Cooperation between Vietnamese, Japanese, and Belgian entomologists has discovered a number of new insects in Viet Nam, a representative from the Viet Nam National Museum of Nature (VNMN) announced on May 27.

Illustrative image (Photo: vast.ac.vn)

Scientists from the VNMN and their Japanese peers discovered a new Rhyparus species, the second of its kind found in the country, and named it Rhyparus vietnamicus Ochi, Kusui, Pham, 2018. Specimens of the insect were collected in the northern province of Lao Cai, with a body length ranging from 7.7 to 7.9 mm.

The VNMN and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, meanwhile, described two new species of the planthopper genus Sogana Matsumura, 1914.

The two are Sogana bachmana Constant & Pham, 2019, found in Bach Ma National Park in the central province of Thua Thien - Hue, and Sogana baviana Constant & Pham, 2019, found in Hanoi’s Ba Vi National Park. The body length of the male specimen of the former is 29 mm, while that of the latter is 23.5 mm.

There are currently 13 species of the Sonaga genus in the world, of which five are in Viet Nam.

Source: VNA