PLATINUM The Journal of Threatened Taxa (JoTT) is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles OPEN ACCESS online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of artcles in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Communication The insect fauna of Tenompok Forest Reserve in Sabah, Malaysia Arthur Y.C. Chung, Viviannye Paul & Steven Bosuang 26 March 2020 | Vol. 12 | No. 4 | Pages: 15443–15459 DOI: 10.11609/jot.5588.12.4.15443-15459 For Focus, Scope, Aims, Policies, and Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-0 For Artcle Submission Guidelines, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct, visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-2 For reprints, contact <[email protected]> The opinions expressed by the authors do not refect the views of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society, Zoo Outreach Organizaton, or any of the partners. The journal, the publisher, the host, and the part- Publisher & Host ners are not responsible for the accuracy of the politcal boundaries shown in the maps by the authors. Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 March 2020 | 12(4): 15443–15459 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5588.12.4.15443-15459 #5588 | Received 26 November 2019 | Final received 23 January 2020 | Finally accepted 24 February 2020 C o m The insect fauna of Tenompok Forest Reserve in Sabah, Malaysia m u n 1 2 3 i Arthur Y.C. Chung , Viviannye Paul & Steven Bosuang c a 1,2 Forest Research Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, P.O. Box 1407, 90715 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. t 3 P.O. Box 88831, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia. i 1 2 3 o [email protected] (corresponding author), [email protected], [email protected] n Abstract: The insect fauna in Tenompok Forest Reserve, adjacent to Mount Kinabalu in Sabah was surveyed. Nocturnal insect diversity was moderately high, compared to other forest reserves surveyed earlier. Species richness, however, was moderate, with an average of 73 species from 84 individuals recorded from a 1m2 area of the light-trapping cloth. At least 20 Bornean endemic insect species were recorded from this rapid biodiversity assessment, which include 19 moth species and one beetle species. The endemics and other insects of conservaton interest recorded during the survey provide salient informaton to enhance the conservaton efort of this forest which connects Kinabalu Park and the Crocker Range Park. Such informaton provides inputs towards recommendatons on high conservaton value (HCV) of the area that would be incorporated in the formulaton of the forest management plan. Issues afectng the insect fauna and recommendatons on insect diversity enhancement and conservaton are highlighted in this paper. Keywords: Biodiversity conservaton, diversity, Heart of Borneo, insect fauna, Tenompok Forest Reserve. Malay abstract: Satu tnjauan fauna serangga telah dijalankan di Hutan Simpan Tenompok, berhampiran dengan Gunung Kinabalu di Sabah. Kepelbagaian serangga malam adalah sederhana tnggi berbanding dengan hutan-hutan simpan lain yang telah dikaji sebelum ini. Walau bagaimanapun, kekayaan spesies adalah sederhana, dengan purata 73 spesies dari 84 individu yang telah direkodkan dari 1m2 kain puth perangkap cahaya. Sekurang-kurangnya 20 spesies serangga endemik kepada Borneo telah direkodkan dari penilaian kepelbagaian pantas ini, yang merangkumi 19 spesies rama-rama dan satu spesies kumbang. Spesies endemik serta serangga berkepentngan konservasi yang lain memberikan maklumat yang boleh membantu dalam mempertngkatkan usaha konservasi hutan ini, yang menghubungkan Taman Kinabalu dan Taman Banjaran Crocker. Maklumat sebegini membekalkan input terhadap rekomendasi untuk kawasan konservasi bernilai tnggi dalam penyediaan pelan pengurusan hutan. Isu-isu berkaitan dengan fauna serangga serta rekomendasi untuk konservasi dan peningkatan kepelbagaian serangga turut diketengahkan dalam penerbitan ini. Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publicaton: 26 March 2020 (online & print) Citaton: Chung, A.Y.C., V. Paul & S. Bosuang (2020).The insect fauna of Tenompok Forest Reserve in Sabah, Malaysia. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(4): 15443–15459. htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.5588.12.4.15443-15459 Copyright: © Chung et al. 2020. