rssN 0121-812 Vol XXVI 2009.2010 The Journalof WILDLIFE ANdPARKS Journalofllildlife andParks (2009-20t0) 26 : 109-jj8 MOTH (LEPIDOPTERA: HETERoCERA) OF SUNGAI SEDIM FOREST RESERVE,KEDAH, MALAYSIA Norela Sulaiman,Zarul Idham bin Kazal Maidin, Maimon Abdullah and SaidahMd Said SchoolofEnvironmental and N.ttural ResourceSciences, Faculty of Scienceand Technology, Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia, Bangi 43600,Selangor Malaysia ABSTRACT samplingofmoth in sungaiSedim Forest Reserve in KedahMalaysia were conducted from August 17,h until 19'hand December 7'huntil 9'h2007. The objective ofthe studywas to determinethe dlversity of moth species(Lepidoptera : Heterocera). A totalof 196individual representing 116 species in 12 families werecollected during six daysof sampling.Noctuidae is themost dominant family with 4r species,followed by Geometridae(36 species), Lymantridae (11 species), Sphingidae (10 species), Notodontidae(5 species),Arctiidae (3 species),Uranidae (3 species;,Drepanidae 12 speciesj, saturnidaeand Nolidae (each with two species);and Lasiocampidae and Limacodidae leach with one species).In general,the most abundantspecies is Gangarideavardena swinioe iNotodontidae), wtife thecommon species ts Hypochrosis binexqta walker (Geometridae).A total of gl species (69.83%) areknown asrare species.The Shannon weiner index value was highest (H,:3.37) recordecr for samplingduring 18/08/07,followed bv samplingatH':3.3'.' (lgr}8/oi), H':3.30 (i7/08/07), H":2.84 (07/12/07) and H':2.78 (0s/r2r07),respectively. The overarlH' valuefor 5 dayssamplrng is 4.46 while theEvennes index (E') is 0.94.The highestvalues of H' andE, indicesshow thai Surigai sedimForest Reserve, Kedah has a veryhigh diversity ofmoth species and is evenlydistributed. INTRODUCTION Mothsare group a ofspecialized,night-flying Lepidoptera. Generally they canbe recognizedby their dull colours,and featheryantennae, but alsoby the way they rest,with the wings srretcir and expanded.The baseof the hindwing is expandedand strengthened,supporting arul- coupling with the lorewingwhen flight. Mothshave a widevariety of wing shape.This study *ui cood,r"tedii the SungaiSedim Forest Reserye, district of Kulim Kedah.This forestis classifiedas a dipterocarp forest.The areacove6 almost 100 km'? with coordinate 100'47'10.7" E and 0524'50.3,'N. Suniai sedim ForestReserve is situated33 km from Kulim and 130km from Alor setar It rocatedwithin thJGunung Inas ForestReserve is oneofthe bestplaces to go for whitewater rafting. The r5km longriver hai fastflowing watersand rapids excellent rorwhite water sports activities. The river is alsoone ofthe bestheart-stopping waterrapids in theworld. Sungai Sedim is a very niceprace to go to enjoythe nature becauseofthe diversityof flora andfauna. Sungai Sedim famous as conservationforest, catchment'swatel area,virgin forest,wildlife conservationforest, research forest and recreation forest.This study documented the diversityof moth faunaofsungai SedimForest Reserve. MATERIALS AND METHOD A study of mothsfauna was conductedat SungaiSedim Forest Reserve, Kedah was caried out from from Augustl7r until 19'hand December 7th until 9ri2007.sampling of mothswas using 160 watt mercuryvapour bulb light trapspowered by a portablegenerator, hang in front of a wtrite Norcla Sulainan, Zat"ul ldhan bi Kazal Mai.lin, Mainon Abdullah & Saidah Md Said cloth screenthat are directedtowards the surounding ofthe forestfrom 1900to 2200houm Moths that cameand trapped at the screenwere collected manually. The specimenswere killed in the killing jars containingcotton wools soaked with €thyl acetate.Later, the specimenswere pinned, ov€n- iried. identifiid. labeledand classified in the laboratoryat the Centrefor InsectSystematic, Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia (CIS-UKM). Species identification is donewith theaid of standardreferences such asBorror & Delong(197i), Barlow (1982), Carter (992) andHolloway (1987). Spesies identified than repositedin CIS-UKM depository. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Moth Fauna A total of 196 individual reprcsenting116 species in 12 families were collectedduring six days ol sampling.Noctuidae is the most dominantfamily with 41 species,followed by Geometridae(36 ,p""i"q Ly*unttidae (11 species),Sphingidae (10 species),Notodontidae (5 species),Arciidae (3 specie$,Uranidae (3 species),Drepanidae (2 species),Saturnidae and Nolidae (each with two species);and Lasiocompidae and Limacodidae (each with one species)(Appendix 1)' This comprises upprotitnut"ly 9.59%olthe total known speciesin the Borneo(Table 1) andconstituted the new record foithis forestreserve, since there is no previouslypublished report offauna moth in this area. In general,the highly abundantspecies is Gangaarideavardena Swinhoe (Notodontidae), while the commonspecies is Hypochrosisbinexata l,,lalker (Geometridae). A total of 81 species(69.837o) are known as rare species.The mostdominant family found is Noctuidaewith 4l speciesor 3 5.34%ofthe total mothscollected. This is becauseNoctuidae family around the world is exceeding 25,000species whilst the numberof Geometridaefamily is 