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Kajian ini dijalankan bagi mengetahui corak taburan ruang-masa semut (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) dan memahami ekologi ruang semut di ekosistem sawit di Endau Rompin, Pahang. Persampelan dijalankan selama empat bulan berturut-turut di tiga jenis tanah iaitu tanah liat (A1 & A2), tanah gambut dalam (B1 & B2) dan tanah gambut cetek (C1 & C2). Kaedah perangkap lubang digunakan bagi mensampel semut yang mencari makanan di atas tanah. Sejumlah 3,968 individu semut berjaya diperoleh, mewakili 13 genus dalam empat subfamili. Anoplolepis mencatatkan bilangan individu paling melimpah iaitu sebanyak 1,692 individu (45.75%) diikuti dengan Pheidole (862 individu; 23.31%) dan Paratrechina (228 individu; 6.17%). Dalam tanah liat, Anoplolepis ialah genus yang paling melimpah manakala bagi tanah gambut dalam dan cetek, Pheidole adalah genus yang paling melimpah berbanding genus yang lain. Ujian Khi kuasa-dua (dua hala) mengenal pasti perbezaan yang signifikan (p 1; p 0.05). Corak taburan ruang-masa setempat bagi subfamili semut adalah sangat dinamik dengan perubahan corak kelompok dan luang yang berbeza pada bulan yang berlainan. Gambaran awal corak taburan ruang-masa setempat bagi semut di ekosistem sawit yang diperoleh dalam kajian ini menunjukkan hubung kait ekologi dan lakuan beberapa genus walau pun secara kolektifnya dicerap pada peringkat subfamili. Kajian lanjut bagi melihat asosiasi ruang-masa antara subfamili dirasakan perlu bagi memperjelaskan lagi ekologi lakuan dan interaksi dalam kalangan komuniti berfungsi semut.

1. This study reports the discovery of sympatric populations of antlions (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae) and wormlions (Diptera: Vermileonidae) in a unique system of sandy microhabitats in the lowland rainforest of Borneo. The two species convergently evolved sit‐and‐wait predatory larvae, which construct pitfall traps to hunt insects. Despite similar specialised foraging strategies, the two species coexist in the competitive environment of small, isolated sandy patches in the rainforest, which begs the question: what biological characteristics allow their coexistence? 2. Based on larval morphology alone, it was predicted that antlions would build larger traps, which would allow them to efficiently hunt larger prey. Addressing this hypothesis, this study compared the volumes of traps constructed by the two species under field and laboratory conditions. A laboratory experiment compared their efficiency of capture of three ant species that differed in body size. 3. The results show that antlions constructed larger traps and captured prey more efficiently. The difference between the species could not be explained by trap size alone. The findings demonstrate that the overlap in resource use in these two species was low, and it is suggested that there is a separation in prey utility between them, allowing their coexistence in the space‐limited habitat of the tropical rainforest.

The ‘pitchers’ of carnivorous pitcher plants are exquisite examples of convergent evolution. An open question is whether the living communities housed in pitchers also converge in structure or function. Using samples from more than 330 field-collected pitchers of eight species of Southeast Asian Nepenthes and six species of North American Sarracenia, we demonstrate that the pitcher microcosms, or miniature ecosystems with complex communities, are strikingly similar. Compared to communities from surrounding habitats, pitcher communities house fewer species. While communities associated with the two genera contain different microbial organisms and arthropods, the species are predominantly from the same phylogenetic clades. Microbiomes from both genera are enriched in degradation pathways and have high abundances of key degradation enzymes. Moreover, in a manipulative field experiment, Nepenthes pitchers placed in a North American bog assembled Sarracenia-like communities. An understanding of the convergent interactions in pitcher microcosms facilitates identification of selective pressures shaping the communities., eLife digest The ecosystems found across the Earth, including in forests, lakes and prairies, consist of communities of plants, animals and microbes. How these organisms interact with each other determines which ones grow and thrive. We still do not understand how communities form: why different species exist where they do, and what enables them to survive in different locations. This knowledge is particularly limited with regard to communities of microbes because they are hard to see and count. Pitcher plants are an ideal system for studying how communities and ecosystems assemble. The pitcher-shaped leaves of these plants each contain small aquatic communities of microbes and arthropods (including insects and mites) that can be relatively easily studied. Because unrelated groups of plants have evolved pitchers at different times and on different continents, these communities can also be used to explore how evolutionary history and the current environment determine which species thrive in a particular location. Bittleston et al. sampled the DNA of the communities living within 330 pitchers from various North American and Southeast Asian pitcher plant species. This revealed that very distantly related plants on opposite sides of the planet have pitchers that host similar communities, with the organisms found in one pitcher plant often closely related to the organisms found in others. The genes within the community’s DNA also shared many functions, with the majority of shared genes devoted to digesting captured insect prey. Bittleston et al. also relocated pitcher plants from Southeast Asia to grow alongside North American species and found the same microbes and arthropods colonizing both groups, indicating that the different types of pitchers present a similar habitat. Overall, the results of the experiments performed by Bittleston et al. suggest that certain kinds of interactions between species (such as between the pitcher plants and their microbes) can evolve independently in different parts of the world. Researchers can use these interactions to learn more about how communities and ecosystems form. With a greater understanding of the Earth’s ecosystems, it will be easier to protect them and predict how they will fare as global conditions change.

