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We report the first observation of reproductive behavior of endangered snake, Sibynophis chinensis in South Korea. On September 24, 2014, one female and three males were observed during the group mating in Oedo-dong, Jeju. Our observation indicates that group mating and the breeding behavior of S. chinensis could be an important way to increase genetic diversity and survival rate. Moreover, autumnal mating affects the breeding success rate of species in isolated areas. Group and autumn mating strategies by S. chinensis are considered to be the most effective way to survive in isolated areas.

The effect of altitude and latitude on biodiversity (or species richness) has been a topic of great interest for many biogeographers for a long time. This study was conducted to examine the dynamics of species richness of aquatic insects along the altitudinal gradient in 24 wetlands on Mt. Halla, Jeju and test the Rapoport`s rule. The species richness of aquatic insects monotonically decreased with increasing altitude, showing a significant inverse correlation (r

The anticancer properties of Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans extract were investigated. The extract from S. subspinipes mutilans by 80% EtOH was fractionated with n-hexane, dichloromethan (CH2Cl2), ethylacetate (EtOAc), and butanol (BuOH) in order. The EtOAc fraction showed the highest inhibitory activity (about 80%) against human leukemia (HL-60) cell growth at 50 μg/mL. To explore the mechanism of cytotoxicity, we used several measures of apoptosis to determine whether these processes were involved in EtOAc fraction-induced HL-60 cell death. Our results showed EtOAc fraction induced cell shrinkage, cell membrane blebbing, apoptotic body, and DNA fragmentation. The EtOAc fraction gradually decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL and led to the activation of caspase-3, -9 and cleavage of PARP. These findings suggest that S. subspinipes mutilans exhibits potential anticancer properties.

Collection of moths in four Gotjawal terrains of Jeju Island was conducted using black light trap, beginning July through September 2005. The insects investigated were classified into 146 species, 15 families and 7 superfamilies, and Noctuoidea appeared to have accounted for 41.1%, or 60 species, which was the largest number among them, followed by Geometroidea. Ercheia niveostrigata was found to have been the dominant species over the entire area. The diversity index showed the highest at Aewol Gotjawal and the lowest at Hangyeong-Andeog Gotjawal. Aewol Gotjawal formed a cluster with Gujwa- Sungsan Gotjawal at the lowest chord distance (0.75). At the higher chord distance of 0.82, Jocheon- Hamdeog Gotjawal fused the cluster of Aewol Gotjawal and Gujwa-Sungsan Gotjawal. Hangyeong-Andeog Gotjawal fused with the rest three terrains, forming a single cluster at the highest chord distance of 0.89.

An investigation of fauna and community of insects in Gotjawal Terrain, Jeju-do, had been conducted with a way of black light trap from July to September, 2005. The investigated insects were classified into 217 species, 75 families, and 11 orders respectively. Coleoptera that occupied 55.3 percent among them and was consisted of 120 species was the richest group and Hemiptera followed it. The density of Physopelta gutta was highest but Physopelta cincticollis was overall the dominant species in all sampling areas. The species diversity index was highest at Jocheon-Hamdeog Gotjawal in Jeju-do, while it was lowest in Gujwa-Sungsan Gotjawal. Clustering analysis revealed that the insect communities of four localities were grouped in only one cluster. Included in the species unreported in Jeju Island were Menida musiva and Pentatoma japonica in Hemiptera, Philonthus wuesthoffi in Coleoptera, and Phanerotoma flava in Hymenoptera.

The complete mitochondrial (mt) genome of the Chinese many-toothed snake, Sibynophis chinensis, was sequenced and found to be 17,163 bp in length. The arrangement of 13 protein-coding genes, tRNAs and rRNAs was identical to that of other common snake mt genomes. The mt protein-coding genes of S. chinensis utilized ATA, ATG, ATA and GTG as initiation codons and AGA, AGG, TAA, TAG and T as termination codons. Among three tRNA clusters (LQM, WANCY and HSL), LQM was found instead of IQM, which is common in other vertebrates. We also identified two control regions that contained several conserved elements known as conserved sequence blocks and termination-associated sequences related to mt replication and transcription.