Variation of the Pronotal Markings in Rhynchophorus(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Species from Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu

The notorious palm weevils from the genus Rhynchophorus(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are known to be polymorphic and show high phenotypic plasticity. Due to these characteristics, this study attempts to document the typologies based on the pronotalmarkings observed from Kuala Terengganu population. Samples were collected using baited traps with pheromones and fruits as well as through handpicking method, where the sampling sites were located at two villages, namely, Kampung Tanjung Paya and KampungPulau Sekati. A total of 100 individuals were collected of which 19 typologies were successfully identified. Of all, the most prominent pattern observed was typology A, represented by 37 individuals. Findings from this study suggested that the variation was driven by various factors including resource limitation, habitat preference, diet preference and competition. However, a comprehensive study should be initiated to measure possible factor(s) which possibly induce the pronotal variation within Rhynchophorusat a local scale

A preliminary checklist of fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) with two new distribution records from Sarawak

The remarkable ability of fireflies for bioluminescence makes them one of the most charismatic species of beetles. Despite the increasing development and urbanisation especially in mangrove areas, the current status of fireflies in Sarawak is not well documented. Hence, this study aims to provide an updated preliminary checklist focusing on the firefly species from Sarawak, Malaysia to contribute to the scientific knowledge of Lampyridae. Twenty localities in Sarawak were selected as the sampling sites based on firefly sightings. Field surveys were carried out from October 2022 to February 2023 with additional samples obtained from the UNIMAS Insect Reference Collection (UIRC). The present study recorded a total of 372 individuals of fireflies representing five genera, namely Pteroptyx (with five species and two morphospecies), Pyrocoelia (with one species and one morphospecies), Luciola (with two species), Colophotia (with one species) and Abscondita (with one species). The first record of two species Colophotia brevis (Luciolinae) and Pyrocoelia opaca (Lampyrinae) in Sarawak was documented in this study. Thus, it is suggested that a more comprehensive study, especially in the central region of Sarawak alongside its preferred host trees should be conducted. This information will provide a better understanding of firefly habitats in Sarawak and assist to identify areas with significant conservation value

A preliminary checklist of fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) with two new distribution records from Sarawak

The remarkable ability of fireflies for bioluminescence makes them one of the most charismatic species of beetles. Despite the increasing development and urbanisation especially in mangrove areas, the current status of fireflies in Sarawak is not well documented. Hence, this study aims to provide an updated preliminary checklist focusing on the firefly species from Sarawak, Malaysia to contribute to the scientific knowledge of Lampyridae. Twenty localities in Sarawak were selected as the sampling sites based on firefly sightings. Field surveys were carried out from October 2022 to February 2023 with additional samples obtained from the UNIMAS Insect Reference Collection (UIRC). The present study recorded a total of 372 individuals of fireflies representing five genera, namely Pteroptyx (with five species and two morphospecies), Pyrocoelia (with one species and one morphospecies), Luciola (with two species), Colophotia (with one species) and Abscondita (with one species). The first record of two species Colophotia brevis (Luciolinae) and Pyrocoelia opaca (Lampyrinae) in Sarawak was documented in this study. Thus, it is suggested that a more comprehensive study, especially in the central region of Sarawak alongside its preferred host trees should be conducted. This information will provide a better understanding of firefly habitats in Sarawak and assist to identify areas with significant conservation value

Ambrosia beetle’s (COLEOPTERA: CURCULIONIDAE) occurrence and diversity in forest plantations in western Sarawak, Malaysia

Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are wood-boring beetles that play an important role in temperate forests. They live symbiotically with microorganisms such as fungi that can cause plant wilt and death. In Sarawak, Malaysia, the ambrosia beetles have been found attacking exotic tree species such as Acacia mangium, Acacia crassicarpa and Eucalyptus pellita in some forest plantations. This research aimed to investigate the occurrence of the ambrosia beetles and determined their diversity in forest plantations located in western Sarawak, Malaysia. This research was conducted in exotic plantations at Licence Planted Forest 42 (LPF42), Sampadi, Lundu, and Sabal Model Forest, Simunjan from January 2022 until October 2022. A total of 20 units of modified intercept panel traps baited with 70% ethanol were used in each study site to trap the adult ambrosia beetles. The occurrence and diversity of ambrosia beetles were later analysed using Palentological Statistics Software (PAST). As a result, a total of 170 ambrosia beetles representing 12 species of Scolytinae and two species of Platypodinae were collected. There are seven species comprising 129 individuals of ambrosia beetles collected at LPF42 and 11 species comprising 41 individuals at Sabal Model Forest, respectively. The Shannon-Wiener and Simpson’s indices showed the greatest values in Sabal Model Forest (1.45 and 0.58 respectively), meanwhile, in LPF42 (0.50; 0.28) indicated a range of low to medium species diversity but low species evenness in both study sites. In general, Xylosandrus crassiusculus was dominant in both sites with a total capture of 141 individuals (82.94%). Overall, this study provided baseline information on ambrosia beetle occurrence and their diversity in forest plantations in western Sarawak

