Izfa Riza Hazmi

National University of Malaysia | ukm · Department of Biological Science and Biotechnology

Stingless bees’ products such as honey and bee bread are beneficial to human health. However, the metabolite composition within the products may differ according to spatial and temporal factors. This study aims to investigate the impact of spatial and temporal factors on the significant metabolite composition present in Heterotrigona itama bee brea...

Pineapple mealybugs are responsible for the emergence of pineapple wilt disease and the subsequent transmission of the pineapple disease virus. This study aimed to evaluate the alternate host plants as potential trap crops for pineapple mealybug. A total of nine host plant species, banana, pumpkin, roselle, hibiscus, ground fig, okra, java grass, g...

The dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are a diverse and globally distributed insectgroupand playa very important role in the forestecosystem. In Malaysia, about 170 species of dung beetle have been reported so far. These coprophagous beetles feed mainly on the decomposing matter, mostly vertebrate dung. They perform several ecological functio...

Elaeidobius kamerunicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) merupakan pendebunga utama kelapa sawit di Malaysia. Keberkesanan pendebunga ini adalah penting untuk memastikan penghasilan set buah yang optimum. Jadi, adalah penting untuk mengenalpasti faktor yang mempengaruhi keberkesanan pendebungaan oleh kumbang E. kamerunicus. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk me...

The pollinating weevil, Elaeidobius kamerunicus, was introduced to Malaysia in 1981 to foster the production of oil palm fruit bunches. The weevil plays a significant role in the pollination of oil palm. This study aims to determine the life cycle, development period, body size and longevity of oil palm pollinating weevils in four different types o...

Oil palm pollinating weevil is the most important species that needs to be taken care.

The synchronous-flashing firefly, Pteroptyx tener Olivier, 1907 is a congregating firefly with high economic value for the ecotourism industry. However, the populations of P. tener are increasingly being threatened due to habitat destruction. The assessment of genetic variation within and among populations of the species from Malaysia might play a...

The abundance of parasitoids in the oil palm plantation is greatly influenced by the host and food availability. However, studies on the main diet or food sources of the adult parasitoid wasp, Dolichogenidea metesae of the oil palm pest, Metisa plana is still lacking. This study investigated the diet of adult D. metesae sampledfrom Good Agricultur...

The oil palm pollinating weevil, Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was first introduced into Malaysia from Cameroon as the main oil palm pollinator in 1981. Since then, oil palm pollination has improved and the need for assisted pollination has reduced. However, their pollinating behavior may be influenced by starvation, sex...

Oil palm, also known as Elaeis guineensis Jacq (Arecales: Arecaceae), depends greatly on the pollinating weevil Elaeidobius kamerunicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) for fruit production. Despite this, information on the pollen-carrying capacity of E. kamerunicus is still lacking. This study assessed the pollen-carrying capacity (PCC) and pollen viab...

Oil palm, also known as Elaeis guineensis Jacq (Arecales: Arecaceae), depends greatly on the pollinating weevil Elaeidobius kamerunicus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) for fruit production. Despite this, information on the pollen-carrying capacity of E. kamerunicus is still lacking. This study assessed the pollen-carrying capacity (PCC) and pollen viab...

The bagworm species, Metisa plana (Lepidoptera: Psychidae), is a major oil palm pest. The existence of M. plana parasitoids is reliant on the presence of the host (M. plana) and food supplies. However, no detailed information on their food web has been studied as a model system for community ecology, specifically in the oil palm ecosystem. Therefor...

We studied the water quality of the riparian firefly sanctuary of Sungai Rembau, or Rembau River, in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, from January 2018 to November 2018 to determine the possible influence of the physico-chemical characteristics of the water on the firefly populations living within the sanctuary. We set up a total of five water quality sa...

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 Pars...

Molecular clock analysis on the oil palm weevil has separated the Red Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus and Asiatic palm weevil, Rhynchophorus vulneratus as two sympatric species. Calibration was performed using the fossil of R. cruentatus which had evolved approximately 1 mya using sequences data of combined COI and Cytb. Divergence time indi...

A study on the population of fireflies along the Sungai Sepetang, Kampung Dew, Perak was conducted on March, May and June 2014. This study aim to investigate the abundance of fireflies from the upstream to downstream of the Sungai Sepetang in regards to the shrimp pond located at the side of Sungai Sepetang as well as investigating the correlation...

The purpose of this study is to observe students’ reflection towards the integration of Tawhidic Science at the program “Kem Pandang Alam”, at Tanjung Tuan Wildlife Reserve and several other locations nearby Tanjung Tuan, Teluk Kemang and Si Rusa, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan Malaysia. The respondents of this study were 32 students from tahfiz sch...

