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 using belt transects of 100 m in length and 4 m in width in the oil palm plantation. A total of three replicates for each soil types were done from the nine transects for each location. A total of 41 species from five subfamilies (i.e. Coptotermitinae, Rhinotermitinae, Termitinae, Macrotermitinae and Nasutitemitinae) and two families (i.e. Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae) of termite species were successfully sampled and recorded. Sand soil (81 colonies: 12 species; four subfamilies; two families) recorded the highest colonies, followed by peat soil (62 colonies: 12 species; five subfamilies; two families), and clay soil (47 colonies consisting; nine species, four subfamilies and two families). There was a significant difference (?2 = 618 886, df = 328, p<0.005) between soil types and termite species composition that were found in the oil palm plantation. This study identified that the diversity and abundance of termites differed between soil types in different oil palm plantations.

Status of termite pest infestation as well as the changes through time, corresponding to oil palm conversion from peat in Malaysia can be studied. In accessing the status of palms infested by Coptotermes sp., stand scouting method was conducted to map the presence of this genus as well as the infestation status in each palm. The palms were accessed from ground level to hand-reached level and this was done in 24 ha field block with deep peat soil. The presence of Coptotermes sp., dead and replaced palms were recorded on census sheet, designed according to the real ground arrangement of the palms. Advanced spatial pattern by distance indices (SADIE) was adapted to generate the indices of aggregation and clustering values for each study sites. These values were exported into SURFER 8 software to generate red-blue contour maps with patches and gaps. Standardized stand scouting method yielded in six Coptotermes species collected in peat swamp converted oil palm field. The distribution pattern of Coptotermes caused by the environmental influences as well as the availability of wood resources. The patch and gap areas as well as the random areas are not consistently occurred. Small patches divided by gaps indicate one termite colony while larger patches are formed by more than one colony. This study contributes in the information on spatial pattern of termite pest species in oil palm plantation. The latter may present the changes in the status of the species over time. � 2017, Centre for Insects Systematic, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Coleoptera is the most diverse group of insect with important roles in ecosystem and tremendous economic importance especially in oil palm industry. A study of the diversity and abundance of soil beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) on different type of soil in the Endau-Rompin Plantation, Pahang was conducted started in 2009 until 2012. The study aims to determine the diversity and abundance of soil beetle in Endau-Rompin Plantation, Pahang and to provide an inventory of soil beetle in the Endau-Rompin Plantation, Pahang. Samples were collected by using transects and light traps (UV). A total of 657 individuals Carabidae (soil beetles) were successfully recorded for the results of this study. There were five subfamilies namely Harpalinae (75.64%), Trechinae (14.46%), Scaritinae (8.37%), Cicindelinae (1.38%) and Lebiinae (0.15%) which had been recorded. The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H ') shows the highest variability in the shallow peat (H�: 1.495) and the lowest is in the deep peat (H�:0.904). The study of the three soil types did not affect the species numbers present in the study indicated with no significant difference (p >0.05). The probability of overlapping species is based on the presence and absence of Carabidae (soil bettles) species at the study site and is divided into four groups. � 2019, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press. All rights reserved.

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 sampling time was divided to the morning session (8:00 am to12:00 pm) and the evening session (2.00 pm to 6.00 pm). The presence of termites at each sampling time was recorded. A total of 12 belt transects with six replications for each sampling time at four different localities (MyFKT, MyLSK, IdFRGB, and IdCPSK) were placed. The results showed that the morning session recorded more species(31 species) in comparison to the evening session (15 species), and there are significant differences between the two sessions (?2=45,119, df=30, p<0.05). Based on the autocorrelation, there are also significant differences on the termite�s activities between the two session. Overall, the termite activity is more active in the morning. The effect on the environment such as temperature and humidity in the morning and midday affect the abundance, diversity, and the presence of termites. � 2017, Centre for Insects Systematic, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Studies of soil communities are few and not widely covered at area of monoculture plantation while the community contributed significantly to the stability of an ecosystem. The purpose othe study was to determine the composition of macroarthropod associated with decaying oipalm biomass at three different types of soil and cluster them in feeding guild. This study used line transect method with five sampling units at each types of soil in the palm oil ecosystem oEndau Rompin, Pahang consist of clay, shallow peat and deep peat. The total number osampling units are 15 units (quadrats) and the sampling was conducted three times. A total o942 individuals from 14 orders and 38 families of macroarthropod were successfully sampled at Endau Rompin. This study obtained four classes of arthropod which are ArachnidsHexapods, Malacostraca and also Myriapods. Number of individuals of arthropods for each soil types were recorded which is from Clay soil (432 individuals; 12 orders; 30 families)shallow peat soil (386 individuals; 14 orders; 30 families) and deep peat soil registered (133 individuals; 9 orders; 18 families). Significant difference (?2 = 312.285, dk = 74, p <0.05between the types of soil and family of macroarthropods were identified. The two-way clusteanalysis identified 11 groups of communities of soil macroartropods based on their feeding guild. Omnivorous group (69%) were the highest group followed by predators (17.3%)scavengers (13.4%) and lastly phytophagous (0.3%). This study had able to identify communities of macroarthropod associated with decaying oil palm biomass at three differentypes of soil and cluster them to feeding guilds. This studies also managed to determine thaabundance of soil communities were based on the plant grid position along the plantation field. � 2018, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Press. All rights reserved.

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 sampled by modified transect protocols (100 m � 4 m � 10 cm). A total of 23 species belonging to two families and five subfamilies were collected. The termite assemblage was dominated by wood-feeding termites. The major family collected was Rhinotermitidae which included some pest species, such as Coptotermes curvignathus, C. sepangensis, C. kalshoveni, Schedorhinotermes malaccensis, S. medioobscurus, S. brevialatus, and S. javanicus. � 2016 Author(s).