Rosli Ramli

University of Malaya | UM · Institute of Biological Sciences

To determine the social structure composition of the Asian weaver ant colony

The bagworm (Metisa plana) is a recurrent indigenous invasive defoliator in oil palm plantations. Moderate foliar injury can cost up to 40% yield loss and more for years. The main objective of this review is to disseminate published research demonstrating the versatile services that would benefit farmers by adopting the Asian weaver ant into their...

The bagworm (Metisa plana) is a recurrent indigenous invasive defoliator in oil palm plantations. Moderate foliar injury can cost up to 40% yield loss and more for years. The main objective of this review is to disseminate published research demonstrating the versatile services that would benefit farmers by adopting the Asian weaver ant into their...

The review of Oecophylla smaragdina foraging activity and population dynamics towards an assessment of potential adoption as a biological control agent in the oil palm plantations industry in Malaysia and Indonesia. Additionally, it does open the way for others crops in Asia. The ant species is a model for evolution, behavioral, ecological and appl...

An estimation of the population size density of the Asian weaver ants Oecophylla smaragdina at colony level (1), on a defined area (2) and on large oil palm plantations of 500 ha or 1000 ha superficies (3). Such estimation help to evaluate the number of colonies necessary to control the invasive bagworms Metisa plana & Pteroma pendula species in su...

The bagworms Metisa plana is a recurrent indigenous invasive defoliator in oil palm plantations. A moderate foliar injury can cost up to 40% and above of yield loss for years. As an effective biological control agent (BCA) or by integrated pest management (IPM) on insect pests of economic significance affecting major crops of the countries in Asia-...

Asian weaver ant, Oecophylla smaradigma is a nuisance species, effect the plantation employee due to their painful bites. The O. smaragdina was reported as one of the potential predators for the invasive bagworm species, Pteroma pendula in the oil palm plantation. Despite their important role in the plantation, however the study on the ecology and...

The coexistence of numerous species within a community results from how those species use available resources. Babblers are one of the major groups of Malaysian insectivorous birds, which frequently forage in dense vegetation cover and have a high level of sympatry. Therefore, examining the diet, prey selection and niche segregation of babblers can...

One of the main concerns for animals kept in captivity is expression of stereotypic behaviour which could indicate stress in the animals. To ensure the welfare of animals are adequate for conservation and to promote species specific behaviour that similar to those in the wild, most of zoos are implementing environmental enrichment. The effect of en...

Stereotypic behaviour is correlated to stress in wild animals in captivity. When wild animals are exposed to stress repeatedly, they may experience a chronic elevation of glucocorticoids (G.C.s), especially for captive sun bears. This study aimed to investigate the stress in captive sun bears by analysing the cortisol level using Faecal Glucocortic...

Species of the genus Pelecitus Railliet & Henry, 1910 are the most widely distributed avian filariae in Africa and South America. Zoonotic cases in humans were reported in South America. While investigating the filarial fauna of wild animals in Malaysia, we discovered an undescribed filaria from the swollen footpad of the left leg of Copsychus mala...

Communal roosting by urban birds, such as crows, mynas, and starlings, can be a public nuisance due to excessive noise and fouling of the surroundings with droppings. Food availability within proximity to the roosting area is one of the key factors influencing roosting site preference and fidelity. The diets of roosting mynas and crows have been we...

A total of 48 species of freshwater fishes were recorded in the Gemas River. They belong to 17 families which are Cyprinidae, Danionidae, Cobitidae, Balitoridae, Nemacheilidae, Sisoridae, Siluridae, Claridae, Bagridae, Syngnathidae, Synbranchidae, Mastacembelidae, Zenarchopteridae Pristolepididae, Eleotrididae, Osphronemidae and Channidae. Family C...

The Ulu Gombak Field Studies Centre, Universiti Malaya was opened in 1965 for teaching and research in Malaysian tropical rainforest. Mist-netting at that time, and subsequently, was carried out within the forested area of the field studies centre, enclosed by the gazetted Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve. In this study, we have repeated the bird mist-net...

Sexually anomalous individuals, typically intersexes or gynandromorphs, bear a mixture of male and female traits. Twelve sexually anomalous individuals of the black fly Simulium (Gomphostilbia) trangense Jitklang, Kuvangkadilok, Baimai, Takaoka & Adler were discovered among 49 adults reared from pupae. All 12 sexually anomalous adults were parasiti...

Most female black flies in the genus Simulium are blood-sucking flies and they can cause various parasitic diseases in human and animal. A total of 94 species of black flies have been reported in Malaysia, however, their biting behavior and role as vector of infectious agents remain understudied. To fill in this knowledge gap, we attempted to surve...