The pollinating weevil, Elaeidobius kamerunicus was introduced to Malaysia as an oil palm pollinator agent in 1981. After the introduction, the weevil has distributed widely in the oil palm plantation around Malaysia. This study aims to investigate the morphometric differences in Elaeidobius kamerunicus population within Malaysia, as well as from i...

Records of fireflies are numerous in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah although little is known regarding the firefly population in Sarawak. Thus, the aim of this study is to document the diversity and abundance of the congregating fireflies and their display trees in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia and to investigate the possible significance of several abiot...

Teori Darwin terhadap asal-usul manusia amat tidak menyenangkan kerana keimanan hanya membenarkan bahawa manusia adalah keturunan Adam iaitu khalifah fil `ardh. Walau bagaimanapun, dalam dunia sains, pemerhati sejarah alam semulajadi (Natural History) telah menyaksikan banyak bukti pemerihalan evolusi penyebaran spesies dan kepupusan di seluruh dun...

Sungai Chukai is a riparian sanctuary for synchronize firefly population. In riparian ecosystem, spider acts as top-invertebrate predator influencing the food-web. A survey of spider was conducted in Sungai Chukai, Terengganu, Malaysia. The objective of this study was to identify the assemblage of spider in the riparian area. Samples were collected...

The oil palm pollinating weevil Elaeidobius kamerunicus Faust (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was first introduced into Malaysia from Cameroon in 1981 as the main oil palm pollinator. Adult weevils were collected from six localities in Malaysia, one locality in Indonesia, and one locality in Liberia. Morphometric analysis was performed to detect possib...

Riparian areas hold vast number of flora and fauna with exceptional contributions to the ecosystem. A study was conducted in Sungai Sepetang, Sungai Rembau and Sungai Chukai to identify the insect community in a riparian zone of Peninsular Malaysia. Sampling was conducted in six consecutive months from December 2017 to May 2018 during both day and...

Morphological variation of the red stripe weevils, Rhynchophorus vulneratus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) was investigated using three different populations from Kota Samarahan (Sarawak), Mukah (Sarawak), and central of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 145 individuals were morphologically examined in which 23 morphological characters of head, body and...

A study was conducted on the diversity and abundance of leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) along an elevational range from 400 m to 1,200 m in Mount Fraser, Pahang, Malaysia. Sampling was done during December 2014 until March 2015. In total, 714 individuals were successfully collected representing nine subfamilies and 85 species (25 identifia...

Elaeidobius kamerunicus was first introduced to Malaysia from Cameroon as an oil palm pollinator in 1981. Since then, oil palm pollination has improved and the need for assisted pollination has reduced. Fruit set development and fruit production also saw significant improvements, until a reported decline that began in the late 1980s. Several factor...

A study on beetles of Pulau Pangkor was conducted from 16-18 July 2017 during the Pangkor Scientific Expedition 2017. Beetles were sampled using malaise traps and active collection by sweeping nets. A total of three malaise trap was installed, and sweeping nets were conducted by active sampling. A total of 105 specimens of beetles from 18 families...

The diversity and composition of beetles from oil palm plantation in Ladang Lekir, Perak, Malaysia were collected each month using Malaise trap, yellow pan and window traps from three different sites on the basis of their oil palm aged i.e. five (Plot 1), seven (Plot 2) and 12 (Plot 3) years old from November 2015 to October 2016. From 3862 individ...

The diversity and composition of beetles from oil palm plantation in Ladang Lekir, Perak, Malaysia were collected each month using Malaise trap, yellow pan and window traps from three different sites on the basis of their oil palm aged i.e. five (Plot 1), seven (Plot 2) and 12 (Plot 3) years old from November 2015 to October 2016. From 3862 individ...

Termites are perceived as decomposers and as pests in an ecosystem. A study on the species composition of termites in different soil types (i.e. clay, sand and peat) in oil palm plantations was conducted between 6 April 2015 and 10 December 2015 in nine selected localities in Johor (Malaysia) and Riau (Indonesia). Sampling of termites was conducted...

In Malaysia, stingless bee Heterotrigona itama is one of the bee species that is actively reared and mostly utilized in meliponiculture practice. In this preliminary study, we described the phylogenetic relationship scenario among selected localities of H. itama in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Genomic DNA from 16 samples of five localities in Pe...

A morphometric analysis was conducted on Rhynchophorus vulneratus and R. ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from insular and mainland populations. Twenty-three morphological characters were measured and the data were analysed using independent t-test, principal component analysis (PCA) and discrimination function analysis (DFA). Using independ...

The diversity and composition of beetles from oil palm plantation in Ladang Lekir, Perak, Malaysia were collected each month using Malaise trap, yellow pan and window traps from three different sites on the basis of their oil palm aged i.e. five (Plot 1), seven (Plot 2) and 12 (Plot 3) years old from November 2015 to October 2016. From 3862 individ...

