A sizeable contingent from the UPLB Museum of Natural History participated during the 2016 Conference of the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines last 19-20 May 2016 at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila.

Dr. Ireneo L. Lit, Jr., curator at the Museum's Entomological Collection was the distinguished keynote speaker of the ABSP conference attended by nearly a hundred systematists and taxonomists all over the country. The ASBP was established in 1982 to promote and represent the science and practice of taxonomy, systematics and natural history in the Philippines.

Dr. Aimee Lynn B. Dupo, Curator of Geometrid Moths and Spiders at the UPLB Museum of Natural History recently reported the first occurrence of Phauda flammans Walker 1954 infesting on Ficus benjamina trees in the Philippines.

Dr. Dupo, along with University of Santo Tomas (UST) students Elliaj Kaye Capacete, Alice Geraldine Hernando, Richard Lagrimas, Jalizah Jaira Lim, Sharlaine Orense, Joan Rivera, Gerald Soliven, Michael Tabug presented the report during the recently held 2016 conference of the Association of Systematic Biologists of the Philippines last 19-20 May at UST, Manila.

In search for more efficient and effective ways of mounting very small specimens such as the scale insects, MNH curator Ireneo L. Lit, Jr. and his student Normandy M. Barbecho has been able to develop a modified dish, which they also reported as also useful for those inexperience in handling scale insects.

In the past, the two researchers themselves prepare numerous slide mounts of armored scale insect specimens for examination under a microscope, a long and tedious process. Aside from being laborious, specimen preparation uses toxic chemicals which pose harm to the researchers.

Thirty-nine participants from Angeles University Foundation, Inc., Adamson University, Divine Word College-Legazpi and Laguna State Polytechnic University were able to complete a rigorous short course on methods and analysis for biodiversity field surveys conducted by the UPLB Museum of Natural History last 23-29 April 2016.

The course is an extended introduction to the study of Philippine biodiversity with special focus on standard techniques used in field surveys. It provided in-depth lectures on the principles and related concepts of biodiversity and conservation and offered the hands-on application of field survey methods.

The UPLB Museum of Natural History recently launched a simple photo exhibit of selected Philippine native trees in celebration of Earth Day 2016 last 22 April 2016.

With the theme “Trees for the Earth,” the exhibit was inspired by the monumental publication “Shades of Majesty” that highlights 88 species of Philippine native trees most of which are listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Philippine Red Data Book. “Shades of Majesty” was authored by MNH curator Prof. Pastor L. Malabrigo, Jr.

The Museum’s refereed scientific journal Museum Publications in Natural History has just released its 2015 volume, which focused on the theme “Cave and Karst Biodiversity.”

The four regular articles and two research notes published in the issue were on bats, spiders, mites, macrofungi, cave crickets and cockroaches in cave and karst areas in Marinduque, Laguna and the Polillo Islands in Quezon. All of the articles can be freely downloaded from the journal’s site hosted by journals.uplb.edu.ph.