Aim: This study aims to understand the distribution of Pomacea spp. in various rice fields of Peninsular Malaysia. Place and Duration of study: The study was conducted at twenty five rice fields from five states in Peninsular Malaysia (Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan) during the sowing and harvesting of off rice season-2013. Methodology: This study was carried out on rice fields of one acre in size which were further divided into four blocks. A 0.5m 2 quadrate was used for sampling and snails within the quadrate were collected, counted and identified based on their shell morphology by the experts. Results: Based on this study, Pomacea maculata was more abundant and widely distributed as compared to Pomacea canaliculata. Rice fields in Perak showed the highest population distribution of Pomacea spp. during both sowing and harvesting of rice.

Wood products are highly exposed to infestation by powder post beetles. Dinoderus minutus (bamboo borer) is a wood boring beetle that seriously damage dried bamboo and finished bamboo products. Management of D. minutus using pesticides showed negative effects on environment despite being very costly. By understanding influence of natural climatic conditions on their reproductive behaviour, could help us to develop a cost effective and environmental friendly strategy to cope up with this problem. In the present study, reproductive parameters and egg development of the bamboo borer were determined at 20%, 40%, 56%, 75% and 85% r.h. levels at constant temperature of 30° ± 2°C with 8 L-16D photoregime. From the results, eclosion to first instar larva was recorded at all relative humidities tested. The lowest shortest percentage of hatchability was recorded at 20% and 85% relative humidity with a mean incubation period of 4.63 ± 0.25 and 10.43 ± 0.32 days, respectively. It was noted that pre-ovipositional period decreased from 14.20 ± 0.49 to 7.20 ± 0.31 days as relative humidity increased from 20% to 75% and slightly increased to 8.00 ± 0.37 days at 85% relative humidity. We conclude that female beetles may have a particular hygropreference in oviposition as total egg production increased with increasing relative humidity.

Oryctes rhinoceros, commonly known as the rhinoceros beetle is an important agricultural pest that is known to inflict serious damage on young oil palm trees. Many researches have been conducted on its development, life cycle, habitat, management and genomic variation ever since the need to understand this pest arose. Oryctes rhinoceros is among the longest present agricultural pest in Malaysia and it has witnessed the formulation and implementation of various phases of control and management strategies. To date, research and development activities are still ongoing in Malaysia for the successful management of this pest. In this review, we look into details on the characteristics of this pest, the modes of its introduction into Malaysia, as well as the events that helped to establish and contribute to the proliferation of this pest as a major oil palm threat in Malaysia. The progressive development of various research and development activities concerning the management and control of this pest are also highlighted.

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Bemisia tabaci, a resistance-prone insect pest, is a cryptic species complex with important invasive biotypes such as B and Q. The biotype and resistance statuses of this pest in Malaysia remain unclear. This study assessed the biotype and resistance status of a number of contemporary populations of B. tabaci based on the mtCO1 marker and the dose-response method, respectively. The Pahang (PHG) population was labelled as the Q biotype, while the remainder of the populations belonged to the Asia 1 biotype. A very low level of resistance for profenofos, cypermethrin, and imidacloprid was detected for all populations [resistance factor (RF) < 10]. Resistance to diafenthiuron ranged from very low to very high (RF > 100). All populations showed a very low level of resistance against pymetrozine except Q-type PHG population, which exhibited a very high level of resistance. For most insecticides, the highest level of resistance was detected in the PHG population. The implications of these findings for better management of this noxious pest are discussed.

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Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is an important worldwide pest of citrus, because of its ability to vector the three phloem-restricted bacteria in the genus Candidatus Liberibacter, that cause citrus greening or huanglungbing. Studies were conducted to examine the effects of flush growth stage and volatile compounds emitted by two rutaceae plants on oviposition and feeding site selection of D. citri. Three methods including choice, no choice and Y tube olfactometer assays were conducted using plants with only newly expanded leaves (4-6 days old), plants with all leaves completely hardened (14-21 days old) and plants without leaves (14-21 days old). The results showed that significant number of adult D. citri were attracted to plants with newly expanded leaves for oviposition and feeding in both choice and no choice assay, and when the two plants were assayed together in Y tube, significant number of the adults select Y tube arm with Citrus suhuiensis leaves and similarly in choice assay more adults select C. suhuiensis for oviposition and feeding than Murraya paniculata. The results gave an insight into response of D. citri to different plant forms and volatiles emitted by the plant which is useful in monitoring and management of the pest.