Chinese rain bell (Strobilanthes hamiltoniana)

Chinese rain bell (Strobilanthes hamiltoniana) is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae, a shrub or low tree with erect, woody and branched stems, large leaves, trumpet-shaped flowers in panicles, growing in forests, farmlands and home gardens.

S. Hamiltoniana has erect stems, cylindrical, woody, old stems have rough bark, brown with white spots, young stems are green and branching to form 3-4 new stems.

The leaves are oblong, pointed tip and serrated margin, pale green top and bottom, a large vein in the middle with many pinnate small veins and bright green or blackish in color.

Inflorescences in panicles with long, slender, branched stalks, growing at the ends of the stems and blooming alternately. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, long and slender aisles, five cones, bright red in color and the surface has many veins.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Genus: Strobilanthes
Species: Strobilanthes hamiltoniana

Kakizoe darkling beetle (Microblattellus kakizoei) is the second species after Microblattellus lecongmani Ferrer 2006

NEWS - Kakizoe darkling beetle ( Microblattellus kakizoei sp. nov) collected from a mushroom-growing termite nest of Macrotermes gilvus (Hagen, 1858) in Cambodia was established as the second species in the enigmatic tenebrionid genus Microblattellus Ferrer 2006. Microblattellus was established by Ferrer in 2006 as consisting of a single morphologically peculiar species represented by Microblattellus lecongmani Ferrer 2006 from Vietnam. The genus is characterized by a very distinctive pronotum shape, in which the head is completely hidden beneath the anterior margin, and the absence of eyes. M. kakizoei is easily distinguished from M. lecongmani by its more elongate and less robust body, looser antennal segments, distinct and transverse scutellum, rather than the reduced and absent one in the latter, distinctly formed humeral angles of the elytra, finely arranged and irregular strial punctures on the elytra, and less prominent body surface. The holotype is taken from the fungus Ma...

Mexican ruellia (Ruellia simplex)

Mexican ruellia ( Ruellia simplex ) is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae, an evergreen perennial, 1 meter tall, forming a colony of stalks with lance-shaped leaves. The leaves are narrowly elongated, 6-30 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, a main vein in the middle with many small pinnate veins. The flowers are metallic blue to purple, trumpet-shaped with a corolla 5.1 cm wide, 6 cm long, five-lobed. There is a dwarf variety that is only 30 cm tall. This plant is used to treat itching, coughs and diabetes. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Acanthaceae Subfamily: Acanthoideae Tribe: Ruellieae Subtribe: Ruelliinae Genus: Ruellia Species: Ruellia simplex

Three new species of Huntsman spider (Pseudopoda Jäger 2000) from Qizimeishan National Nature Reserve

NEWS - A spider survey in Qizimeishan National Nature Reserve in Xuan’en County, southwest Hubei Province, adjacent to the northeastern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, discovered three new species: arc huntsman spider ( Pseudopoda arcuata ♀), Qizimeishan huntsman spider ( Pseudopoda qizimeishanensis ♂ ♀) and Mian Wei huntsman spider ( Pseudopoda weimiani ♂ ♀). The reserve covers a total area of 345.5 km2 and the highest peak is about 2010 meters. It mainly protects the central subtropical mountain evergreen broadleaf forest and subalpine sphagnum swamp wetland area. The reserve is rich in wildlife resources and has been listed as a key biodiversity area in the China Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan. Pseudopoda Jäger 2000 is the largest genus of the Sparassidae Bertkau 1872 with 256 species. Currently, 155 species of Pseudopoda are known in China. This genus is a small to large spider that lives mainly in leaf litter and less frequently in plants. P. arcuata derives its spe...

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