Urban Areas as Potential Sinks for Tropical Swallowtail Moth Lyssa zampa

(1) The tropical swallowtail moth Lyssa zampa received much public attention during its years of mass emergence in Singapore and Southeast Asia. However, despite its prominence, little is known about its population demographics and spatial ecology. This study aims to establish the annual abundance of L. zampa, determine its spatial patterns of occurrence, and examine morphological variation demonstrated by L. zampa with an emphasis on comparing urban vs. forest areas in Singapore. (2) Various sources (field surveys across 18 sites, citizen science datasets and expert knowledge) were used to catalogue L. zampa records from 2011 to 2020 and analyse its seasonal abundance. (3) We confirmed the seasonal peak of L. zampa emergence to be between May and July, with an unusually high mass emergence in 2014. The intensity of emergence was associated with the intensity of a dry spell in February of that year. The total number of L. zampa sighted in urban areas was higher despite the moth’s host plant being a tree that is restricted to mature forests and is absent from urban areas. This suggests that the occurrence of L. zampa in urban areas is likely due to the moth’s attraction to bright city lights. Our morphometric measurements further show that L. zampa individuals in urban areas have greater wing length and lighter body weights (smaller body widths) than their forest counterparts. (4) This implies that urban areas are not only drawing moths that are unable to find the host plants and, therefore, cannot produce offspring but are also attracting larger and better flyers out of forest areas. This situation is only likely to worsen as climate change intensifies and dry spells become longer and more intense

Mandai mangrove, Singapore: Lessons for the conservation of Southeast Asia's mangroves

Raffles Bulletin of ZoologySUPPL.2555-6

Innervation patterns of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) mystacial follicle-sinus complexes

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are the most recent group of mammals to return to the sea, and may exemplify divergent somatosensory tactile systems among mammals. Therefore, we quantified the mystacial vibrissal array of sea otters and histologically processed follicle-sinus complexes (F - SCs) to test the hypotheses that the number of myelinated axons per F - SC is greater than that found for terrestrial mammalian vibrissae and that their organization and microstructure converge with those of pinniped vibrissae. A mean of 120.5 vibrissae were arranged rostrally on a broad, blunt muzzle in 7–8 rows and 9–13 columns. The F-SCs of sea otters are tripartite in their organization and similar in microstructure to pinnipeds rather than terrestrial species. Each F-SC was innervated by a mean 1339 ± 408.3 axons. Innervation to the entire mystacial vibrissal array was estimated at 161,313 axons. Our data support the hypothesis that the disproportionate expansion of the coronal gyrus in somatosensory cortex of sea otters is related to the high innervation investment of the mystacial vibrissal array, and that quantifying innervation investment is a good proxy for tactile sensitivity. We predict that the tactile performance of sea otter mystacial vibrissae is comparable to that of harbor seals, sea lions and walruses

THE STATUS OF OTTERS (CARNIVORA : MUSTELIDAE : LUTRINAE) IN SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIA, AND THE DIET OF THE SMOOTH OTTER (LUTROGALE PERSPICILLATA) IN PENANG, WEST MALAYSIA

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

Niche preferences of tree-climbing crabs in Singapore mangroves

Crustaceana73125-38CRUS

Diet of the smooth-coated otter Lutrogale perspicillata (Geoffroy, 1826) at natural and modified sites in Singapore

Theng, Meryl, Sivasothi, N., Tan, Heok Hui (2016): Diet of the smooth-coated otter Lutrogale perspicillata (Geoffroy, 1826) at natural and modified sites in Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 64: 290-301, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.535542

Conservation challenges and action for the Critically Endangered Singapore freshwater crab Johora singaporensis

10.1017/S0030605313000707ORYX492345-35

Persistent organic pollutants in mangrove food webs in Singapore

10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.02.097Chemosphere613303-313CMSH

Autecology of the common fishtail palm, Caryota mitis (Arecaceae), in Singapore

10.1080/23818107.2020.1717612Botany Letters16702265-27