Eight species of hornbill occur in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah. Hornbills are secondary cavity-nesting birds and one of the limiting factors to sustain their numbers is the availability of naturally-formed tree cavities. Past timber extraction has left behind highly degraded forest patches without large emergent trees that usua...

Mixed-species flocks (MSFs) serve important roles in bird communities, especially in tropical forests. Although structure of mixed-species bird flocks and its benefits has been intensively studied globally, the foraging plasticity of a species when joining MSFs has rarely been evaluated. The present study examines foraging strategies of the Rufous-...

Several intertidal and supratidal systems were investigated in the Brunei Bay to assess the diversity and assemblage structure of grapsoid crabs (Brachyura: Grapsoidea) in different salinity and substrate conditions, type of vegetation, and distance from water bodies. The structure of the assemblages differed remarkably across and within sites, and...

In Peninsular Malaysia, passage and wintering Barn Swallows often congregate at nocturnal roosts in towns, most conspicuously on utility wires and adjoining roofs and ledges. As a Holarctic migrant, the species is potentially susceptible to population crashes. The first objective of this study was to investigate half-centennial changes in the numbe...

Background: The genus Onchocerca Diesing, 1841 includes species of medical importance, such as O. volvulus (Leuckart, 1893), which causes river blindness in the tropics. Recently, zoonotic onchocercosis has been reported in humans worldwide. In Japan, O. dewittei japonica Uni, Bain & Takaoka, 2001 from wild boars is a causative agent for this zoon...

We describe Morishitium polonicum malayense n. subsp. from Asian glossy starlings (Aplonis panayensis strigata) (Horsfield, 1821) (Passeriformis: Sturnidae) caught in Malaysia. The trematodes had parasitized the air sacs and the thoracic and body cavities of 40 out of 67 (59.7%) birds examined. The specimens each had an oral sucker, a postpharyngea...

SouthEast Asia is a biodiversity hot spot for several different animal and plant taxa, and grapsoid crabs are dominant components of its mangrove macrofauna. However, autecological traits of the species and assemblage structures are still largely undescribed. During the period 2012-14, we surveyed six mainland and insular mangrove sites along the w...

Little is known about the nesting behaviour of the Helmeted Hornbill Rhinoplax vigil because it occurs in low numbers and nests are difficult to locate. The nest cavity is usually high and hidden amidst thick foliage and the cavity’s opening is inclined upwards, making it hard to see from the ground. A nesting pair of Helmeted Hornbills was observe...

Aerial leaf litter is a vital resource for insectivorous birds in tropical forests, particularly those that rely on dietary litter-dependent arthropods. The present study quantified and determined aerial-leaf litter selection patterns of specialist and regular dead-leaf users. In total, 486 observation sessions were conducted in a lowland tropical...

Capsule: Although woodland habitat supports higher avian species diversity and abundance, shrubland may be more important for migratory species. Aims: To investigate the use of habitat, site and season by bird species according to feeding guild, residence status and population trend in Dutse, Northern Nigeria. Methods: A point transect was used to...

Despite the importance of diet in avian ecology, knowledge of bird diet in tropical regions, particularly South-East Asia, is limited. Assessing predator–prey relationships of how energy flows across ecosystems provides insight into niche segregation of sympatric species. We examined induced-regurgitation samples from 15 species of insectivorous bi...

Up to three nominal species of the cyprinid fish genus Poropuntius (i.e. P. deauratus [Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1842], P. normani [Smith 1931], and P. smedleyi [de Beaufort 1933]) have been reported to occur in Peninsular Malaysian freshwater ecosystems. However, low morphological differentiation among species of Poropuntius causes con...

With the rapid growth of agricultural areas globally, forest birds increasingly encounter fragmented landscapes in which forest patches are surrounded by an agricultural plantation matrix, yet how birds respond behaviourally to this fragmentation is poorly understood. Information on microhabitat requirements of birds is scarce, but nevertheless ess...

Dietary study provides understanding in predator-prey relationships, yet diet of tropical forest birds is poorly understood. In this study, a non-invasive method, next-generation sequencing (Illumina MiSeq platform) was used to identify prey in the faecal samples of the Rufous-winged Philentoma (Philentoma pyrhoptera). Dietary samples were collecte...

This is the first report of the avian assemblage in the study area of Dutse, Nigeria. In addition to recording bird species, the effects of season, dominant vegetation structure, locality and anthropogenic activities on bird abundance, species richness and diversity were investigated. Using the point transect method, 264 points on 48 km of transect...

Background Intense landscaping often alters the plant composition in urban areas. Knowing which plant species that pollinators are visiting in urban areas is necessary for understanding how landscaping impacts biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. The cave nectar bat, Eonycteris spelaea , is an important pollinator for many plants and is...

R script. R script used for estimating the species richness and sampling completeness ratio.

