SOUTH CHINA SURVEY: EARLY FINDINGS
Between March and May 1997 preliminary faunal surveys were conducted at a number of forest nature reserves in southern Guangdong and Guangxi. The surveys, commissioned by Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden (KFBG) as part of its growing involvement with nature conservation in China, were led by Porcupine! editors John Fellowes and Billy Hau, and conducted with the kind assistance of . Guangdong and Guangxi Forestry Departments and the South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou. Some of the initial findings are given below; more detailed results and their conservation implications will be included in a special KFBG report to be completed later this summer.
Occurrence of Hong Kong Cascade Frog (Amolops hongkongensis) in Guangdong Province, China
Occurrence of Hong Kong Cascade Frog (Amolops hongkongensis) in Guangdong Province, China
During a series of expeditions to nature reserves in South China sponsored by Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden, John Fellowes and Billy Hau found Hong Kong Cascade Frog (Amolops hongkongensis) in Gutian Nature Reserve, southern Guangdong. This is the first definite record of the species outside Hong Kong. Hong Kong Cascade Frog has long been regarded as endemic to Hong Kong but recently Yang (1991) suggested that this species is synonymous with A. daiyunensis from Fujian. However, the two taxa differ substantially in body size (Yang, 1991) and apparently A. daiyunensis has longer legs, thus its status is still not clear.
Although Hong Kong Cascade Frog is no longer endemic to Hong Kong, it still has a very restricted distribution that only includes Hong Kong Island, the New Territories and South Guangdong, a range extent of less than 100 km. It seems likely that other Hong Kong ‘endemics’ that have a wide distribution in the New Territories, like Anderson's Stream Snake (Opisthotropis andersoni), will turn up in neighbouring coastal South China when more field work is carried out in the area. Other species that are restricted to several offshore islands, like Romer's Tree Frog (Philautus romeri) and Bogadek's Legless Lizard (Dibamus bogadeki), are probably relics and may be true endemics.
MICHAEL LAU
References
Yang, D.T., 1991. Phylogenetic systematics of the Amolops group of ranid frogs of southeastern Asia and the Greater Sunda Islands. Fieldiana: Zool. Series 63, 1-42.P.15
First record of the mayfly family Prosopistomatidae from Guangdong, China
During a recent biological survey of the nature reserves in southern China, a larval prosopistomatid was collected in an unnamed stream at Nankunshan Nature Reserve, Guangdong Province, on March 20, 1997. The stream was about 3m wide, 0. 1 to 0.2m deep, with a coarse sand and rubble substrate.
Larval prosopistomatids are amazing insects because they look like ladybird beetles, which comes as a surprise when one tries to connect them with the image of a delicate mayfly. The Prosopistomatidae is a widely distributed but little-known mayfly family confined to the Old World. This note records its first discovery in Guangdong Province and, indeed, in China apart from Hong Kong. The specimen collected appears to be the same species found in Hong Kong in Tai Po Kau and Ng Tung Chai streams (Dudgeon, 1990). It closely resembles Prosopistoma funanense from Vietnam (Soldan & Braasch, 1984) except for some deviation in the colour pattern and other subtle differences, and is hence temporarily assigned to an undescribed species.
The Prosopistomatidae comprises but a single genus, Prosopistoma Latreille, 1833. Of the 15 known species of the genus, eight occur in the Oriental Region (Peters, 1967; Soldan & Braasch, 1984). They range from Europe and Africa through the Old World tropics to the Solomons and Australia (Gillies, 1954; Peters, 1967; Pearson & Penridge, 1979; Soldan & Braasch, 1984); it is thus not surprising that a species found in Hong Kong has been found in South Guangdong. It seems likely that the range of Prosopistoma in China is wider than recorded so far, particularly in the southern provinces.
I am grateful to Prof. David Dudgeon for revising the manuscript. This survey was supported by Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden.
TONG XIAOLI
References
Dudgeon, D., 1990. Determinants of the distribution and abundance of larval Ephemeroptera (Insecta) in Hong Kong running waters. In: I.C. Campbell (ed.), Mayflies and Stoneflies: Biology and Life Histories. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrechti, 221 -232.
Gillies, M.T., 1954. Trans. R. ent. Soc. Lond. 105,355-372.
Pearson, R.G. & L.K. Penridge, 1979. J. Aust. ENT Soc. 18,362.
Peters, W.L., 1967. Tidjs. ENT 110,207-222.
Soldan, T. & D. Braasch, 1984. Acta ENT bohemoslov. 81,370-376.P.15
New species of Staphylinidae in Guangdong
A number of staphylinid beetles collected in the South China survey have been identified by Guillaume de Rougemont. Of these at least five are new to science including species of Nazeris, Tolmerinus and Tachynus from Gutian and Stenus (Parastenus) and Naddia from Dawuling. The five genera Nazeris, Tachynus, Naddia , Oxytelopsis (at Nankunshan) and Erichsonius (at Dawuling) are all new to Guangdong Province. At least three further species are new records for Guangdong, including Anotylus nitouensis (at Luofushan and Gutian), Stenaesthetus deharvengi (at Dawuling) and Paederus birmanus (at Luofushan). Other specimens belonging to the subfamily Aleocharinae have been sent to Roberto Pace in Italy for determination.