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproducton, and distributon of this artcle in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publicaton. Funding: Sabah Forestry Department through the Federal Ministry of Energy & Natural Resources, Malaysia (formerly Ministry of Water, Land & Natural Resources). Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests. Author details: Arthur Y.C. Chung and Steven Bosuang are entomologists based in Sabah. Arthur Y.C. Chung is a senior researcher while Viviannye Paul is a researcher at the Sabah Forestry Department. Author contributon: AYCC and VP partcipated in the survey. SB is an expert on beetles and other montane insects. He contributed signifcantly in identfcaton. Acknowledgements: The Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Mashor Mohd. Jaini and his deputes, Frederick Kugan and Dr Robert Ong are acknowledged for their support. This scientfc expediton was an actvity under the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Initatve with funding from the 11th Malaysia Plan through the Ministry of Water, Land & Natural Resources (formerly Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment). John Sugau, Dr Reuben Nilus and Mohd. Aminur Faiz facilitated the arrangement for the feldtrip. Mohd. Jumri provided the maps. We thank the DFO of Ranau and his staf for logistcs and feld support. Dr Homathevi Rahman, Momin Bint, John L. Yukang, Saudi Bintang and N. Aqidah Ibrahim assisted in this study. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructve comments on an earlier manuscript. 15443 J TT Insect fauna of Tenompok Forest Reserve in Sabah Chung et al. INTRODUCTION KP and CRP reside on the same range, the parks are physically separated from each other; their boundaries The Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo is known for are separated by a distance of approximately 10km at its remarkable biodiversity and iconic wildlife species the closest point. Forest fragmentaton that occurs (Oldfeld 2014), including insects (Chung et al. 2015). within these two protected areas due to uncontrolled These are the natural treasures that need to be protected deforestaton and expansion of agriculture and human and conserved, as stpulated in the Sabah Biodiversity actvites has been an issue. Strategy 2012–2022 (Anon. 2012). This strategy is in line with the Natonal Policy on Biological Diversity (Anon. 2016) that seeks to conserve Malaysia’s biodiversity MATERIALS & METHODS and to ensure that its components are utlised in a sustainable manner for contnued progress and socio- Study area economic development. In line with this strategy, the Tenompok FR (Figure 1 and Image 1) is a Class Sabah Forestry Department has been in the forefront I Protecton FR and is situated adjacent to Mount in implementng biodiversity conservaton programmes Kinabalu (4,095m) (Image 2), the tallest mountain in under the Heart of Borneo (HoB) Initatve. The HoB Malaysia. It is located beside the Kota Kinabalu-Ranau initatve is a ‘three countries – one vision’ responsibility, highway, approximately 92km east of Kota Kinabalu and which is to protect and conserve the rich biodiversity 19km west of Ranau. With an area of 1,984ha the forest within this area. It is a voluntary transboundary reserve is under the jurisdicton of the Ranau District cooperaton aimed at conserving and managing the Forestry Ofcer. It is surrounded by villages (‘kampung’ ecologically inter-connected highlands of Borneo and in Malay and ofen used as ‘Kg.’ before the name of parts of the adjacent foothills and lowland rainforests, the village), namely Kg. Bundu Tuhan in the east, Kg. which straddle the borders of three ASEAN countries, Torolobou and Kg. Toboh in the south, Kg. Kiau in the covering an area of approximately 2,00,000km2 (Anon. north, and Kg. Tiong in the west. 2013). The forest is mountainous, (1,040–1,650 m), with Insect numbers are declining globally (Basset & slope amplitudes in excess of 300m and normally greater Lamarre 2019). Hence, much atenton should be given to than 25o. The soil associatons in this reserve are mainly this group of living organisms. Within the HoB initatve, Croker and Trusmadi, based on the soil classifcaton biodiversity documentaton has been extensively carried in Sabah (Acres et al. 1975). The reserve is a water out in Sabah, encompassing insect diversity as well, e.g., catchment area for Kg. Bundu Tuhan and many other Chung et al. (2013, 2016a,b), since much is stll unknown villages. Several rivers fow from this reserve, namely about the insect fauna compared to the large and Liodan, Kenipir, Terleboh, Luminanap,