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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 major role in conservation and management programs. Objectives of this study were to investigate the relationships among P. tener from five populations in Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo (Sabah) using cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and to obtain its haplotype information. A total of 50 sequences of P. tener were used in the Neighbour-Joining (NJ), Maximum Parsimony (MP), and Bayesian Inference (BI) phylogenetic analyses and successfully formed several distinct clades of West and East Malaysia (East Coast and West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia) with moderately to highly supported bootstrap values and posterior probabilities. Several haplotype analysis parameters are presented; low nucleotide diversity (PiT, 0.01893), haplotype number (Hn, 19), and high haplotype diversity (Hd, 0.89469). Our findings assumed that the geographical isolation due to the inability for flying long distances without help by the wind and flooding in tidal rivers. The data presented here are important genetic information on the P. tener populations and are important for the conservation programme in Malaysia by conducting the breeding program among populations that have similar genetic information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sawtoothed grain beetle, Oryzaephilus surinamensis, is a secondary pest that damages rice products and other stored grains. Analysis based on the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences data, the number of haplotypes (Hap) (n), haplotype diversity (Hd), haplotype network, genetic distance, and phylogeny between O. surinamensis populations from four regions (small-scale), viz. the northern area (Seberang Perai), middle area (Klang), southern area (Pasir Gudang), and east coast (Kuantan) of Peninsular Malaysia, as model sampling locations, were obtained. A total of five haplotypes were detected in all the test populations, two shared (Haplotype 1 and Haplotype 3) and three unique haplotypes (Haplotype 2, Haplotype 4, and Haplotype 5) with haplotype diversity value, Hd = 0.6789 were recorded. Furthermore, the neighbour-joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP), and Bayesian inference (BI) trees showed a mixture of individuals from all regions in Peninsular Malaysia (Haplotype 1 to Haplotype 4), except Haplotype 5, which was grouped with foreign populations that inherited similar haplotype with those of the European samples. This study assumed a mixture of populations presumably due to human activities and related explicitly to the exportation and importation of rice products across regions. This information is vital for strategising the control management of this pest species to reduce rice storage losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]