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Suara Serangga Papua, 2007, 1 (4) April – June 2007

1.Beatrix Wanma
Practical training at Ambaidiru Village, Serui

A student of the Biological Department of the UNCEN has to do a practical training and I made the choice to join the Entomological Workgroup (KEP) on their survey to Ambaidiru, Serui (Japen), an island I did not visit before.
During the preparation we met Vincent Kalkman and Hans Huibreghts who were invited to present introductions on dragonflies/damselflies and beetles, and did some training in the field.
At July 5th we arrived at Ambaidiru, which environment varies from 650 to 1.400 m above sea level. The inventory on insects contents butterflies, dragon- and damselflies, and beetles. I was involved at the inventory of butterflies. During 15 days (4-19 July) we collected and observed 129 species of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, including 12 Papilionidae, 7 Pieridae, 47 Lycaenidae and 63 Nymphalidae. 
Back in Jayapura I had to finish my training and was active in the collection room helping with identifying and setting.
The experience I got will be useful for my survey at Merauke later this year.

2.Edy Michelis Rosariyanto
Old memories in the Wondiwoi Mountains Reserve

This is about the trip I made for surveying butterflies at Wondiwoi Mountains Reserve in 1996, when I was finishing my studies at the Forestry Faculty, at Manokwari.
My first plan was to visit Duhubea village, Arfak Mts, as I observed there many beautiful butterflies I did not see before, but after consultation with Br. Henk we moved to the Wondowoi Rerserve, as nearly no data are available from that area.
In the writing of my essay I was guided by Mr. Alexander Yoku and Mr. Wasaraka, and in the field and during identification I was assisted by Br. Henk van Mastrigt.
During our one week trip we moved very slowly as the route has to be made with using a parang and after four days we reached 1,750 m, an altitude which can be reached at the Cyclops Mts. in one day only. During that week we had a lot of rain and did hardly see any butterfly. It was also clear that we took another trail than the expedition many years ago. 
I feel the challenge to return at that spot to get known whether the species collected before are still there.
The result of this survey can be found in my essay: “Keragaman Jenis Kupu-kupu Pada Beberapa Ketinggian Tempat di Cagar Alam Pegunungan Wondiboi” (unpublished).

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3.Rinto Herry Mambrasar
Survey at Mokwam Village, Kabupaten Manokwari 

This survey was organized in order to get data for the essay of Mosaba Uma Duwiri, a student at the Papua State University (UNIPA) at Manokwari, who did her practicum at the insect laboratory of K.S.P. in Jayapura. She was accompanied by Mrs. Rawati Panjaitan, teacher of biology at UNIPA, three other UNIPA students and Rinto H. Mambrasar. 
The village Mokwam (1,400 m) we reached by car from Manokwari, in about three hours passing 66 km and we arrived there in wet and cold weather (18º C).
Several aspects of the forest are used by local people in various ways:
· Tourists will come to see the various species of birds; however many specimens were also used for consumption.
· Also the meat of tree- and ground-couscous, tree kangaroo, and ekidna were used for consumption.
· Special kinds of timber are used for building houses and meeting rooms.
· Bark is used to close the walls in the houses and for making bags (noken).
· Many plants are used as various medicines.
· Bamboo is used in various ways, as floors and walls in houses, as fence, as water laid and for transportation.
The survey resulted in 83 species of butterflies: 8 Papilionidae, 17 Pieridae, 33 Lycaenidae and 25 Nymphalidae. According to the elevation 37 species were reported at 1,000 m, 28 species at 1,400 m and 18 species at 1,800 m. Most species were found along riversides and in old garden areas.
The way in which people use the forest has a negative impact on flora and fauna, so that some protection should be useful.
The total result is available in the following essay: Duwiri, Mosaba Uma. 2007. Keragaman dan penyebaran Kupu-kupu Superfamili Papilionoidea, Di Kampung Mokwam, Distrik Minyambouw, Provinsi Papua Barat (unpublished).

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4.Rinto Herry Mambrasar
Desa Sansundi, North Biak

Edy M. Rosariyanto, Yohanes Don Bosco Maro and Rinto H. Mambrasar visited Desa Sansundi, North Biak, in order to survey butterflies in the North Biak Reserve.
The local people are fishermen, doing also some gardening for vegetables and fruits. Besides that they collect shelves which result in IDR 45.000 to IDR 50.000 a kg. The people are aware of their task to protect and control the forest to keep it in a good condition.
In the past three large families stayed together in one village. However, to be closer to their own gardens after the tsunami in 1996, they built three villages.
The survey was done in June 2006 and the result is not published and became part of KSP.

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Suara Serangga Papua, 2007, 1 (3) January – March 2007

1.Euniche Ramanday
‘Debetkun’ as an alternative source of protein

In Papua are over 50,000 species of insects, including over 30,000 beetles (Petocz, 1987). About 50% of the insects is rich in protein. The local society in Papua is using several insects, e.g. the Sago larva or ‘debetkun’ (in Moi language: debet = Sago; kun = larva), Rhyncophorus bilineatus. This beetle is breeding in the cut Sago trees (Metroxylon spp.) which have ‘pati’, the heart of the tree after the tree is cut. The larvae of this beetle cannot live in trees without pati, in trees still in good condition and usually do not form pests. 
“Debetkun” is eaten raw or can be fried, cooked or smoked or prepared in another way. In markets these larvae are expensive. Collecting these larvae is helping the farmers not becoming pests. However, it would be a good idea to investigate the possibilities to farm these insects, becoming an alternative source of protein for the society in Papua.

