In January and March of 2005, we conducted surveys of long-tailed macaques at Piak Nam Yai Island, Laem Son National Park (9 degrees N 34-35', 98 degrees E 28'), Ranong Province, situated in southern Thailand. Two of the three troops of long-tailed macaques found on the island were observed using axe-shaped stones to crack rock oysters, detached gastropods (Thais tissoti, Petit, 1852), bivalves (Gafrarium divaricatum, Gmelin, 1791), and swimming crabs (Thalamita danae, Stimpson, 1858). They smashed the shells with stones that were held in either the left or right hand, while using the opposite hand to gather the oyster meat. Some monkeys used both hands to handle the stones. According to Matsuzawa's 1996 hierarchical classification of tool usage (levels 0-3), the tool usage by Thai long-tailed macaques could be characterized as either level 1 (cracking rock oysters with stones) or level 2 (cracking drifting mollusks and crabs with stones by placing them on a rock). Our discovery of stone-tool usage by Thai long-tailed macaques provides a new point of reference for discussions regarding the evolution of tool usage and the material culture of primates.

Thailand is the only place known where large populations of Mainland and Sundaland Apis cerana come into contact and where native strains of both Varroa destructor and V. jacobsoni occur. This provides a unique opportunity to investigate occurrence of Varroa species and mitochondrial lineages on different genetic lineages of A. cerana in a natural setting. We sampled Thai Varroa and A. cerana on a north to south transect, and identified mite and bee mtDNA haplotypes by RFLPs and COI sequence. Ranges of Mainland and Sundaland A. cerana meet at the Kra ecotone, between 10°34'N and 11°24'N. Varroa jacobsoni was found on both Sundaland and Mainland A. cerana; south of Kra ecotone (on Sundaland A. cerana) mites had the Malaysia haplotype, while north of Kra ecotone (on Mainland A. cerana) mites had the NorthThai1 or NorthThai2 haplotype. Varroa destructor was only found in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai Provinces (18°36'N, 98°48'E) at altitudes above 1000 m. We found no evidence of V. destructor with so-called Japan-Thailand haplotype on Thai A. cerana. Apis cerana / Varroa / coevolution / mitochondrial DNA / Thailand

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-In the debris of five Apis dorsata colonies at a single site in Sabah, Borneo we found the mites Tropilaelaps clareae, Tropilaelaps koenigerum, Varroa rindereri, Varroa jacobsoni and Euvarroa wongsirii. Most were T. clareae, but T. koenigerum were also quite common. The V. rindereri specimens belonged to the same haplotype as described previously from A. koschevnikovi from Borneo. However, the V. jacobsoni belonged to a new haplotype, which we named the 'Borneo 2 haplotype of V. jacobsoni'. Of the mites detected in the debris, 84% of the T. clareae and 57% of the T. koenigerum were damaged. Inspection of 1673 brood cells of two A. dorsata colonies at the same site resulted in adult T. clareae and T. koenigerum together with their offspring (nymphs). The percentage of infested drone and worker cells did not differ, nor did the number of mites per cell: 6.0 ± 1.6 in worker brood and 6.1 ± 1.9 in drone brood (n = 10). We found no Varroa mites in the inspected brood cells, suggesting that the mites do not reproduce in A. dorsata and indicating that interspecific mite transfer occurs between sympatric Apis species in Borneo.Apis dorsata / Borneo 2 haplotype of V. jacobsoni / V. rindereri / debris / Tropilaelaps species

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-Tropilaelaps koenigerum was first reported in Thailand. Species-diagnostic markers of bee mites, T. clareae and T. koenigerum were examined by sequencing of ITS and RAPD analysis. A lack of intraspecific polymorphism within T. clareae and T. koenigerum ITS was observed. At an interspecific level, 19 substitutions were found. Sequence divergence between ITS of these bee mites was 3.82%. A 5 bp (TTCTC) insertion was found in T. koenigerum. Based on ITS sequences, identification of these mites was simplified to restriction analysis of the amplified ITS with Mse I and/or Sau3A I. RAPD analysis using primers OPA07, OPA11 and OPA12 revealed 16 and 20 species-specific markers of T. clareae and T. koenigerum, respectively. A UPGMA phenogram based on genetic distance between pairs of geographic samples indicated clear differentiation between T. clareae and T. koenigerum genetically. Partial differentiation of T. clareae from different host species was observed.Tropilaelaps / bee parasite / RAPD / ITS / species-diagnostic marker / genetic diversity

Two new species of predatory mites in the family Cheyletidae (Acari: Prostigmata), Mexecheles thailandensis n. sp. collected from tree bark infested by scolytid beetles and Samsinakia charanasriae n. sp. from soil and leaf-litter, are described and illustrated from Thailand. Keys to species of Mexecheles and Samsinakia are also provided.