Suitability of canopy-height light trap tailored from both primary and secondary tropical forests was compared with the newly modified pit-light trap within the context of oil palm plantation of various age stand types and across different seasons. Beetle species were chosen as the representative of other insects within oil palm plantations as to e...

A study on the population of fireflies along the Sungai Sepetang, Kampung Dew, Perak was conducted on March, May and June 2014. This study aim to investigate the abundance of fireflies from the upstream to downstream of the Sungai Sepetang in regards to the shrimp pond located at the side of Sungai Sepetang as well as investigating the correlation...

This study was conducted to determine the diversity of Hymenoptera on the different ages of oil palm namely plot 12, 9 and 5 years old. Sampling was carried out from November 2015 to February 2016 at Ladang Lekir, Perak using Malaise traps and Window trap. A total of 3052 individuals Hymenopteran consisting of 58 morphospecies and 35 subfamilies of...

The recognition of intraspecific variation could enhance knowledge and understanding on the population divergence that might be resulted from different geographical areas. To study the possible effect derived from different locations, a morphometric study of the red stripe weevils, Rhynchophorus vulneratus from different localities in Malaysia was...

This article provides information with regards to the natural predators of the oil palm pollinating weevil in oil palm ecosystem.

the first discovery of the predation of Cosmolestes picticeps on the Pollianating weevil, Elaiedobiu Kamerunicus.

The activities and abundance of termites are highly affected by the environment. The objective of this study is to determine the activity of termites according to the different time of sampling event namely morning and evening session. The belt transects (100 metre length x 4 metre width) was set up in a line across the oil palm plantation. The sam...

This is the first series on harvestmen species representing a total of 67 species from 25 genera and 9 families of harvestmen (Opiliones) from Malaysia compiled from available literatures between 1900s till date. In addition, the preliminary field survey identified six harvestmen species which are Dentobunus luteus, Gagrella longipalpis, Koyamaia c...

The study on insect’s visitation on Melastoma malabathricum was carried out at UKM Bangi Forest Reserve, Selangor from February till April 2016. A total of 214 insect individuals comprising of three order, seven families and 15 species were identified. Hymenoptera recorded the highest percentage of 91 % (195 individuals), followed by Coleoptera wit...

A study on the population of fireflies along the Sungai Sepetang, Kampung Dew, Perak was conducted on March, May and June 2014. This study aim to investigate the abundance of fireflies from the upstream to downstream of the Sungai Sepetang in regards to the shrimp pond located at the side of Sungai Sepetang as well as investigating the correlation...

Suitability of canopy-height light trap tailored from both primary and secondary tropical forests was compared with the newly modified pit-light trap within the context of oil palm plantation of various age stand types and across different seasons. Beetle species were chosen as the representative ofother insects within oil palm plantations as to ev...

Termite survey was conducted at six oil palm agroecosystem sites in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia to document species richness across the sites. Six sites were surveyed by using continuous transect representing gradients of oil palm landuse across Indragiri Hulu to Bengkalis District since February 5th, 2015 until May 21st, 2015. Termites were...

The Indo-Malayan region has Stenochiinae, Alleculinae, Amarygmini and Ulomini as the largest number of higher groups belonging to Tenebrionidae family. Since last few years, the forests of Southeast Asia especially Malaysia have changed dramatically as a result of logging and development that caused some changes in the wildlife more particularly in...

The Indo-Malayan region has Stenochiinae, Alleculinae, Amarygmini and Ulomini as the largest number of higher groups belonging to Tenebrionidae family. Since last few years, the forests of Southeast Asia especially Malaysia have changed dramatically as a result of logging and development that caused some changes in the wildlife more particularly in...

A study on micro-habitats utilizations, feeding niche overlapping, and management systems impacts pertaining to hymenopteran community were evaluated at five chosen oil palm age stands within FELDA Sungai Tekam oil palm plantations, Pahang. Samplings were done within the duration of one year, employing the standard Malaise traps, starting from Feb...

A study on the composition and distribution of termites in oil palm agriculture were conducted. Termites were sampled from nine plantations namely MyUIEE, MyJD, MyUBE, MySgEE, MySKP, MyERP, MyFNT, MyFKT and MyBPM. Termites were sampled from nine sites via belt transect protocol (100m x 4m x 10cm) while census method was applied in nine field bl...

The study on the diversity and abundance of ants in oil palm plantation of different plot ages (1 to 3, 6, 18 and 23 years old) at the Research Field FELDA Agricultural Services Sdn. Bhd, in Ulu Tekam, Jerantut Pahang was conducted. The sample was collected from June to October 2013, using several traps namely malaise trap, pitfall trap and pit-lig...