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2.Herlina Menufandu
Hunting bugs in Pass Valley

The author of this article collected beetles together with children of the Yali tribe at Pass Valley in 2005. Suddenly the children shouted and after asking what there were doing they explained playing collecting “Babukulit” which is Nezara viridula Linnaeus (Hemiptera, Heteroptera). This bug really smells and is called “smelling animal”, however different from “sticking bites” which were members of Cimicidae. However the ‘smelling bugs” are members of the Miridae, Reduviidae or Pentatomidae family. Nezara viridula, which is a pest, occurs in various colors: metallic green and metallic blue. This bug is a delicacy for the local people, more than Behrensiellus glabratusPascoe which also is a common pest.
Many insects (as cicadas, beetles, bugs and May flies (Ephemeroptera)) will never be overwhelming, as they will be collected by local people for their daily meal.
Papuans which were often said to destroy nature realize that they depend on their environment for their daily life, and are better ‘conservators’ than many people from outside. More surveys should be done in order to know what insects are daily consumption for local people in the various areas of Papua.

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3.Henk van Mastrigt
‘Tonggeret’ delicacy for Papua people

During a visit to Timeepa and Modio in the Weyland Mountains in 1979 I realized that cicadas were the real delicacy for local people. At the next visit I understood that ‘waine’, the most delicious cicada, has a two years season and was not present during my visit. This Ekagi tribe in the Mapia area has good knowledge about cicada for which they have many local words which fit with the scientific names. 
Besides cicada – food for various tribes in the interior of Papua – also grasshoppers and large moths are collected as food. Although I never studied insects as food for local people, based on experience can be concluded that
· Cosmopsaltria are a delicacy for many tribes
· Other insects and spiders are also eaten, but are second choice
· Many insects are eatable, but collecting large ones is more efficient
· Using lamps makes collecting easy, so people became more active when electricity is available.
With many choices of other food cicada will not be collected by people anymore, but the praying mantis (Mantoidea) also loves cicadas as a meal.

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4.Herlina Menufandu
Indigenous knowledge about beetles by the Yali tribe

Dividing Coleoptera into families and groups is by various entomologists far from uniform. The Yali tribe has its own vision too and distinguishes two large groups: Hombolo and Boleag (beetles with horns, long antennae or large mandibles). Males of Lucanidae, Scarabidae, Cerambycidae, Curculionidae and Passalidae are included in Boleag, while females of Lucanidae and Scarabidae are included in Hombolo.
However, both groups only concern the eatable insects, so many beetles are not included.
The Yali people have also names for some families like “fulug” (Passalidae) and “fua” (Curculionidae), for genera like “bomboli” (Rhyncophorus sp.), or species like “singgabit” (Rhinoscapha richteri) and “gulangge jangge” (Behrensiellus glabratus).
The last one was very dominant during our visit and is often found at Pipperaceae and Verbenadeae. 
A total of 115 different species were collected from 33 families. The highest number of species was found of the family Curculionidae (43 species). 
Total results are presented in a training report of Herlina Menufandu (UNCEN, 2005).

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5.Daawia & Supeni Sufaati
Survey on food plants of larvae and butterflies of the Papilionidae at the Reserve Cyclops Mountains, Jayapura

This survey was made on three locations at the foot of the Cyclops Mountains, from March to October 2005. The method was according to Cayabyab (1993) and resulted in the following conclusions.
Larvae of Papilionidae use several leaves as food from Annonaceae, Rutaceae, Lauraceae and Araliaceae. Larvae of Atrophaneura polydorus, Ornithoptera priamus and Troides oblongomaculatus eat Aristolochia tagala (Aristolochiaceae). Larvae of Graphium species like leaves of Lauraceae and Annonaceae, while larvae Papilio species prefer leaves of Rutaceaea and Araliaceae. Larvae of the genera Graphium and Papilioaccept other leaves in gardens than in the forest: i.e. Annona muricata instead of Litsea fulva (Graphium) and Citrus spp. instead of Micromelum minutum and Toddalia asiatica (Papilio).
In the forest butterflies of Papilionidae are fouraging at different flowering bushes than in the gardens, but they all belong to the families of Verbenaceae, Malvaceae, Rubiaceae, Zingiberaceae, Asteraceae and Sterculiaceae.

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Suara Serangga Papua, 2006, 1 (2) October – December 2006

1.Evie L. Warikar
Survey on south side of Mt Bonsupiori at Supiori

Since 1982 an area of 42,000 ha has become a reserve, with a highly diverse flora and fauna, including many insects not yet described. 
In the survey an altitude of only 600 meter was reached, although to top is at 1,034 meter. In an area of about 5 km2 during 29 days in the period March-May 2004, 110 species of the superfamily Papilionoidea were collected: 11 Papilionidae, 7 Pieridae, 39 Lycaenidae and 53 Nymphalidae. As endemics can be mentioned Dicallaneura princessa, Deudorix maudei (Lycaenidae), Euploea tripunctata, E. albicosta, Taenaris scylla, Cirrochroa imperatrix (Nymphalidae) and a Mycalesis sp. which is probably a new species. Full results are presented in a final paper of Evie L. Warikar (2004), to graduate at the Cenderawasih University in Jayapura.

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