JOHN FELLOWES
P.16
New ants to China and Guangdong
Identification of ants found in the survey is still underway. So far some 30 species found at the first five reserves visited (Nankunshan, Heyuan Xingang, Luofushan, Gutian and Qimuzhang) are new to the author, and a large proportion of these are probably new to science.
Seven genera were recorded for the first time in Guangdong Province: Amblyopone at Nankunshan; Kartidris at Qimuzhang; Pentastruma at Gutian; Strumigenys at Nankunshan; Plagiolepis at Qimuzhang; Ponera at Gutian and Qimuzhang; and Pseudolasius at Gutian. In addition the following species are reported here for the first time from Guangdong: Aphaenogaster (cf. takahashii) sp. 1 at Nankunshan; Leptogenys sp. 7 (nr. chinensis) at Nankunshan; Oligomyrmex (cf. wheeleri ) sp. 1 at Gutian; Pentastruma canina at Gutian; Pheidologeton (cf. affinis) sp. 1 at Heyuan Xingang and Luofushan; Tetramorium bicarinatum at Luofushan; Tetramorium kraepelini at Nankunshan and Gutian; Tetramorium shensiense at Nankunshan; and Tetraponera binghami at Gutian.
Specimens previously found by the author at Dinghushan and Chebaling as well as Hong Kong have recently been identified by Rudolf J. Kohout as Polyrhachis tyrannica, also found at Gutian and Qimuzhang in the present survey. Similarly other specimens from Dinghushan and Hong Kong have been confirmed as P. wolfi, also found at Qimuzhang. Both are recorded here for the first time from Guangdong.
During the survey a specimen of Paratopula sp. was found, unlabelled, in the collection of Zhongshan University, Guangzhou. The specimen collected on 12th December 1964 by Qian Kewei at Fa Dee Guangzhou represents the first record of the genus in mainland China, the nearest records being from Taiwan and Bangladesh (Chapman & Capco 1951 ) and Borneo(Smith, 1857, misidentified as Cerapachys; Stitz, 1938; Bolton, 1988).
The biggest surprise of the ant survey was the fauna of Gutian Nature Reserve in Huidong County, South Guangdong. This is the nearest Chinese reserve to Hong Kong and was described as "very degraded and too small" by Mackinnon et al. (1996). who gave it the lowest priority ranking (implying removal of protected status). However, despite its proximity to Hong Kong 13 of 44 ant species found there (almost one in three) are absent in the territory, including a large number of arboreal species which have apparently been wiped out in Hong Kong and much of South China by past deforestation. The possibility is that Gutian, perhaps uniquely in South Guangdong has never been completely deforested, in which case it is likely to harbour many other rare species. Thus it is critical that Gutian is given continued, and even increased, protection as a reservoir for regionally threatened tropical forest fauna. This example serves to highlight the hazards of assessing the conservation value of a site without surveys of a variety of different types of organism.
JOHN R. FELLOWES
References
Bolton. B. 1988. A review of Paratopula Wheeler, a forgotten genus of myrmicine ants. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine124, 125-143.
Chapman, J.W. & S.P. Capco 1951. Check list of the ants(Hymenoptera: Formicidae)of Asia. Monographs of the Institute of Science & Technology (Manila) 1,1-327.
Mackinnon, J., M. Sha. C. Cheung, G. Carey, Z. Xiang & D. Melville, 1996. A Biodiversity Review of China. WWF International, Hong Kong 529pp.P.16
A total of 36 species of amphibian and 26 of reptile were found in the survey and identified, in most cases, by Michael Lau (DEB, HKU). Among the more important findings were the following. Herpetological findings
A skink Sphenomorphus sp. (not yet identified), found at Gutian and Heishiding, is new to China and possibly new to science. Three frog species, Philautus ocellatus, Amolops torrentis and Rana spinulosa , all previously considered endemic to Hainan (Zhao & Adler, 1993), were found at Gutian, Heishiding and Shiwandashan respectively.
An additional six species were new to Guangdong Province: Bufo cryptotympanicus at Nankunshan (an eastern extension of its known range); Megophrys kuatunensis at Heishiding (a southwest extension); Amolops hongkongensis at Gutian (a northern and eastern extension); Occidozyga martensii at Dawuling (an eastern extension); the newt Paramesotriton sp. (not yet identified) at Dawuling; and the lizard Platyplacopus intermedius at Dawuling (an eastern extension). New to Guangxi were Philautus gracilipes at Damingshan (an eastern extension) and Scincella modesta at Damingshan (a southwest extension). Many of these species are highly restricted in their global distributions.
JOHN FELLOWES
Reference
Zhao, E.-M. & K. Adler, 1993. Herpetology of China. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 521pp.P.17
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