A total of 15,747 dung beetles belong to 13 genera and 60 species were captured successfully at Tasik Chini Biosphere Reserve, Pahang from May 2014 to April 2015. Forty-five baited pitfall trap with light sources were installed using transects method at core, buffer and transition zones of Biosphere Reserve. Onthophagus with 43 species (71.7% of th...

This paper discusses the concepts and the contents of intervention program modules for integrative Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education based on tauhid – the integration of Aqli and Naqli knowledge. This integration is designed to produce Ulul Albab (those deeply rooted in knowledge). The Ulul Albab Empowerment Modules...

The diversity of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) was measured at the Bangi Forest Reserve in Selangor, Malaysia (Hutan Simpan Bangi, HSB), as a model sampling site for the secondary forest ecosystem. The diversity analysis gave a value of 2.17 for the Shannon diversity index (H), 1.42 for the richness index (R) and 0.87 for the evenness ind...

Taxonomic study of genus Nadrana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae) was carried out using 159 specimens from the existing collections in the Centre for Insect Systematics (CIS), UKM and other repositories namely The Natural History Museum, London (BMNH), Collection of Jan Bezdìk, Bruno (CJB) and Swedish Museum of Natural History Stockholm (NH...

A newly innovated and efficient UV-Pit-light Trap is described and the results of the experiments on its efficacy that were carried out within different oil palm age stands of the year 2013 were evaluated and compared with previous study year of 2010, with out the implementation of the UV-Pit-light Trap. In 2013 the UV-Pit-light Traps, the Malaise...

Dung beetles has known for its bioindicator characteristic. Sensitive towards forest disturbance, dung beetles population and diversity will be less in disturbed and modified area. The objective of this study is to evaluate the diversity and distribution of dung beetles in different type of ecosystems in Peninsular Malaysia. Fifteen baited pitfall...

The attractiveness of cow dung of different ages towards dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) was studied in Tasik Chini Biosphere Reserve from February to April 2014. A total of 1,371 individuals belonging to 29 species and 11 genera had successfully collected in traps baited with cow dung aged at 1, 3 and 5 days. Cow dung was hig...

Kem Pandang Alam telah dilaksanakan sebagai sebahagian daripada aktiviti dalam kursus Sains Tauhidik di peringkat Pra Siswazah. Kursus ini ditawarkan secara elektif kepada pelajar di Fakulti Sains dan Teknologi bertujuan untuk memberi pendedahan kepada pelajar berkaitan konsep kesepaduan ilmu wahyu dalam ilmu sains. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menda...

Monolepta azlani Mohamedsaid 1998 is redescribed as a new combination to be Paleosepharia azlani (Mohamedsaid, 1998). A total of 125 specimens were examined. based on morphological and genital characters. Illustration and redescription including genital characters have been presented.

Transformations of plantation management strategies in meeting sustainability schemes have reduced impact of oil palm on biodiversity while increasing productivity. Although transformations were made to enhance biodiversity, studies on ecological community regeneration have never been fully captured to illuminate levels of ecological balance reache...

The red palm weevils (RPW) which have two distinct morphological forms namely the red stripe palm weevil, Rhynchophorus vulneratus and the black spotted palm weevil, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, are serious pests of palm trees worldwide. Although the taxonomic status of these two species still need to be verified, the R. vulneratus seemed to be local...

These are the presentation slides that I have delivered at Kolokium Islam Pahang 2014 as an invited speaker on March and May. The slides contained amongst our novel discussions that have been brought forth to compare between Darwinian Theory and the revealed knowledge (from Quranic excerpts). The presentation had opened a new dimension on discussio...

The Oriental galerucine taxon Neolepta Jacoby, 1884 is revised. Only N. biplagiata Jacoby, 1884 and N. quadriplagiata Jacoby, 1886 are recognised out of the original eleven species described in this genus. Arcastes sumatrensis Jacoby, 1884 is transferred to Neolepta, which is a senior synonym of N. biplagiata Jacoby, 1884. Paraneolepta, new genus i...

Ochralea was described by Clark in 1865 for a very large Oriental galerucine with elongate basal metatarsomeres. Subsequently, nigh more species were described in this genus. It was synonymised with Monolepta by Weise in the Catalogue to the Galerucinae in 1924, and accepted as such by most subsequent authors. Whilst revising the type species of Mo...

Ochralea was described by Clark in 1865 for a very large Oriental galerucine with elongate basal metatarsomeres. Subsequently, nigh more species were described in this genus. It was synonymised with Monolepta by Weise in the Catalogue to the Galerucinae in 1924, and accepted as such by most subsequent authors. Whilst revising the type species of Mo...

The species of the genus Arcastes Baly, 1865 from Oriental Region are revised. The type species is A. biplagiata Baly, 1865 by original designation. The genus Arcastes was erected by Baly based on a peculiar shape of the antennae. Subsequently, eight other species have been described in this genus. Up to now this genus was not revised, in particula...