I was not surprised at all when I heard that a new species of cricket was named after a very good friend. The publication had good timing, released online just three days before what should have been his 28th birthday. Today, May 8 marks five months since he has passed on.

The description of James’ scaly cricket, Ornebius alvarezi sp. nov., one of two new species of common scaly crickets recently described from Siargao Island in Mindanao is both a testament and honor given to James Alvarez, a promising young wildlife biologist brimming with so much potential but whose life was probably destined to be just that — short, accomplished and well-lived.

Upon reading the description on Zootaxa (https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4590.1.7), I was immediately drawn to the photo of the holotype which Ming Kai (Tan), Jeck (Baroga-Barbecho) and Ma’m Sheng (Yap) collected in Siargao, just two months before James’ ill-fated climb of Mt. Apo in December 2018. I looked at it closely from several points of view, and concurred, yes, the new cricket does embody James.

The UPLB Museum of Natural History is saddened by the sudden passing last week of Dr. Graham Charles George Argent, Research Associate of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and a member of the International Board of Advisors of the Museum's journal, Laksambuhay.

Fondly considered as Edinburgh's "Indiana Jones" of Botany, Dr. Argent has been to the remotest and most inhospitable areas in the world in search for the rarest plants. Even in his retirement from the RGBE, Dr. Argent has worked on Ericaceae and Musaceae of Southeast Asia. He gave the keynote speech at the Flora Malesiana Symposium (Edinburgh) in 2016. In September 2017, he was one of the plenary speakers of the museum's CLADES: First Philippine Natural History Museums and Collections Summit.

A “mute” one and two “singing” are the new species of crickets just described from Siargao Island, the surfing capital of Philippines, this 2019. A result of surveys done last year in several areas of Del Carmen town of this island in Mindanao, the new crickets reinforce scientific literature that the nation is indeed one of the megadiverse countries in the world.

The three new species is a product of the close scientific collaboration between researchers of the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB), National University of Singapore, Paris-based Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and the Russian Academy of Sciences. The researchers from UPLB were MNH curator Dr. Sheryl A. Yap and current director of the College of Agriculture and Food Science-Institute of Weed Science, Entomology, and Plant Pathology and University Researcher Jessica B. Baroga-Barbecho of the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Extension-Bee Program.

Tis that time of the year when hikers and nature-trippers flock to the mountains to "bathe in the forest" and meditate in observance of the Lenten Season. Many people especially those from the nearby urban areas climb Mount Makiling which is easily the most accessible natural forest park from Metro Manila. 

While most people find the eco-tour of the mystical mountain which Los Baños locals hold dear as serene and peaceful, others can find luck in "discovering" a treasure which the deity Maria Makiling dutifully guards. Selfies and group pictures with this nature’s sensation has made rounds in social media and even recently featured on a regional TV news program.

The treasure being referred to is a rare beauty of a flower -- the Rafflesia or commonly called malaboô -- that hides itself for almost half of the year within the body of the Tetrastigma vine and then magically blooms from late February to June.

Dr. Marian P. De Leon, University Researcher II and Curator of the Microbial Culture Collection of the UPLB Museum of Natural History was recently conferred as Certified Biosafety Officer during the Philippine Advanced Biosafety Officer Training (ABOT) Graduation Ceremony last 01 February 2019 at the Hotel Jen, Pasay City.

The ABOT is a five-week, intensive training program which provides new opportunities to qualified persons to improve Philippine public and animal health by expanding their knowledge on the increased biological risk of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and microorganisms with potential for dual-use. Likewise, the program aims to further strengthen the country's biorisk management system as authorities prepare the National Framework for Biosafety and Biosecurity.

A new species of cave-dwelling spider has been recently described by University of the Philippines Los Banos graduate student Joseph B. Rasalan and Museum of Natural History curator for spiders and moths Dr. Aimee Lynn B. Dupo, the description of which has been published in advance in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity.

Rasalan, a graduate apprentice of Dr. Aimee Lynn B. Dupo is undertaking MS Forestry with forest entomology as focus.

According to the authors, the new spider species Masteria urdujae sp. nov. has been collected under rock debris near the entrance of Pelpel Cave in Brgy. Centro Toma, Bani, Pangasinan during a cave assessment activity by students taking BIO 154 Cave Ecology in 2017.