The evaluation of multiple traps used in sampling of cave-dwelling insects / Nurul Wahida Kamaruddin

The term cave is given to a natural underground open space or cavity formed by various geological processes. Based on previous data, the record for cave dwelling insect is very poor due to the fragile features of the cave are making it difficult to do insect sampling. The aim of this study was to identify the insect community in cave of Gua Gunung Senyum and to evaluate the best traps in capturing the cave dwelling insects. There are four types of traps used in this study which were pitfall trap, sticky trap, impact trap and light trap. The samples were collected in three different zone which are entrance zone, middle zone and dark zone. Ten pitfall traps, two sticky traps, one light trap and one impact trap were used in this study. Total individuals captured from the cave were 2292 with 1886 obtained from pitfall trap, 229 from sticky trap, 154 from impact trap and 23 from light trap. Different types of trap used influencing the diversity and abundant of insect captured. Pitfall trap, impact trap and sticky trap are the most suitable trap to be use for cave insects sampling.