Fireflies of Beaufort with special reference to Sungai Garama and Sungai Klias

Transcription

1 Sepilok Bulletin 12: (2010) Fireflies of Beaufort with special reference to and Sungai Klias V.K. Chey Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, P.O. Box 1407, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. Abstract. A survey on the fireflies along both the rivers and Sungai Klias near Beaufort in south-western Sabah was conducted in September Three firefly species, Pteroptyx similis Ballantyne (endemic to Borneo), Pteroptyx malaccae Gorham, and Pteroptyx tener Olivier were sampled at both rivers. Pteroptyx tener occurred in bigger numbers on its display trees and was the most synchronous. Keywords: Borneo, fireflies, Pteroptyx malaccae, Pteroptyx similis, Pteroptyx tener, Sungai Garama, Sungai Klias INTRODUCTION These days, Sungai Klias and the adjacent, near the town of Beaufort in south-western Sabah, are popular destinations for viewing the proboscis monkey (Bernard & Zulhazman 2005) in its natural habitat of peat swamp and mangrove vegetation. Both rivers are also popular for firefly-watching. Visitors in boats come to enjoy at sunset the endearing antics of the proboscis monkeys frolicking on trees, followed by the spectacular display of the flashing fireflies when the day becomes night. Despite being an important ecotourism icon, information on the identity of the fireflies of Sungai Klias and is hard to find and at best sketchy. Chey (2004) published a short account on the fireflies of Sungai Klias. This paper aims to update the information with another survey as well as to include the fireflies found at the adjacent. MATERIALS & METHODS The survey was carried out right after sunset in September For (Figure 1), it was conducted in a boat starting from the Klias-Garama forestry station, at the confluence of Klias and Garama, going upriver to the Garama jetty. As for Sungai Klias, likewise the survey was conducted in a boat starting from the Klias-Garama forestry station going upriver to the Klias jetty. The altitude was m. 13

2 Fireflies seen on display trees along the rivers were sampled using sweep-net, put into vials and labelled. Their display trees were also sampled for identification. Figure 1. Map showing and Sungai Klias in the Padas Damit Forest Reserve. Source: ArcView GIS 3.2a. RESULTS & DISCUSSION Table 1 shows the results obtained from the survey. Three firefly species namely Pteroptyx similis Ballantyne (Plates 1 & 2), Pteroptyx malaccae Gorham (Plates 3 & 4), and Pteroptyx tener Olivier (Plates 5 & 6) (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) were sampled in the survey. Pteroptyx similis (body length 5-6 mm) is rather similar to Pteroptyx tener except its tergite 7 is prominently prolonged posterolaterally, and it has pointed projections to each side of the median posterior margin of tergite 8 (Chey 2008). Morphologically Pteroptyx malaccae (body length about 7 mm) is quite similar to Pteroptyx gelasina Ballantyne (Ballantyne 2001) except the posterior end of its elytra is not dimpled, its hindtibia is bigger at the apex, and the basal segment of its antenna (scape) is strongly produced to the side. 14

3 Table 1. Male fireflies sampled at and Sungai Klias with their display trees. n = number of individuals. Tree No. Display tree Firefly (n) River 1. Rhizophora apiculata 2. Rhizophora apiculata 3. Rhizophora apiculata 4. Rhizophora apiculata 5. Rhizophora apiculata 6. Ficus microcarpa (Moraceae) 7. Clerodendrum inerme (Verbenaceae) 8. Rhizophora apiculata 9. Rhizophora apiculata 10. Glochidion littorale (Euphorbiaceae) & Rhizophora apiculata Pteroptyx similis (4) Pteroptyx similis (6) Pteroptyx similis (2) Pteroptyx similis (1) Pteroptyx malaccae (1) Pteroptyx similis (2) Pteroptyx malaccae (1) Pteroptyx tener (5) Pteroptyx similis (3) Pteroptyx malaccae (2) Pteroptyx tener (7) Pteroptyx malaccae (1) Pteroptyx similis (3) Pteroptyx similis (2) Pteroptyx malaccae (1) Pteroptyx tener (3) Sungai Klias Sungai Klias Sungai Klias In terms of behaviour, as evident in this survey, Pteroptyx tener occurred in bigger numbers on its display trees and was the most synchronous. It is interesting to note that in the surveys of fireflies conducted by the author in the mangrove forest of Sabah namely Paitan (Chey 2006), Sepilok (Chey 2008), Tuaran (Chey 2009), Pulau Sakar (Chey 2009), at all localities Pteroptyx similis is by far the most common, with some Pteroptyx gelasina, but no Pteroptyx tener was sampled. Both Pteroptyx similis and Pteroptyx gelasina are endemic to Borneo (Ballantyne 2001). In this survey, it also appeared that Pteroptyx similis was more commonly found on the mangrove tree Rhizophora apiculata (local name: Bangkita). Pteroptyx tener was sampled on Ficus microcarpa (local name: Ara), Clerodendrum inerme, and Glochidion littorale (local name: Saka-Saka) mixed with Rhizophora 15

