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Bactrocera carambolae is a highly polyphagous fruit pest of agricultural importance. This study reports the bacterial communities associated with the developmental stages of B. carambolae. The microbiota of the developmental stages were investigated by targeted 16S rRNA gene (V3-V4 region) sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq. At 97% similarity, there were 19 bacterial phyla and unassigned bacteria, comprising 39 classes, 86 orders, 159 families and 311 genera. The bacterial composition varied among the specimens of developmental stage and across developmental stages as well as exuviae. Four phyla of bacteria (with relative abundance of ≥1% in at least one specimen)-Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria-were recovered from the larva, pupa, adult stages and exuviae. Proteobacteria was the predominant phylum in all the developmental stages as well as the exuviae. Enterobacteriaceae (Proteobacteria) was the predominant family in the adult flies while the family [Weeksellaceae] (Bacteroidetes) was predominant in the larval and pupal stages. Among the genera occurring in more than one developmental stage of B. carambolae, Erwinia was more abundant in the larval stage, Halomonas more abundant in adult female, Stenotrophomonas more abundant in adult male, and Chryseobacterium more abundant in the larval and pupal stages. The results indicate transmission of bacteria OTUs from immatures to the newly emerged adults, and from exuviae to the environment.

Phylogenetic relationships of the family Agamidae were inferred from 860 base positions of a mitochondrial DNA sequence of 12S and 16S rRNA genes. Results confirmed the monophyly of this family including Leiolepis and Uromastyx (Leiolepidinae), and indicated the sister relationship between Agamidae and Chamaeleonidae. Our results also indicated the presence of two major clades in Agamidae. In one of these major clades, "Leiolepidinae" was first diverged, followed by the Lophognathus and Hypsilurus in order, leaving Physignathus, Chlamydosaurus and Pogona as monophyletic. This result contradicts the currently prevailing hypothesis for the agamid phylogeny, which, on the basis of morphological data, assumes the primary dichotomy between Leiolepidinae and the remainder (Agaminae). The phylogenetic diversity of agamid lizards in the Australian region is supposed to have increased through an in situ continental radiation rather than through multiple colonizations from Southeast Asia. Distributions of some species in Asia and Melanesia are attributed to the secondary dispersals subsequent to this radiation.

The structure and organization of aquatic arthropod communities in Nepenthes ampullaria pitchers were studied at two sites (M in Malacca and K in Kuching) in Malaysia. The communities consisted mainly of aquatic dipteran larvae. Community M was dominated by a filter feeder, Tripteroides tenax, which reached a high density despite a strongly aggregated distribution. Community K had five trophic groups: carrion feeders, filter feeders, detritus feeders, nipping predators and hooking predators, each including multiple species. The summed density of filter feeders in Community K remained much below the level attained by filter feeders in Community M. Niche differentiation within each trophic group with regard to pitcher age and feeding behaviour was not sufficient to allow species coexistence through niche separation alone. Aggregated distributions directly reduced interspecific encounters. Nevertheless, species belonging to the same trophic group commonly shared the same pitcher, because of high occurrence probabilities of dominant species and positive associations between some taxa (due mainly to similar occupancies by pitcher age). Predator coexistence in Community K may have been facilitated by self-limitation of the large predators through intraspecific cannibalism strengthened by aggregation. Prey coexistence, on the other hand, may have relied more on population suppression by predation, especially the selective removal of old instar Tripteroides.

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Phylogenetic relationships among 12 species of the genus Draco were inferred from 779 base pairs of mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA genes and allozymes for 20 presumptive loci. Results indicated the presence of at least four distinct lineages within the genus. The first lineage consists of D. volans and D. cornutus, whereas the second only of D. lineatus, which exhibits a great genetic divergence between two subspecies. The third is monotypic with D. dussumieri, the only species distributed in southern India. The fourth included all the remaining species. The third and fourth lineages are supposed to exclusively share a common ancestor. It is likely that the common ancestor of whole Draco originally diverged into three groups, the ancestors of the first, second, and third and fourth lineages, by vicariance. In the fourth lineage, D. blanfordii, D. haematopogon, D. melanopogon, D. obscurus and D. taeniopterus are likely to be exclusively close to each other. The resultant phylogenetic tree contradicts the dichotomous relationships previously hypothesized on the basis of morphological characters.

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The whole mitochondrial genome of the pest fruit fly Bactrocera arecae was obtained from next-generation sequencing of genomic DNA. It had a total length of 15,900 bp, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes and a non-coding region (A + T-rich control region). The control region (952 bp) was flanked by rrnS and trnI genes. The start codons included 6 ATG, 3 ATT and 1 each of ATA, ATC, GTG and TCG. Eight TAA, two TAG, one incomplete TA and two incomplete T stop codons were represented in the protein-coding genes. The cloverleaf structure for trnS1 lacked the D-loop, and that of trnN and trnF lacked the TΨC-loop. Molecular phylogeny based on 13 protein-coding genes was concordant with 37 mitochondrial genes, with B. arecae having closest genetic affinity to B. tryoni. The subgenus Bactrocera of Dacini tribe and the Dacinae subfamily (Dacini and Ceratitidini tribes) were monophyletic. The whole mitogenome of B. arecae will serve as a useful dataset for studying the genetics, systematics and phylogenetic relationships of the many species of Bactrocera genus in particular, and tephritid fruit flies in general.