Suhaila Ab Hamid

This study establishes a foundational understanding of the dietary preferences of two insectivorous bats (Family Hipposideridae), Hipposideros larvatus and Hipposideros cineraceus caught in the rice field areas. The investigation focused on the analysis of their fecal pellets collected in areas near Gunung Keriang, Kota Setar, Kedah. A total of 40 pellets from eight individuals were meticulously examined. These eight bats were categorised into two distinct groups based on sex and reproductive stages (lactating and non-reproductive) from the two bat species. The dietary composition of H. larvatus comprised 55.2% Coleoptera, 23.2% Lepidoptera, 10.1% Hemiptera, 9.2% Diptera and 2.1% Hymenoptera. The diet of the bat species was significantly dominated by Coleoptera, accounting for over half of the overall dietary percentage. On the contrary, H. cineraceus, exhibited a different diet composition, with 68.0% Lepidoptera, 18.5% Coleoptera, 7.0% Diptera, 5.1% Hemiptera and 0.6% Hymenoptera. These variations in dietary preferences can be attributed to factors such as their differing abilities to digest chitin found on the elytra (forewing) of beetles, variations in size between the two species, distinct echolocation frequencies, and differing reproductive states. Both H. larvatus and H. cineraceus have the potential to serve as effective pest controllers in rice fields by reducing insect pest populations, especially from the order Lepidoptera (rice stem borer) and Hemiptera (leafhoppers). Further research should be conducted in different locations to gain a more comprehensive understanding of these bat species' diets and whether they exhibit exclusive or generalised feeding patterns.

Sternochetus frigidus, commonly known as the mango pulp weevil, threatens mango trees. The current study evaluated the infestation of this weevil and its influence by the volatile compound of the mango species: Mangifera indica (mangga epal) and M. odorata (kuinin). The length from the mango skin to the location of the weevil found was measured. The mango peel and pulp were extracted for volatile compound determination using gas chromotography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) headspace concentration methods. Results demonstrated a higher number of larvae, pupae, and adults of S. frigidus on M. odorata (100%) than M. indica (70%). The higher infestation level was demonstrated by M. odorata, which had higher amine and monoterpene hydrocarbon concentrations. The study found only M. indica contained phenolandrene and copaene compounds, which were not found in M. odorata. Mangifera odorata contained linalool, limonene, and terpinene which was not found in M. indica. These compounds can be good pheromone-trapping lures for controlling mango pulp weevils.

Tropical seasonal fruit orchards are dynamic ecosystems that support a wide range of insect species, contributing significantly to regional biodiversity and various ecological functions. This study aims to assess the diversity and guild structure of insects in fruit orchards in Northern Malaysia during both the off-season (December 2022–January 2023) and the flowering season (February 2023 – April 2023). Insects were collected using pheromone traps, malaise traps, and sticky traps across four locations in Penang and Kedah, Malaysia. A total of 1,930 individual insects, representing 11 orders and 56 families, were captured during the off-season, while 4,569 individuals from 11 orders and 58 families were recorded during the flowering season. Chrysopidae (Neuroptera) was the most abundant family during the off-season (688 individuals), whereas Tephritidae (Diptera) dominated the flowering season (1,863 individuals). The flowering season exhibited greater insect diversity (H’=2.134) and evenness (E=0.526), although the off-season had higher species richness (IMargalef = 7.27). In terms of guild structure, pests were the dominant insect guild in both seasons, followed by pollinators. By comparing the relative abundance across the two seasons, pest abundance increased from the off-season to the flowering season, while pollinator abundance significantly decreased. This finding provides valuable insights into the insect fauna within the fruit orchards which can contribute to a better understanding of insect ecology and aid in the development of sustainable pest management strategies.