4 apiculata. It was also known to occur synchronously in large numbers (Chey 2004) on Heritiera littoralis (local name: Dungun), Excoecaria indica (local name: Apid-Apid), in the peat swamp forest along Sungai Klias. Oil palm plantation is expanding in the Klias-Garama area, despite its peat soils are known to limit cultivation of agricultural crops (Deratil et al. 2005). If left unchecked, oil palm plantation would reduce the firefly habitat and hence adversely affect the firefly population. In fact, in this survey, the fireflies along Sungai Klias seemed to have dwindled compared to what the author saw in ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The District Forest Officer of Beaufort, Mr George Angampun, provided support in logistics. Mr Ahmad Kasim of the District Forest Office accompanied me in the survey with the boatman Mr Kamli Husin and my staff Mr Willibrord Jimin and Mr Malih Antiu of the Forest Research Centre (FRC). Mr Mohmad Jumri Abdul Hamid of FRC provided the map. Mr Postar Miun of the Sepilok Herbarium in FRC identified the display trees. Dr Lesley Ballantyne of Charles Sturt University in Australia helped in firefly identification. REFERENCES Ballantyne, L.A. (2001). The bent winged fireflies of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand (Coleoptera: Lampyridae: Luciolinae: Luciolini). Pteroptyx spp. of the Polunin collection. Serangga 6(1): Bernard, H. & Zulhazman, H. (2005). Distribution and abundance of proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) in Klias Peninsula: what has happened after a decade? (In) Kugan, F. & Chey, V.K. (eds.), Conservation and management of peat swamp forests and other wetlands in Sabah: issues and challenges. Proceedings of the ninth Sabah Inter-agency Tropical Ecosystem (SITE) research seminar. Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan. Pp Chey, V.K. (2004). Fireflies of Sungai Klias and their display trees. Sepilok Bulletin 1: Chey, V.K. (2006). Fireflies of Sungai Paitan. Sepilok Bulletin 5: 1-6. Chey, V.K. (2008). Fireflies of Sepilok. Sepilok Bulletin 9: Chey, V.K. (2009). Fireflies of Tuaran. Sepilok Bulletin 10: Chey, V.K. (2009). VJR Sakar, Lahad Datu, biodiversity assessment: fireflies. Report submitted to Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan. Deratil, B., Lee, J.N.L. & Malangkig, E. (2005). Capacity evaluation of the peatland in Kuala Penyu and Beaufort for sustainable agricultural development. (In) Kugan, F. & Chey, V.K. (eds.), Conservation and management of peat swamp forests and other wetlands in Sabah: issues and challenges. Proceedings of the ninth Sabah Inter-agency Tropical Ecosystem (SITE) research seminar. Sabah Forestry Department, Sandakan. Pp

5 Plate 1. Pteroptyx similis. Plate 2. Underside of Pteroptyx similis showing whitish light organs (male). 17

6 Plate 3. Pteroptyx malaccae. Plate 4. Underside of Pteroptyx malaccae showing whitish light organs (male) 18

7 Plate 5. Pteroptyx tener. Plate 6. Underside of Pteroptyx tener showing whitish light organs (male). 19

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