Phylogeny and morphometric variation of several weevils species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Malaysia

The phylogeny of 43 species under 20 genera of seven subfamilies of weevils’ species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Malaysia were successfully inferred based on 34 morphological characters, of which combined the qualitative and quantitative inputs. The monophyletic clade of the Curculionidae was supported by Neighbor Joining (NJ) and Maximum Parsimony (MP) trees with bootstraps values of 79% and 76%, respectively. Although the arrangement and placement among the 19 species of Dryophthorinae were not fully resolved, however the phylogenies were able to elucidate the relationships of the other curculionids from the Curculioninae, Entiminae, Lixinae and Molytinae subfamilies. Therefore, further multivariate analyses were conducted on 17 selected species of Curculionidae, which has been successful to discriminate the examined species. From the principal component analysis (PCA; eigenvalues of PC1 for cluster 1 = 7.4650; eigenvalues of PC1 for cluster 2 = 5.1874) and canonical variate analysis (CVA; cluster 1 with p < 0.0001; cluster 2 with p < 0.0001), the diagnostic morphological characters were resulted from the elytron, pronotum, total length of body, and femur length. As a conclusion, the morphometrics has proven to be reliable and informative as another alternative to subfamilies classification and to show the relationships within the examined insect’s species. However, it is also recommended that further studies should include more diagnostic and informative characters to represent up to the tribes or genus levels in future

Plant Association of Lanternflies(Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) from Malaysian Borneo

The family Fulgoridae is known for their distinct morphological structures and striking colouration. Despite so, comprehensive documentation of insect-plant interaction from this charismatic family is greatly scarce. Presented here are records of plant association across four species of Fulgoridae from Malaysian Borneo. The current study was based on voucher specimens and field samplings from selected localities in Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. A total of 11 species of plants belonging to 11 genera and nine families were recorded. Three fulgorid species namely Penthicodes quadrimaculata, Pyrops intricatusand Py. sultanusshares the same host plant being the mata kucing fruit tree(Dimocarpus longan ssp.malesianus). The most speciose insect-plant association belongs to Pe. farinosa and Py. sultanus with six species documented. This is the first record of host plants reported for Py.intricatus, Pe. farinosa and Pe. quadrimaculatain Malaysian Borneo

First Record of Samsama chersonesia chersonesia Distant, 1906 (Hemiptera: Fulgoridae) from Borneo

The only known distribution for the subspecies Samsama chersonesia chersonesia Distant, 1906 was in Perak and Cameron Highlands, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, Indonesia. This paper provides the first distributional record for the subspecies in Sarawak and Sabah, Borneo. A total of 17 individuals were documented based on voucher specimens from three repositories in Sarawak and Sabah, namely Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Insect Reference Collection (UIRC), Research Development and Innovation Division, Forest Department Sarawak (RDID), and Sabah Parks Entomological Museum (SPM). This discovery denotes that this subspecies occurs in Sundaland: Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo

Checklist of the Family Acrididae MacCleay, 1821 (Orthoptera) Based on Voucher Specimens of Major Repositories in Sarawak

Acrididae is a family of insects consisting of the short-horned grasshoppers and locusts. Currently, knowledge on the faunistic composition of family Acrididae in Sarawak is still scarce. This study aimed to determine the species composition and to provide a current checklist of acridid fauna in Sarawak, using voucher specimens from Insect Reference Collection of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UIRC), and Research, Development and Innovation Division (RDID) of Forest Department Sarawak. A total of 925 specimens of acridid were examined, representing 5 subfamilies, 17 genera and 22 species. Subfamily Catantopinae was recorded with the highest number of species (8 genera; 10 species), followed by Oedipodinae (4 genera; 4 species), Cyrtacanthacridinae (2 genera; 3 species), Oxyinae (2 genera; 3 species), and Acridinae (1 genus; 2 species). The most abundant species was Traulia azureipennis followed by Valanga nigricornis. The least abundant species were Coloracris coerulescens, Coloracris sp., Craneopsis olivacea, Perakia borneensis and Phalaca waterstradti, which is represented by a singleton. This study serves as a fundamental data which will aid future taxonomic and ecological studies on Acrididae in Malaysia, particularly Sarawak