Bakhtiar Effendi Yahya

Tropical mountains are hot spots of biodiversity and endemism, but the evolutionary origins of their unique biotas are poorly understood. 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 is debated whether mountain endemics mostly originate from local lowland taxa, or from lineages that reach the mountain by long-range dispersal from cool localities elsewhere. Here we investigate the evolutionary routes to endemism by sampling an entire tropical mountain biota on the 4,095-metre-high Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. We discover that most of its unique biodiversity is younger than the mountain itself (6 million years), and comprises a mix of immigrant pre-adapted lineages and descendants from local lowland ancestors, although substantial shifts from lower to higher vegetation zones in this latter group were rare. These insights could improve forecasts of the likelihood of extinction and 'evolutionary rescue' in montane biodiversity hot spots under climate change scenarios.

This paper reports the preliminary finding on the assessment and taxonomic status of Pseudophyllinae bush-crickets ftom Malaysia. A total of 61 species were recorded, of which 45 species belong to 21 genera are from Peninsular Malaysia, while 29 species belong to 17 genera are from Sabah and Sarawak. A list of Pseudophyllinae bush-crickets from Malaysia is provided to highlight the records for both Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak.

This paper compiles reports on interactions of ants with other organisms in Malaysia. Interaction involving ants is diverse and complex. With approximately 20,000 known ant species so far, interactions among ants include commensalisms and parasitism. A great number of myrmecophiles organisms (insect and other arthropods) live together with ants in a symbiotic relationship. There are also ants that act as myrmecophiles with plants. These ants protect plants from pests and obtain shelter in hollow spaces and chambers of the plants in return. All 12 ant subfamilies that exist in Malaysia interact with other organisms in one way or another. Being the largest ant group, Myrmicinae recorded the highest number of genera that interact with six plants and 20 other fauna, respectively, followed by Ponerinae (12 with fauna; 0 with flora), Formicinae (11 with fauna; 4 with flora), Proceratiinae (3 with fauna; 0 with flora), Dolichoderinae (2 with fauna; 3 with flora), Leptanillinae (2 with faun...

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 authors, 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.

A short study to look at the occurrence of saproxylic arthropods was conducted in Muaya, Sipitang from 12th to 14th May, 2012. Two pieces of deadwood (45 cm and 26 cm in diameter respectively) were examined randomly. Arthropods collected were classified to class level. For Class Insecta, specimens were then identified up to order level. A total of 7 insect orders and 4 other classes of arthropods were recorded. Beetles (Coleoptera) were further identified to family level while termites (Isoptera) and ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) were identified to genus level. Among non-social insects, beetles were the highest in terms of individuals collected in 6 families. In terms of species, ants had the highest number with at least 12 species recorded.

More than ninety years after Wheeler’s 1919 “Ants of Borneo,” we present a comprehensive list of the Bornean ant fauna, recorded in the states of Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia), and Kalimantan (Indonesia). Our critical review of ant literature resulted in a catalogue of 97 ant genera with 717 valid species and 52 additional subspecies of ants from 12 subfamilies, including eight genera for which, up to now, only morphospecies have been recorded in Borneo. The subfamilies Myrmicinae (315) and Formicinae (213) comprised the most species; the most speciose genera were Polyrhachis (98) and Strumigenys (71), followed by Pheidole, Camponotus and Crematogaster. However, half of the Bornean ant genera included only one or two species, for example, the endemic monotypic genera Anomalomyrma, Bregmatomyrma, Ishakidris, Loweriella, Secostruma and Tetheamyrma. Ant taxonomic research in Borneo dates back to the nineteen century and has resulted in 418 type descriptions, of which 390 are cur...

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 ...