Termite Fauna of Gunung Telapak Buruk, Berembun Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
Abstract
Termites have great importance in a tropical terrestrial ecosystem, especially in the decomposition process, mediate ecosystem processes and facilitate in improving the structure and quality of the soil. Termite survey was conducted at Gunung Telapak Buruk, Berembun Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan, during a scientific expedition from 30th March to 1st April 2019. This study aims to provide the first checklist of termite fauna in Gunung Telapak Buruk. Termites were collected using the casual collection method at selected trails around Gunung Telapak Buruk. A total of 21 termite species were recorded in this study. The termite assemblage comprises two families, namely Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae. Family Termitidae dominated the termite assemblage with 90.5% (19 species). The collected termite species in this study comprises 12% of recorded termite species of Peninsular Malaysia by Tho in 1992. The genus Odontotermes from the family Termitidae dominated the assemblage with five species. Four types of feeding groups were identified in this study. The wood feeders recorded highest number species with 66.7%, followed by soil feeders (14.3%), epiphyte feeder (9.52%), and wood-litter feeders (9.52%). All the recorded species are new record for this forest reserve as no previous record was available for this area.
Keywords: Diversity, forest, highland, mountain, termite fauna
References
Abdul Hafiz, A.M. & Abu Hassan, A. (2009). Termites infestation selected from premises in Penang, Seberang Prai & Sungai Petani, Malaysia. Malaysian Applied Biology, 38(2): 37-48.
Abdul Hafiz, A.M., Abu Hassan, A., Rashid, M.Z.A. & Che Salmah, M.R. (2007). Field efficacy of imidacloprid on Globitermes sulphureus (Isoptera: Termitidae) (subterranean termite) in Penang. Journal of Bioscience, 18(2): 109-114.
Adams, L. & Raj, B. (2005.) Isolation and characterization of enteric bacteria from the hindgut of Formosan termite. Bioresource Technology, 96(14): 1592-1598.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2004.12.020
Alia Diyana, M.H., Appalasamy, S., Arumugam, N. & Boon, J.G. (2019). A study of a termite chemical defense fluid compound of Macrotermes carbonarius. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 269: 1-5.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/269/1/012009
Arumugam, N., Appalasamy, S. & Rak, A.E. (2019). A note on termite fauna of Pulau Pangkor, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. The Malaysian Forester, 82(1): 275-280.
Bignell, D.E. & Eggleton, P. (2000). Termites in ecosystems. In Abe, T., Bignell, D.E. and Higashi, M. (eds.) Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 363-387.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3223-9_17
Brandl, R., Hyodo, F., von Korff-Schmising, M., Maekawa, K., Miura, T., Takematsu, Y., Matsumoto, T., Abe, T., Bagine, R. & Kaib, M. (2007). Divergence times in the termite genus Macrotermes (Isoptera: Termitidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45(1): 239-250. Cowie, R.H., Logan, J.W.M. & Wood, T.G. (1989). Termite (Isoptera) damage and control in tropical forestry with special reference to Africa and Indo-Malaysia: a review. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 79(2): 173-184.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2007.07.007
Eggleton, P., Homathevi, R., Jeeva, D., Jones, D.T., Davies, R.G. & Maryati, M. (1997). The species richness and composition of termites (Isoptera) in primary and regenerating lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, East Malaysia. Ecotropica, 3: 119-128.
Gathorne-Hardy, F., Syaukani & Eggleton, P. (2001). The effects of altitude and rainfall on the composition of the termites (Isoptera) of the Leuser Ecosystem (Sumatra, Indonesia). Journal of Tropical Ecology, 17(3): 379-393.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467401001262
Gibb, T.J. & Oseto, C.Y. (2006). Arthropod collection and identification: laboratory and field techniques. London: Elsevier Academic Press Publication.
Hanis, A., Abu Hassan, A., Nurita, A.T. & Che Salmah, M.R. (2014). Community structure of termites in a hill dipterocarp forest of Belum-Temengor Forest Complex, Malaysia: emergence of pest species. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 62: 3-11.
Higashi, M., Yamamura, N. & Abe, T. (2000). Theories on the sociality of termites. In Abe, T., Bignell, D.E. and Higashi, M. (eds.) Termites: Evolution, Sociality, Symbioses, Ecology. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 169-187. Homathevi, R., Bakhtiar, E.Y., Mahadimenakbar, M.D., Maryati, M., Jones, D.T. & Bignell, D.E. (2002). A comparison of termites (Insecta: Isoptera) assemblages in six primary forest stands in Sabah, Malaysia. Malayan Nature Journal, 56(3): 225-237.
Inoue, T., Takematsu, Y., Yamada, A., Hongoh, Y., Johjima, T., Moriya, S., Sornnuwat, Y., Vongkaluang, C., Ohkuma, M. & Kudo, T. (2006). Diversity and abundance of termites along an altitudinal gradient in Khao Kitchagoot National Park, Thailand. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 22(5): 609-612.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467406003403
Inward, D., Beccaloni, G. & Eggleton, P. (2007). Death of an order: a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study confirms that termites are eusocial cockroaches. Biology Letters, 3(3): 331-335.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0102
Jones, D.T. & Brendell, M.J.D. (1998). The termite (Insecta: Isoptera) fauna of Pasoh Forest Reserve, Malaysia. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 46(1): 79-91.
Jones, D.T., Jeffrey, T. & Bakhtiar, E.Y. (1998). The termites (Insecta: Isoptera) of the Maliau Basin, Sabah. In Maryati, M., Waidi, S., Ann, A., Mohamed, N.D. and Abdul, H.A. (eds.) Maliau Basin Scientific Expedition. Kota Kinabalu: Universiti Malaysia Sabah. pp. 95-112.