15,000species (Carter 1992) They vary in sizefrom ten millimetersin wingspanto 20 centimetersor more,although with only a few exceptionsthey aredull mothswith grey,brown or black wings and few obviousmarkings. Two markson the forewing- onecircular and one kidney-shaped are often diagnostic' Mot h (Lep idoptera : Heteroc era) Of Sungai Sedim Forest Resene, Keclah, Malaj,sia TableI : comparativenumber and percentage ofmoth speciesfound at the SungaiSedin Forest Reserve, Kedah andthose of theBomeo. No. ofspecies in each No ofspecies in each Percentageof species Family family in Sedim Forest family in Borneo compared to those of Study) the Borneo Noctuidae 4I 480 8.54yo Geometridae 36 385 9.53% Lymantridae 1l 76 14.4'70/o Uranidae 3 ll 2',1.27yo Nolidae I 0 0 Sphingidae l0 42 23.81% Arctiidae 3 70 4.29% Notodontidae 5 35 t4.290/0 Drepanidae 2 26 '7.69yo Lasiocampidae I l6 6.25% Limacodidae 1 l2 8.330/. Saturnidae 2 5 40yo ll6 t2to Comparison With Moth Speciesin Other Areas of Malaysia In comparison, the total number of moths speciesrecorded in this study (116 species)is lower comparedto those of Kinabalu Park (706 species)(Jainah 1984),Universiti KebangsaanMalaysia ReserveForest (766 species)(Norela 1993)and SayapForest in sabah (722 species)(chong 1993), respectively(Table 2). The mostprobably reason is the limited duration ofsampling period compared to those locations that cover much more time of sampling in order to have a good picture of the moths fauna diversity. on the other word, Sungai sedim Forest Res€rve Hutan has been converted into recreationalareas and developedwith basic infrastructures for visitors, and this could be the underlying factor for the decreasein species richness observed. Thus this result might be one ofthe factor that causethe lower number of speciesobtained in this study. In conclusion, the diversity of moths fauna in this study was consideredmoderate, taking into accountthe limited sampling period and areacovered as comparedto similar efforts from other part of Malaysia. Norela Sulaiman, Zarul Idham bin Kazal Maidin, Mainon Abdu ah & Saidah Md Said Table2 : compantivenumber and percentage ofspecies recorded at SungaiSedim Forest Reserve (SDFR), KinabaluPark (KP), HutanSimpan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi (UKM), and SayapSabah (SS). Number ofspecies in each family No Family SDFR* UKM I Noctuidae 4l 269 178 280 2 Geometridae 36 240 143 181 3 Lyamantddae 39 33 4 Uranidae 3 4 2 4 5 Nolidae I 0 2 0 6 Sphigidae 10 1l 0 46 7 Arctiidae 3 52 83 '19 8 Notodontidae 26 14 33 9 Drepanidae 2 't4 20 13 l0 Lasiocampidae I 1l 3 n ll Limacodidae I I t8 8 12 Saturnidae 2 5 0 '7 13 Cossidae 0 2 2 9 t4 Bombycidae 0 8 I 8 15 Zygaenred^ 0 4 I t6 Epiplemidae 0 6 4 I t'| Eupterotidae 0 5 0 4 l8 Callidulidae 0 1 0 I l9 Hepialidae 0 0 0 0 20 Metarbelidae 0 I 0 I 21. Brahmaeidae 0 0 2 22 Cycliydidae 0 0 0 0 23 Thyatiridae 0 3 0 0 24 Pyralidae 0 0 207 0 25 Thytiridae 0 3 14 0 26 Tortricidae 0 0 10 2'7 Lecithoceridae 0 0 6 0 28 Tineidae 0 0 5 0 29 Gelechiidae 0 0 3 0 30 Oecophoridae 0 0 2 I 31 Pymustidae 0 0 2 0 Psyschidae 0 0 I 0 33 Xylorytiidae 0 0 I 0 34 Eriocottidae 0 0 I 0 35 Choreutidae 0 0 I 0 Total 116 706 766 '122 o%ofBorneo 9.590/0 58.35% 63 .31% s9.67% Sources: Jainah, 1984 (KP) ; Norela,1993 (UKM); Chong1993 (SS): present study (SDFR)* Mot h (Lep idoptera : H eterccera) Ofsungai Seain Forest Resene, Kedah, Matarsia Cumulative Speci€sDiversity Table 3 shows the values of Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H,), Shannon-WienerEvenness index (E') and total cumulative species(S') for five sampling occasions. Table3 : valuesof Shannon-Wienerdiversity Index (H*), Shannon-WienerEvenness (E*) andTotal cumulative species (S.). (17t08/O'7) 08/08/07) (19/08/07) (07/12/01) (08/12/0'1') t+2+3+4+5 E' 0.96 0.98 0.9'1 0.95 0.91 0.94 H' 3.30 3.3'7 3.4'7 2.48 2.78 4.46 Notes : H'values with the same alphabetsare not significantly different (p>0.05). Cumulative analysis is used to determine the adequateof sampling efforts; whether more samplings are otherwise neededto point out the true speciesdiversity and richnessof the study area, The cumulative Shannon-weinerdiversity Index (H') lor day one is 3.30 (Table3). The index for second day samplingwas slightly increasedto 3.37 and getting increase again for the thircl day sampting occasion. However, the differences were statisticallynot significant(p>0.05) between day one with day two sampling;and day two with day three. The H' decreasesto 2.48 for the fourth day and the difference is statistically significant (p<0.05) comparcd to other days. The fifth sampling effort was not significantly difference (p>0.05) compared to fourth day and this could be due to recapturedthe same speciesin the subsequentsampling. Thus, it can be generally concluded that the minimum sampling efforts required providing a representativedescription of moth species diversity at Sungai Sedim Forest Reservefor fifth day samplingoccasion. The Evennessvalue (E') was almost constartfrom thefirst to fifth sampling occasionwith range from 0.91 to 0.9g (Table 3), which seem to indicate the lack ofdiversity in food plants and climate factor.