MORPHOLOGICAL REDESCRIPTION OF ADULT Diplonychus molestus DUFOUR (HEMIPTERA: BELOSTOMATIDAE) FROM PENANG, MALAYSIA

EFEFCT OF DIASPIDIDAE (HEMIPTERA) PEST ON CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT AND PLANT HEALTH IN VANILLA

The aquatic ecosystem has been suffering a continuous increase of metal contamination such as Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), and Manganese (Mn) due to their inadequate high potential to disturb the aquatic organism population. Meanwhile, some insects such as Pseudagrion microcephalum and Ischnura senegalensis can be used as biological indicators to determine stream health. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between the heavy metal concentration and its effect on the survivability of two different species of damselfly larvae from the family Coenagrionidae; Pseudagrion microcephalum and Ischnura senegalensis. In this study, there is a significant effect of three heavy metal exposures on the survivability of P.microcephalum (F11,180=14.50, P=0.00) and I.senegalensis (F11,180 =15.10, P=0.00). Pseudagrion microcephalum is more tolerable towards Mn (F3,60=13.19, P=0.00) and Zn (F3,60=16.07, P=0.00) at different concentrations compared to I.senegalensis. In the meantime, I.senegalensis was tolerable to Cd exposure. The LC50 value of Cd was much lower than other heavy metals. Besides, the LT50 value of Cd at 200 mg/L was the lowest on P. microcephalum (31 hr) and I. senegalensis (36 hr) compared to other heavy metals. Cd was the most toxic to P.microcephalum and I.senegalensis larvae followed by zinc and manganese (LC50 & LT50=Cd > Zn > Mn). It is concluded that I.senegalensis was tolerant towards Cd, Mn, and Zn compared to P.microcephalum and Cd had the fastest-acting toxicity and significantly reduced the lethal time of mortality on both species.

Motivation: Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal diversity and are widely used as bioindicators to assess water quality impairment and freshwater ecosystem health, as well as to test ecological hypotheses. Despite their importance, a comprehensive, global database of aquatic insect occurrences for mapping freshwater biodiversity in macroecological studies and applied freshwater research is missing. We aim to fill this gap and present the Global EPTO Database, which includes worldwide geo‐referenced aquatic insect occurrence records for four major taxa groups: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata (EPTO).Main type of variables contained: A total of 8,368,467 occurrence records globally, of which 8,319,689 (99%) are publicly available. The records are attributed to the corresponding drainage basin and sub‐catchment based on the Hydrography90m dataset and are accompanied by the elevation value, the freshwater ecoregion and the protection status of their location.Spatial location and grain: The database covers the global extent, with 86% of the observation records having coordinates with at least four decimal digits (11.1 m precision at the equator) in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) coordinate reference system.Time period and grain: Sampling years span from 1951 to 2021. Ninety‐nine percent of the records have information on the year of the observation, 95% on the year and month, while 94% have a complete date. In the case of seven sub‐datasets, exact dates can be retrieved upon communication with the data contributors.Major taxa and level of measurement: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata, standardized at the genus taxonomic level. We provide species names for 7,727,980 (93%) records without further taxonomic verification.Software format: The entire tab‐separated value (.csv) database can be downloaded and visualized at https://glowabio.org/project/epto_database/. Fifty individual datasets are also available at https://fred.igb‐berlin.de, while six datasets have restricted access. For the latter, we share metadata and the contact details of the authors.

The abundance and infestation of rice stem borer were monitored in MADA regions with the influence of weather parameters. The determination of the rice stem borer percentage infestation was recorded by dead heart (DH) and whitehead (WH) symptoms. In four regions of MADA area observations, a higher infestation of rice stem borer was observed during rice planting season one (7.1%) compared to rice planting season two (3.9%) on average. Both damage symptoms of the rice stem borer, DH, and WH were observed higher during the rice planting season one. The highest infestation of rice stem borer during season one was observed in Pendang with 18.60%. From the weather parameters recorded, a high infestation of rice stem borer occurred at 80.0% (RHmax), 8.2 °C of temperature differences (Tdiff), and a lower amount of rainfall (0.6 mm). The high infestation in Pendang in season one was influenced by the lower value of RH, higher range of temperature, and lower amount of rainfall compared to season two. Chilo polychrysus was the most abundant species of rice stem borer found in Region 1 and Scirpophaga incertulas were abundantly found in Region 2, 3, and 4.