Kirton, L.G. (2005). The importance of accurate termite taxonomy in the broader perspective of termite management. In Lee, C-Y. & Robinson, W.H. (eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Urban Pests, July 10-13, Singapore. pp. 1-7.
Krishna, K., Grimaldi, D.A., Krishna, V. & Engel, M.S. (2013). Treatise on the Isoptera of the world: Introduction (Part One). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 377: 1-200.
Kori, N.S.M. & Arumugam, N. (2017). Termites of Agropark, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli Campus: diversity and pest composition. Journal of Tropical Resources and Sustainable Science, 5: 104-108.
https://doi.org/10.47253/jtrss.v5i2.591
Lee, C.Y. (2004). Current termite management in Peninsular Malaysia. In Proceedings of the First Pacific Rim Termite Research Group Meeting, Penang, Malaysia, March 8-9, Eastern and Oriental Hotel, Penang, Malaysia. pp. 37-42.
McGavin, G.C. (2001). Essential entomology: an order-by-order introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nivaarani, A. & Homathevi, R. (2015). Termite fauna (Blattodea: Termitoidae) of Mahua, Crocker Range Park, Sabah, Malaysia. Malayan Nature Journal, 67(4): 403-411.
Pratiknyo, H., Ahmad, I. & Budianto, B.H. (2018). Diversity and abundance of termites along altitudinal gradient and slopes in Mount Slamet, Central Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas, 19(5): 1649-1658.
https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d190508
Pribadi, T., Raffiudin, R. & Harahap, I.S. (2011). Termites community as environmental bioindicators in highlands: a case study in eastern slopes of Mount Slamet, Central Java. Biodiversitas, 12(3): 235-240.
https://doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d120409
Rahman, H., Fernandez, K. & Arumugam, N. (2018). Termites infesting Malaysian forests: case study from Bornean forest, Sabah, Malaysia. In Khan, M.S. and Ahmad, W. (eds.) Termites and Sustainable Management, Volume 2-Economic Losses and Management. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68726-1_4
Saputra, A., Nasir, D.M., Jalaludin, N-A., Halim, M., Bakri, A., Esa, M.F.M., Hazmi, I.R. & Rahim, F. (2018). Composition of termites in three different soil types across oil palm agroecosystem regions in Riau (Indonesia) and Johor (Peninsular Malaysia). Journal of Oil Palm Research, 30(4): 559-569.
https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2018.0054
Thapa, R.S. (1981). Termites of Sabah (East Malaysia). Sabah Forest Record, 12: 1-374.
Tho, Y.P. (1992). Termites of Peninsular Malaysia. In Kirton, L.G. (ed.), Malayan Forest Records 36. Kuala Lumpur: Forest Research Institute Malaysia.
Visheentha, M., Appalasamy, S., Nivaarani, A., Boon, J.G., Weeraya, K. & Charoen, P. (2018). The action of gelam (Melaleuca cajuputi) stem crude extract as natural insecticide for Camponotus sp.. Journal of Biodiversity, Bioprospecting and Development, 5(2): 173.
Wood, T.G. & Johnson, R.A. (1986). The biology, physiology and ecology of termites. In Vinson, S.B. (ed.) The Economic Impact and Control of Social Insects. New York: Praeger Publishers. pp. 1-68.
Copyright (c) 2020 Borneo Journal of Resource Science and Technology
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright Transfer Statement for Journal
1) In signing this statement, the author(s) grant UNIMAS Publisher an exclusive license to publish their original research papers. The author(s) also grant UNIMAS Publisher permission to reproduce, recreate, translate, extract or summarize, and to distribute and display in any forms, formats, and media. The author(s) can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from UNIMAS Publisher, provided that the author(s) acknowledge and reference publication in the Journal.
2) For open access articles, the author(s) agree that their articles published under UNIMAS Publisher are distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work of the author(s) is properly cited.
3) For subscription articles, the author(s) agree that UNIMAS Publisher holds copyright, or an exclusive license to publish. Readers or users may view, download, print, and copy the content, for academic purposes, subject to the following conditions of use: (a) any reuse of materials is subject to permission from UNIMAS Publisher; (b) archived materials may only be used for academic research; (c) archived materials may not be used for commercial purposes, which include but not limited to monetary compensation by means of sale, resale, license, transfer of copyright, loan, etc.; and (d) archived materials may not be re-published in any part, either in print or online.
4) The author(s) is/are responsible to ensure his or her or their submitted work is original and does not infringe any existing copyright, trademark, patent, statutory right, or propriety right of others. Corresponding author(s) has (have) obtained permission from all co-authors prior to submission to the journal. Upon submission of the manuscript, the author(s) agree that no similar work has been or will be submitted or published elsewhere in any language. If submitted manuscript includes materials from others, the authors have obtained the permission from the copyright owners.
5) In signing this statement, the author(s) declare(s) that the researches in which they have conducted are in compliance with the current laws of the respective country and UNIMAS Journal Publication Ethics Policy. Any experimentation or research involving human or the use of animal samples must obtain approval from Human or Animal Ethics Committee in their respective institutions. The author(s) agree and understand that UNIMAS Publisher is not responsible for any compensational claims or failure caused by the author(s) in fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements. The author(s) must accept the responsibility for releasing their materials upon request by Chief Editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
6) The author(s) should have participated sufficiently in the work and ensured the appropriateness of the content of the article. The author(s) should also agree that he or she has no commercial attachments (e.g. patent or license arrangement, equity interest, consultancies, etc.) that might pose any conflict of interest with the submitted manuscript. The author(s) also agree to make any relevant materials and data available upon request by the editor or UNIMAS Publisher.
