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Insect Herbivores (Lepidoptera) – communities in lowland tropical rain forest.

Insect Herbivores (Lepidoptera) – communities in lowland tropical rain forest.

Elvis Tamtiai Research technician New Guinea Binatang Reserch Centre P. O. Box 604, Madang P. O. Box 604, Madang Papua New GuineaPapua New Guineaetamtiai@datec.net.pgetamtiai@datec.net.pg

Insect Herbivores (Lepidoptera) – communities in lowland tropical rain forest.

Why is Papua New Guinea so important and special for biodiversity research?

-large species richness (5% of world diversity)-high levels of species endemism-low population density -large rainforest areas-low environmental destruction

Beta-diversity of caterpillars across large expanses of lowland rainforests

methodsmethodsmethodsmethods

Host plants for collection of insects (Lepidoptera larva (caterpillars)) are chosen

Site selection

Targeting 40% rearing success rate, over 8,000 individuals Targeting 40% rearing success rate, over 8,000 individuals larva are processed in a duration of three months.larva are processed in a duration of three months.

The caterpillars are being photographed and assigned to The caterpillars are being photographed and assigned to morphospecies. The hatched out adults are being mounted, dried morphospecies. The hatched out adults are being mounted, dried and packed to be sent to Madang for further determination.and packed to be sent to Madang for further determination.

The specimens are sorted out into individual species, The specimens are sorted out into individual species, labeled, morphotyped, photographed and updated into labeled, morphotyped, photographed and updated into access database. They are then sent to overseas for final access database. They are then sent to overseas for final determination.determination.

renardiNotocrypta

Family :Family : HesperiidaeHesperiidae

Photos of larva and their adultsPhotos of larva and their adults

Euploea leucosticos

Family :Family : NymphalidaeNymphalidae

Choreutis lutescens

ChoreutidaeChoreutidae

Darantasia caerulescens

ArctiidaeArctiidae

Geographic distribution and host specificity of Lepidoptera species.

0

5

10

15

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25

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Number of sites

Num

ber o

f spe

cies

Monophagous Genus-specialist Generalist

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0 100 200 300 400 500

Distance from Madang (km)

Pro

porti

on o

f Mad

ang

spec

ies

Overlapping of species

ConclusionConclusionThe Lepidoptera communities were dominated by genus-specialists with wide geographic distribution.

I would like to take this time to thank the following for the logistics and efforts during the actual surveys. Without you, this presentation won’t be a success.

NGBRC staff and management teamsNGBRC staff and management teams

Alan Stewart and Uni. Of Sussex, UKAlan Stewart and Uni. Of Sussex, UKG. Weiblen and Uni. Of Minnesota, USAG. Weiblen and Uni. Of Minnesota, USAScott. Miller and Smithsonian Museum, USAScott. Miller and Smithsonian Museum, USA

V. Novotny and Uni. South Of Bohemia, Czech Rep.V. Novotny and Uni. South Of Bohemia, Czech Rep.

Darwin Initiative for Survival of SpeciesDarwin Initiative for Survival of SpeciesNational Science FoundationNational Science Foundation

Village assistants at various sitesVillage assistants at various sitesThank you

Research students from overseas and Papua New Research students from overseas and Papua New GuineaGuinea

Thank you