Hanoi (VNA) ๊– The discovery of six new plant and insect species in the country was announced in May, according to the Vietnam National Museum of Nature (VNMN).

A study conducted by VNMN, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) Institute of Biology, the Da Lat University, and China’s Hua Nan Botanical Garden has found new plant species, Stephania polygona N.H. Xia & V.T. Chinh, sp. nov., based on plant specimens recently collected in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. This species is similar to S. subpeltata and S. elegans in general appearance but differs by its polygonous lobed leaf blade, which has five to eight veins, sepals, and sepals. Stephania Loureiro (598:1790) is the largest genus in the Menispermaceae family, with 60 species in the world. The genus mainly occurs in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and Africa with the centre of diversity in southern China and Vietnam (Luo et al. 2008; Nguyen 2003). Thirteen species of Stephania have been recorded from Vietnam (Nguyen 2003). They are widely used in traditional medicine (Do 2004). In 2016, S. subpeltata Lo (22: 1978) was reported as a newly recorded species for the flora of Vietnam. In the course of carrying out a revision of Stephania in Vietnam, fourteen species were recognised. However, it is fairly difficult to identify species of Stephania, as knowledge of these species is still very poor in Vietnam, particularly because they bear dioecious inflorescences and the distinctively sculptured endocarps. Seen only in ripe fruits, they provide some of the best diagnostic characters. Two other species that belong to the genus Begonia in the family Begoniaceae have also been discovered. The two new cane-like species, Begonia bachmaensis and Begonia saolaensis, are from central Vietnam. Begonia bachmaensis is similar to B. boisiana and does not fit within any of the current sections. Begonia saolaensis is similar to B. rubrosetosa and is assigned to Begonia sect. Petermannia. Begonia bachmaensis is classified as Data Deficient and Begonia saolaensis is assigned in the Endangered category according to IUCN criteria. This study was conducted by the VNMN, the VAST, China’s Kunming Institute of Botany, the Mien Trung (Central Region) Institute for Scientific Research, and the Thu Dau Mot Centre for Scientific Research and Practice. Meanwhile, entomologists from the VNMN and Japan in coordination with experts from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences recently unveiled their finding of new insects in Vietnam.

🍌Scientists from the VNMN and their Japanese colleagues discovered a new Rhyparus species, the second of its kind found in the country, and named it Rhyparus vietnamicus Ochi, Kusui, Pham, 2018. It belongs to the genus Rhyparus, tribe Rhyparini, subfamily Aphodiinae, family Scarabaeidae, and order Coleoptera.

Specimens of the insect were collected in the northern province of Lao Cai, with a body length ranging from 7.7 to 7.9 mm. With the discovery of Rhyparus vietnamicus Ochi, Kusui, Pham, 2018, the number of Rhyparus species in Vietnam is now two. Scientists from the VNMN and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences described two new species of the planthopper genus Sogana Matsumura, 1914. The two are Sogana bachmana Constant & Pham, 2019, found in Bach Ma National Park in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, and Sogana baviana Constant & Pham, 2019, found in Hanoi’s Ba Vi National Park. The body length of the male specimen of the former is 29 mm, while that of the latter is 23.5 mm. There are currently 13 species of the Sonaga genus in the world, five of which are in Vietnam./.