The UPLB Museum of Natural History (MNH) marked its 45th founding anniversary on September 30 with a special webinar series and launching of digital projects, in line with their theme “Museums in the New Normal: Their Role in Education, Research, and Extension”.

In her opening message, MNH Director Marian P. De Leon recalled the humble beginnings of the museum that she fondly referred to as "our second home." She also emphasized the role that MNH plays in the university’s threefold function of instruction, research, and extension.

UPLB Chancellor Jose V. Camacho, Jr. also joined the museum’s celebration. In his message, he recognized the continuous transition of museums to the new normal, emphasizing that these places should strive to be “accessible and relevant” to all.

Chancellor Camacho noted some of the good that has come out of this global pandemic, including “finding ways to make available technology work better for our needs,” a sentiment that will later be echoed by the speakers.

Interested in spiders, moths and butterflies? Looking for materials which can help you identify some of them in the field? We have some new publications for sale just for you!

The new book, "Philippine spiders, orb-weavers of the Family Araneidae" is available for PhP 500.00. Check this post -- New book, a checklist of Philippine orb-weaver spider, is out -- for more details on this book.

Also, for PhP 50.00 each, we have printed field guides on Butterflies of "Mt. Makiling", "Moths of Mt. Makiling," and "Spiders of Mt. Makiling." Each contains photos of more than 20 species of from each insect order which have been observed in Mt. Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna.

We have two different systems for ordering online, one for those outside Laguna who want their items to be shipped to them, and another for those residing in Laguna and willing to pick the items up after confirmation of payment.

Five more representatives from disaster risk reduction management-related organizations delivered separate talks during the afternoon session of the UPLB Museum of Natural History’s webinar “Future-proofing Museums: Protecting the Heritage of Natural History and Cultural Collection from Disasters and Other Risks”

The webinar, held on 30 July 2021 via online video conference was co-sponsored by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the Escuela Taller de Filipinas Foundation, Inc. It emphasized the importance of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) among museums in the Philippines in observance of the National Disaster Resilience Month.

The first speaker, Dr. Ma. Mylene M. Villegas, Chief of the DOST-PHIVOLCS Geologic Disaster Awareness and Preparedness Division was able to present “Disaster Resiliency through Understanding Geologic Hazards” through a video recording.

As the National Disaster Resiliency Month drew to a close on 30 July 2021, close to 100 people representing about 60 museums and collections, museum foundations, and disaster-risk reduction coordinating organizations converged together in an online webinar-workshop hosted by the UPLB Museum of Natural History.

Co-sponsored by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the Escuela Taller de Filipinas Foundation, Inc., the whole day webinar emphasized the importance of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) among museums in the Philippines.

In his welcome remarks, UPLB Chancellor Jose V. Camacho expressed that the learning event is both responsive and refreshing.

“As we are all aware, various risks and disasters about in our archipelago, especially now that we have entered the rainy typhoon season, hence we should all be prepared to respond to the dangers to precious museum collections.”

Cristian Lucañas, research associate at the UPLB Museum of Natural History, has just recently published in the Journal of Natural History (https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1928317) a new genus of cockroach, Bundoksia, along with a new species under it. The new genus, according to Lucanas, is placed in the Family Blattidae, but due to conflicting characters, weren't classified to any subfamily.

The new genus Bundoksia, according to Lucañas, is actually a result of a taxonomic resolution of a species which has been described more than a century ago.

"In 1910, British entomologist Robert Walter Campbell Shelford described a species of cockroach from the Philippines based on a single female specimen and named it Blatta rufocercata," he recounted.

"No additional specimens were collected after that and its name remained unchanged until Kārlis Princis, a Latvian-Swedish entomologist, transferred B. rufocercata to a mostly African genus, Cartoblatta, based on the shortened wings of the female," Lucañas explained.

In a new article published in Check List (https://doi.org/10.15560/17.3.917), museum researchers co-wrote a new record of the presence of Hoya sipitangensis in the Philippines, specifically, Palawan Island. The team included UPLB assistant professor Marjorie D. delos Angeles and MNH research associate Cristian C. Lucañas and curator Prof. Annalee S. Hadsall.

According Hadsall, H. sipitangensis was only previously reported from where they were originally found - Sipitang, Sabah, Borneo; and Seria, Belait, Brunei.

“In Borneo, it was discovered in 2002 and named as H. sipitangensis; while in Brunei, it was first named as H. yapianum in 2010” she clarified. In 2016, however, H. yapianum was synonymized to H. sipitangensis on the basis that “the differences are part of the natural variation of the latter.”

“While on fieldwork in Palawan, we saw H. sipitangensis among branches of trees which formed dense canopies,” Prof. Marjorie D. delos Angeles, a botanist from the UPLB Institute of Biological Sciences and lead author of the new record said.