Wallaceaphytis Polaszek and Fusu gen. nov. (type species Wallaceaphytis kikiae Ayshford and Polaszek sp. nov.) is described from Danum Valley, Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo. Although known from just a single female individual, the genus is extremely unusual morphologically, being the only member of the large subfamily Aphelininae with four-segmented tarsi. The form of the fore wings and head are also unique in the subfamily, and its status as a new genus is confirmed by analysis of nuclear ribosomal DNA. DNA sequence analysis was undertaken by comparison with more than 60 aphelinid sequences from GenBank. The sequence for the standard DNA barcode region (cytochrome oxidase c subunit I; COI) is provided. The new genus is named in honour of Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discoverer of the theory of evolution by natural selection. The new genus and species are published on the exact date of the centenary of his death.http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:700D2B2A-1586-4100-85D2-24844EFE3F90

We present the first record of the female of Mythomantis serrata, collected from Imbak Canyon Conservation Area, Sabah. This species was described by Schwarz & Helmkampf in 2014 based on male specimens collected from Gunung Mulu, Sarawak and Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo. This species can be distinguished from the other Mythomantis species, M. confusa and M. gracilis, based on the presence of sawtooth-like lobes along the sides of the pronotum, and the concave margins of its supra-anal plate. The female individual of this species possesses similar morphological characters like those seen in males. The description of the female specimen follows Schwarz & Helmkampf (2014).

Adults of the Euthalia phemius complex, which is composed of three South-East Asian nymphalid species, Euthalia phemius, Euthalia ipona, and Euthalia euphemia, were genetically analysed by examining mitochondrial and nuclear genes. The E. phemius complex was also examined morphologically, with particular emphasis on wing markings and male genitalia. No significant differences amongst the three species in the complex were detected with respect to either genetic distance or genital morphology. We therefore conclude that the three currently recognized Euthalia species belong to a single species. Accordingly, E. ipona is synonymized with E. phemius. Euthalia euphemia is treated as a subspecies of E. phemius. Type specimens of all taxa and a synonymic list for the E. phemius complex are also given. In addition, we briefly discuss the evolution and biogeography of the species complex.

"The ant genus Myrmicaria from Southeast Asia is clearly divided into two distinct species-groups (the M. arachnoides and M. brunnea groups) based on their morphology and nesting behaviour, as was suggested by Emery in 1922. We have found many additional characters, not noticed by previous au- thors, that differentiate the two groups. Male genital characters have also proved useful, not only in defining the groups but also in discriminating species in some cases. Key Words: Insecta, Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae, Myrmicaria, Southeast Asia, species-group."

Many species of palm produce chambers called domatia that are used by ants as nesting spaces. However, the ecological nature of this association is not well understood, and the information on palm–ant interactions is primarily anecdotal. Here, we conducted a field study in the secondary forest of the Danum Valley Conservation Area, Malaysian Borneo, on 41 individuals of the rattan Korthalsia furtadoana. All studied plants showed signs of a past or present partnership with domatia-nesting ants, as indicated by entry holes in domatia. In 14 plants, our physical disturbance of a stem provoked the appearance of patrolling ants of Camponotus sp. We compared the leaf conditions of rattans with and without patrolling ants, testing whether the presence of ants is linked to improved leaf health. The leaflets of plants with patrolling ants were significantly less physically damaged and less covered by epiphylls. On average, 19% of the leaflets of plants with patrolling ants were damaged (52% in plants without patrolling ants), and the epiphyll cover of their leaflets was 0.2 on our scale of 0–4 (1.3 in plants without patrolling ants). Our results suggest that this poorly studied plant–ant association has a mutualistic character. It seems that the ants take advantage of the nesting space created by the plant partner, while the plants gain protection for their photosynthetic apparatus against herbivores and epiphylls.

Tropical mountains are hot spots of biodiversity and endemism,but the evolutionary origins of their unique biotas are poorlyunderstood. In varying degrees, local and regional extinction,long-distance colonization, and local recruitment may all contribute to the exceptional character of these communities. Also, it isdebated whether mountain endemics mostly originate from locallowland taxa, or from lineages that reach the mountain by long-range dispersal from cool localities elsewhere. Here we investigatethe evolutionary routes to endemism by sampling an entire tropical mountain biota on the 4,095-metre-high Mount Kinabalu inSabah, East Malaysia. We discover that most of its unique biodiversity is younger than the mountain itself (6 million years), andcomprises a mix of immigrant pre-adapted lineages and descendants from local lowland ancestors, although substantial shiftsfrom lower to higher vegetation zones in this latter group wererare. These insights could improve forecasts of the likelihood ofextinction and ‘evolutionary rescue in montane biodiversity hotspots under climate change scenarios.