Entomologists from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), along with international orthopterists, recently wrote on the discovery of three insects new to science -- a katydid and two crickets -- from the protected areas of the UP's Land Grant in Paete, Laguna. The new species have been collected during a series of opportunistic samplings in the land grant's lowland mixed dipterocarp and secondary growth forests in April 2018, May 2019, and September 2019.

Katydids and crickets belong to the insect order Orthoptera which also includes grasshoppers, locusts, and their relatives. Some orthopterans are quite unique because they can communicate using vibrating sounds produced through friction by rubbing their legs.

To ensure continuity of public service while transitioning into the “New Normal” ushered by the CoVID-19 pandemic, the Museum will be adapting its services to reduce travel by clients to the Museum and the university.

Henceforth, the attached document “UPLB Museum of Natural History Protocol in Availing Biological Specimen Identification Services During the Community Quarantine Period” will be implemented effective 01 July 2020.

The said protocol will be in place until further notice.

Effective 08 June 2020 and until the lifting of the General Community Quarantine in the university, the Museum shall conduct in a contactless manner its Scientific Name Verification Service for UPLB thesis students, enumerated below:

1. Any student who wishes to avail of the service should email the Museum through email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
2. The museum shall reply to the student with simple instructions and a link to an online form.
3. The information received shall be processed and the signed MNH Form 5 (Scientific Name Verification) will be emailed to the requesting party as soon as possible.
4. Students who have already requested the service and their hard-copy MNH Form 5 are already available at the Director’s Office need to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request the scanning and sending of their form through email.

For strict implementation.

SUBJECT:      IMPLEMENTATION OF PROTOCOL FOR VISITORS DURING THE GENERAL COMMUNITY QUARANTINE PERIOD

Effective 08 June 2020 and until the lifting of the General Community Quarantine in UPLB, the Museum shall enforce the protocol enumerated below before any visit from person/client coming from outside the University is allowed:

1. The client shall email a letter (through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) addressed to the Director requesting for a visit and stating the purpose(s) of such visit;
2. The request shall be evaluated by the appropriate museum staff/section, concurred in by a section curator, and referred to the UPLB MNH Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC);
3. The IBC shall inform the client to accomplish a UPLB MNH CoVID-19 Risk Assessment Form for Visitors, accessible at https://form.jotform.com/201521306344038;

Today, May 18, is International Museum Day, celebrated worldwide. As our own museum is closed due to the pandemic, we wish to share to you a message from the Chair of the International Committee for University Museums and Collections of the International Council of Museums. -xoxo-

Dear friends and colleagues,

When this year started I was far from imagining that IMD 2020 would be so 'unusual'. We were planning to commemorate Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the Museum Definition was everything everyone was talking about, by now we should be preparing our Annual Conference in Sydney. It seems all part of a different time and space, a different world. Still, the commemorations of IMD 2020 will go ahead across the world as planned, of course -- mostly on digital platforms -- with a 'physical' 3-day follow up between 14-16 November to coincide with the 74th anniversary of ICOM. Read more information here.

We sat down with Dr. Aimee Lynn B. Dupo, an entomologist and first asked how spiders jump for joy. "Well, for one, spiders do not just go hopping around just for the fun of it," she smiled.

"Jumping spiders of the spider family Salticidae use their jumping ability to pounce on their prey, usually smaller insects," Dupo added. Unlike grasshoppers, salticidae do not possess special leg muscles for leaping.

"Imagine them curling up a bit, powering up and coursing their blood into their legs, increasing the pressure and then releasing it," she explained. "If I had that power and I was happy, me jumping for joy would be an interesting thing to watch!"