·. ' . Final Technical Report July 1, 1965 - June 30, 1~67 / J. L. Gressitt, Principal Investigator Bernice P. Bishop Museum~ Honolulu, Hawaii POTENnAL VECTORS AND RESERVOIRS OF DISEASE IN NEW GUINEA AND SOUTH ASIA Qualified requestors may obtain copies oE thl& report from ASTIA -2- 1. Preparing Institution: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii 96819 2. Title of Report: Potential vectors and reservoirs of disease in New Guinea and South Asta. 3. Principal Investigator: J. L. Gressitt 4. Number of pages: 10 s. Contract Number: DA-49-193-MD-2789 6. Supported by: u. s. Army Medical Research and Development Command Department of the Army Washington, o. c. 20315 ABSTRACT The project "Potential Vectors and Reservoirs of Disease in New Guinea and South Asia" was supported by the u. S. Army Medical Research and Develop­ ment Conttnand during the period July 1, 1965-June 30, 1967. During this period extensive field work was undertaken in Australian New Guinea and Indonesia for the purpose of collecting arthropods of potential medical importance, particu­ larly ectoparasites from host animals. Participants in New Guinea were Mr. and Mrs. Josef Sedlacek, Or. J. L. Gressitt, Mr. and Mrs. Owen R. Wilkes, Mr. George E. Lippert, Mr. Richard Mitchell, Mr. Phillip Colman, Dr. Nixon Wilson, Mr. Peter Shanahan, Mr. and Mrs. G. Allan Samuelson, and Mr. Raymond Straatman. In Indonesia Mr. Josef Winkler, Mr. Josef Stusak, Mr. Straatman, and Mr. A. M. R. Wegner did field \>JOrk. These field expeditions resulted in more than 900,000 specimens of arthropods and 8,000 vertebrates which have been or are still being processed and studied as well as carefully documented. Staff specialists as well as collaborators have studied or are doing taxonomic work. Many new species, new records, and new ecological data have been obtained to date. Papers have been published in the Journal 2f Medical Entomology, Journal 2£. Pacific Insects, Pacific Insects Monographs, or other established zoological journals. Many more systematic papers are in press or in preparation. ' -3- Final Technical Report Commencing in July 1965, a two-year contract to continue field work and research on arthropods of potential medical importance in New Guinea and Indonesia was made possible through financial support from the u. s. Army Medical Research and Development Command. The main purpose was to collect ecto­ parasi tes from mammals, birds and other vertebrate hosts, as well as other arthropods of potential medical importance for systematic studies. Special :emphasis was made to document host-ectoparasite data and to collect in areas which previously had not been investigated. Vertebrate animals were collected and ectoparasites were taken from them. Also, other miscellaneous insects, reptiles and amphibians were collected. Extensive field investigations were conducted primarily in various localities in Australian New Guinea with the Bishop Museum New Guinea Field Station at Wau, Northeast New Guinea, as headquarters for all field operations. During the first year of the project, Mr. and Mrs, Josef Sedlacek, resident entomologist in charge of the field station, arranged logistics for field expeditions and participated in the field work as well, mostly in the Edie Creek, Mt. Kaindi area in the vicinity of Wau. They were also instrumental, with Dr· J. L. Gressitt•s guidance, in making physical improvements and expand­ ing the station to facilitate fieldmen in their work and to do processing of specimens of arthropods which were collected by them. In November 1965 Mr. and Mrsc Sedlacek left for Port Moresby to go to Wai tape from where they proceeded up to Mt. Albert-Edward, one of the many mountains where collecting had not been previously carried out. Early in 1966, Dr. Gressitt, Mr. Raymond Straatman, and Mr. Sedlacek went on an expedition to the Eastern Highlands and then retumed to Wau. Later Mr. Straatman assisted by Mr. Peter Shanahan, collected in Abau, Mamai Plantation, Samarai and Milne Bay in Southeastern New Guinea where interesting results were obtained. Also, in early 1966, partly supported by this project, Dr. Wallace A. Steffan made two expeditions to New Guinea, one of which included Dr. Peter F. Mattingly (on leave of absence from the British Museum of Natural History, London), Oro Elizabeth N. Marks (collaborating entomologist from the Univer­ sity of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia), and Miss Yiau-min Huang (Ph.D. candidate and Bishop Museum Research Trainee). Mr. and Mrs. Sedlacek and Mr. Shanahan assisted the team in various aspects of mosquito studies, which were continued after the departure of the main party members. Mosquitoes were collected and reared at Wau, Edie Creek, Mt. Kaindi, Lae, Popondetta, Brown River, Port Moresby and Tari. Dr. Marks and Dr. Mattingly spent some time at Kundiawa while Oro Steffan and Miss fluang continued collecting in the Lae area. Much of the success of the field t-JOrk was made possible through the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries, the Department of Public Health (Malaria Section), and the Department of Forests. In March 1966 when the Sedlaceks went on leave of absence, Dr. Gressitt proceeded to Wau to manage the field station and to organize the ectoparasite­ vertebrate program, greatly amplifying the field investigations. A team of fieldmen comprised of Mr. and Mrs. Owen R. Wilkes (Mar.