Complete checklist of plants consumed by Eonycteris spelaea. References: 1= Start & Marshall (1976) reported 31 plant species in diet of E. spealea roosting at Batu Caves and Gua Sanding in Peninsular Malaysia; 2= Hodgkison et al. (2004) reported four plant species in diet of E. spealea at primary forest in Peninsular Malaysia; 3= Bumrungsri et al....

Primers used in this study. Illumina adaptors are underlined whereas primer sequence are shown in regular font.

Further details on assigning taxonomic names to each OTU. Taxonomic assignation is based on BLAST results.

The expansion of cities and agricultural plantations have unpredictable impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Yet some species are capable of tolerating anthropogenic impacts and continue to provide ecological services in highly disturbed landscapes. The objective of this study was to use DNA barcoding to identify digested plant materials...

Background. Intense landscaping often alters the plant composition in urban areas. Knowing which plant species that pollinators are visiting in urban areas is necessary for understanding how landscaping impacts biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. The cave nectar bat, Eonycteris spelaea , is an important pollinator for many plants and is...

Background. Intense landscaping often alters the plant composition in urban areas. Knowing which plant species that pollinators are visiting in urban areas is necessary for understanding how landscaping impacts biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. The cave nectar bat, Eonycteris spelaea , is an important pollinator for many plants and is...

Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, is an intracellular bacterium of medical and veterinary importance. The reservoirs of C. burnetii are extensive which include mammals and arthropods, particularly ticks. As the organism is difficult to culture, this study was aimed to detect C. burnetii DNA in animal (mainly blood and vaginal sampl...

Several published checklists of bat species have covered Peninsular Malaysia as part of a broader region and/or in combination with other mammal groups. Other researchers have produced comprehensive checklists for specific localities within the peninsula. To our knowledge, a comprehensive checklist of bats specifically for the entire geopolitical r...

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Asellia stoliczkana on BOLD. (PDF)

Checklist of bats of Peninsular Malaysia. (XLS)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Murina suilla on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Coelops frithi on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Hipposideros pomona on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Rhinolophus acuminatus on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Rhinolophus macrotis on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Rhinolophus pusillus on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Murina huttoni on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Tylonycteris pachypus on BOLD. (PDF)

NJ tree of DNA barcodes recorded as Myotis siligorensis on BOLD. (PDF)

An 11-year-old boy living in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, Kansai Region, Western Honshu, Japan had zoonotic onchocercosis. The patient developed a painful swelling on the little finger of his left hand. The worm detected in the excised mass had external transverse ridges but did not have inner striae in the cuticle. On the basis of the parasite's h...

The ellobiid Ellobium scheepmakeri (Petit de la Saussaye, 1850) is reported from the banks of the Selangor River estuary, 57 years after it was first collected in Peninsular Malaysia. It was found in abundance under logs in the dryland mangrove forest of a dominantly Nypa swamp at the upper reaches of the Kuala Selangor estuary where sediment pore...

Background The filarial nematodes Wuchereria bancrofti (Cobbold, 1877), Brugia malayi (Brug, 1927) and B. timori Partono, Purnomo, Dennis, Atmosoedjono, Oemijati & Cross, 1977 cause lymphatic diseases in humans in the tropics, while B. pahangi (Buckley & Edeson, 1956) infects carnivores and causes zoonotic diseases in humans in Malaysia. Wuchereria...

Niche theory suggests that sympatric species reduce interspecific competition through segregation of shared resources by adopting different attack manoeuvres. However, the fact that flycatcher-like bird species exclusively use the sally manoeuvre may thus challenge this view. We studied the foraging ecology of three flycatcher-like species (i.e. Pa...

A study was conducted in the mudflats of Jeram and Remis Beaches, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia from November 2013 until July 2014 to determine the effects of disturbance on shorebird and waterbird abundance and foraging behavior. Direct observation was used in this study. Mann-Whitney test showed no significant difference in abundance of bird in J...

Tropical rainforests are considered as hotspots for bird diversity, yet little is known about the system that upholds the coexistence of species. Differences in body size that are associated with foraging strategies and spatial distribution are believed to promote the coexistence of closely related species by reducing competition. However, the fact...

Foraging height and attack manoeuvre variables. Data are given as percentages (%). (PDF)

Diagram showing six sampling trails at Bukit Rengit, southern part of Krau Wildlife Reserve, Pahang, Malaysia. Solid circle represents observation point. (TIF)

Foraging substrate and foliage density variables. Data are given as percentages (%). (PDF)

Background Taxonomists frequently identify specimen from various populations based on the morphological characteristics and molecular data. This study looks into another invasive process in identification of house shrew (Suncus murinus) using image analysis and machine learning approaches. Thus, an automated identification system is developed to as...