Mount Merbabu National Park

Mount Merbabu National Park is a conservation area of 57.25 square kilometers covering a forest area on Mount Merbabu (3,145 m) in Boyolali Regency, Magelang Regency, and Semarang Regency in Central Java Province, Indonesia. The national park was declared on May 4, 2004 which was previously a protected forest and a natural tourism park.

Mount Merbabu National Park is very important as a source of water in the three Regencies and the flora and fauna habitat is protected and preserved. The area consists of mountain forest zones as stated by van Steenis. Lower mountain forest zone at 1,000 - 1,500 m has changed and overgrown by Tusam (Pinus merkusii), Puspa (Schima wallichii ssp. Noronhae) and Bintuni.

The upper mountain forest zone at 1,500 - 2,400 m is overgrown with acacia (Acacia decurrens and Acacia virgata), Puspa, Sengon gunung (Albizia lophanta), Sowo (Engelhardtia serrata), mountain cypress (Casuarina junghuhniana), Pasang (Quercus sp), and Tanganan. The sub-alpine forest zone at 2,400 - 3,142 m is overgrown with grass and Javanese edelweiss (Anaphalis javanica).

Some animal species in this region include Javan Hawk (Nisaetus bartelsi), Black eagle (Ictinaetus malayensis), Spotted kestrel (Falco moluccensis), Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela), Green junglefowl (Gallus varius), Spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis).

Wren stones, deer (Muntiacus muntjak), Javan hedgehogs (Hystrix javanica), Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), Crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Leopards (Panthera pardus melas), and others.

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

New living fossil, Amethyst worm lizard (Amphisbaena amethysta), from Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

NEWS - New species from the northern Espinhaço Mountains, Caetité municipality, Bahia state, Brazil. Amethyst worm lizard ( Amphisbaena amethysta ) is the 71st species of the genus with 4 precloacal pores and the 22nd species of Caatinga morphoclimatic domain. Identification of the new species shows the reptiles of the Mountains are far from complete and may contain greater diversity of endemic taxa. A. amethysta can be distinguished by its anteriorly convex snout, slightly compressed and unkeeled, pectoral scales arranged in regular annuli, four precloacal pores, distinct head shield, 185-199 dorsal and half annuli, 13-16 caudal annuli, a conspicuous autotomy spot between the 4th-6th caudal annuli, 16-21 dorsal and ventral segments in the middle of the body, 3/3 supralabials, 3/3 infralabials and a smooth and rounded tail tip. A. amethysta occurs in areas with an average elevation of 1000 meters in patches of deciduous and semi-deciduous forests associated with valleys, slopes, fore...

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