-Sept. 1966), Mr. George E. Lippert (Mar.-Aug. 1966), Mre Richard M. Mitchell (June-Sept. 1966), and Dr. Nixon Wilson (June-Aug. 1966), assisted by Mr. Shanahan, and other native assistants covered Edie Creek area, Mt. Kaindi, Lae, Huon Peninsula, Kratke -4- Mountains, and Popondetta, extensively collecting ectoparasites from trapped or shot animals and birds. During October through December 1966 the University of Maryland expedition headed by Dr. Robert Traub with assistants, Mr. James O•Keefe and Mr. Carleton J. Phillips, worked in various areas in New Guinea. Mr. Samuel son assisted them in some phases of the field work. In December 1966 the Museum engaged Mro Phillip H. Colman to continue ectoparasite field investigations with Mr. Straatman through June 1967. Dr~ Gressitt did field work on four mountain ranges (the Bismarck, Kubor, Schrader, and Kratke) in Northeast New Guinea where insects were probably not collected before; thereby, partly filling critical gaps in the existing coll ec­ tion of arthropods of New Guinea. He also reached the summit of Mt. Wilhel m (4,600 meters altitude) where collecting produced numerous interesting and likely new species as well as new records. In July 1966 Mr. G. Allan Samuelson, Entomologist, relieved Dr. Gressitt who had to return to Honolulu via Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan (where he attended the 11th Pacific Science Congress). Mr. Samuelson, assisted by his wife, Shirley, was in charge of the field station temporarily and arranged expeditions to the Huon Peninsula, Wau-Ed.1 e Creek region, Lake Trist, and Umboi Island, resulting in new and interesting collec­ tions as the fauna is very little known. In the Eastern Highlands, Mr. Samuelson and Tawi, a local assistant, spent a month in the field, mostly comprising subalpine and alpine collecting, including summit areas of Mt. Wilhelm and Mr. Michaelo Mro Straatman devoted most of his time doing field lVOrk in the vicinity of Wau and in Popondetta area. Upon inception of this project in July 1965, field operations in Indonesia for the collection of arthropods, particularly ectoparasites from host animal s, were greatly amplified. Dr. Josef R. Winkler collected in the mountains and volcanoes in the vicinity of Bogor, Java and, joined by Dr. Josef M. Stusak and Dr. Wilson, went to Bali and Lombok. Other localities covered by Dr. Winkler and Dr. Stusak were Komodo, Rindja, Sangeang, Mojo, Sumbawa Island, Sapudi Island, and Bawean Islandc Extensive field work was done primarily by Mr. Straatman in various localities in Sulawesi (Celebes) during most of the period. He was assisted greatly by Mro c. L. Bundt, an orchid grower. In spite of hardships encountered within Indonesia because of the political unrest, irregular travel arrangements, fluctuating cost of living, difficulty to send mail and specimens to the Museum, Mr. Straatman managed to collect in remote localities of Indonesian islands with extremely valuable and interesting results. Undoubtedly many new species and new records will be documented from the collections amassed to date. His collections will add considerably to the knowledge of the fauna of Indonesia of which very little is known. Another devoted collector, Mr. A. Ma R. Wegner, living in Waai, Ambon Island, continually sent specimens and notes on biology to the Museum. In connection with field work in Indonesia, extensive cooperation and assistance were rendered by Oro Sampurno Kadarsan, Director, and Dr. Soekarja Somadikarta, Ornithologist, both of whom affiliated with the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Bogor; Dr. Teuku Mohammad Radhie, Council for Sciences of Indonesia; Dr. Otto Soemarwoto, Director, National Biological Research Institute. Mr. Robert F. Grealy, Scientific Attache of the u. s. Embassy, Djakarta and later succeeded by Mr. Robert M. Keith, greatly facilitated the shipment of valuable specimens to Fonolulu for which the Museum acknowledges with appreciation. ' -5- The estimated numbers of specimens collected during the two-year period of this project (partly including collections made under mosquito and NIH projects) are recorded as follows: Locality Ectoparasites Other arthropods · Vertebrates New Guinea 300,000 350,000 7,000 Indonesia 150,000 100,000 1,000 Totals 450,000 450,000 a,ooo Ectoparasites and host animals were catalogued and information was recorded on data sheets. Specimens collected were preserved in the accepted manner and sent to the Bishop Museum for further processing and curating in order to be made available for determination and study by collaborating specialists. Specimens have been and are still being processed at the Bishop Museum, Institute for Medical Research (Kuala Lumpur), in Taiwan and in New Guinea at the field station.