the notion of instrumental rationality is balanced with the ‘incrementalism’ of the policy process that provided the foundation for institutionalising the reporting and use of SDIs. The ideals and paradoxes of participatory decision-making, the principles of the rational model and decision-making processes within a state government are critically examined.     

Siamspinops, a new selenopid spider genus from Southeast Asia (Arachnida, Araneae)

Examination of a collection of selenopid spiders from Southeast Asia resulted in recognition of a new genus, Siamspinops gen. nov., which is erected to accommodate four new Southeast Asian species. Siamspinops spinosissimus sp. nov. (the type species; the male and female are described), S. spinosus sp. nov. (female) and S. allospinosus sp. nov. (female) are recorded from Thailand, S. spinescens sp. nov. (female) from the Malay Peninsula.     

Organochlorines and organophosphates susceptibility of Aedes albopictus Skuse larvae from agricultural and non-agricultural localities in Peninsular Malaysia

Aedes albopictus larvae obtained from different types of agricultural and non-agricultural localities in Peninsular Malaysia were subjected to several larvicides at World Health Organization (WHO) recommended dosages. Upon 24 h of WHO larval bioassay using two organochlorines and six organophosphates, high resistance against dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), temephos, chlorpyrifos and bromophos were demonstrated among all larval populations. Aedes albopictus larvae from both paddy growing areas (92.33% mortality) and rubber estates (97.00% mortality) were moderately resistant to dieldrin while only Ae. albopictus larvae from dengue prone residential areas (89.00% mortality) showed high resistance against dieldrin. All Ae. albopictus larval populations also developed either incipient or high resistance to both malathion (33.67%–95.33% mortality) and fenitrothion (73.00%–92.67% mortality). Only Ae. albopictus larvae from fogging-free residential areas that were tolerant to fenthion (97.33% mortality), whereas Ae. albopictus larvae from dengue prone residential areas were highly resistant to the same organophosphate (88.33% mortality). Cross resistance between intraclass and interclass larvicides of organochlorines and organophosphates were also exhibited in this study. The present study provided baseline data on various susceptibility levels of Ae. albopictus larval populations from different types of agricultural and non-agricultural localities against organochlorines and organophosphates at WHO recommended dosages. Nevertheless, further susceptibility investigations are suggested using revised doses of larvicides established from the local reference strain of Ae. albopictus to prevent the underestimation or overestimation of insecticide resistance level among Ae. albopictus field strains of larvae.     

Occurrence of oriental flies associated with indoor and outdoor human remains in the tropical climate of north Malaysia

Flies attracted to human remains during death investigations were surveyed in north Peninsular Malaysia. Six families, eight genera, and 16 species were identified from human remains, with the greatest fly diversity occurring on remains recovered indoors. The total relative frequency of species was led by Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius, 1794) (46%), followed by Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart, 1842) (22%), Sarcophaga (Liopygia) ruficornis (Fabricius, 1974) (5%), Sarcophaga spp. (4%), Synthesiomyia nudiseta Wulp, 1883 (6%), Megaselia spp. (3%), Megaselia scalaris (Loew, 1866), (2%), Megaselia spiracularis Schmitz, 1938 (2%), and Chrysomya villeneuvi Patton, 1922 (2%). Hemipyrellia tagaliana (Bigot, 1877), Desmometopa sp., Megaselia curtineura (Brues, 1909), Hemipyrellia ligurriens Wiedemann 1830, Ophyra sp., Sarcophaga princeps Wiedemann 1830, Piophila casei (Linnaeus, 1758), and unidentified pupae each represented 1%, respectively.     

Didymocarpus geitleri,a remarkable new species ofGesneriaceae with deceptive pollen flowers

Didymocarpus geitleri spec. nov. is described from Sungai Pandan, Kuantan distr., Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. Distinctive features include: leaden-grey leaves with long, erect hairs on the upper side and whitish, campanulate flowers with a long exserted, bright yellow style. The colouring of the latter is caused by densely arranged glands. Together with two yellow blotches in front of the filament insertion, the style apparently acts as an anther (pollen) dummy.The paper and the species is dedicated to my greatly respected teacher of Systematic Botany, Prof. DrLothar Geitler, on the occasion of his 90th birthday.     

First occurrence of Cochlodinium blooms in Sabah, Malaysia

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) resulting in red discoloration of coastal waters in Sepanggar Bay, off Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia, were first observed in January 2005. The species responsible for the bloom, which was identified as Cochlodinium polykrikoides, coincided with fish mortalities in cage-cultures. Determinations of cell density between January 2005 and June 2006 showed two peaks that occurred in March–June 2005 and June 2006. Cell abundance reached a maximum value of 6 × 10⁶ cells L⁻¹ at the fish cage sampling station where the water quality was characterized by high NO₃–N and PO₄–P concentrations. These blooms persisted into August 2005, were not detected during the north–east monsoon season and occurred again in May 2006. Favorable temperature, salinity and nutrient concentrations, which were similar to those associated with other C. polykrikoides blooms in the Asia Pacific region, likely promoted the growth of this species. Identification of C. polykrikoides as the causative organism was based on light and scanning microscopy, and confirmed by partial 18S ribosomal DNA sequences of two strains isolated during the bloom event (GenBank accession numbers DQ915169 and DQ915170).