Checklist of the Collembola: Note on some Collembola from Phuket Island, Thailand

http://www.collembola.org/publicat/thailand.htm - Last updated on 1999.03.04 by Frans Janssens

Checklist of the Collembola: Note on some Collembola from Phuket Island, Thailand

Frans Janssens, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp (RUCA), Antwerp, B-2020, Belgium

Abstract

Soil surface-dwelling Collembola were collected in decomposing leaf

litter in Kata , at the west coast of Phuket Island in the Andaman Sea, in the southern part of Thailand. All together, 33 specimens were collected that belong to four species.

Samenvatting

Collembola werden verzameld in composterende bladeren in Kata, aan de west kust van het eiland Phuket, in de Andamanse Zee, in het zuiden van Thailand. In totaal werden 33 exemplaren gevonden die behoren tot vier soorten.

Keywords: Collembola, faunistics, Thailand

Introduction

Koh Phuket is the largest island of Thailand in the Andaman Sea, about 540 square kilometres. With a longitude of some 98 degrees East of Greenwich and a latitude of about 8 degrees North of the Equator (UTM grid zone 47N), Phuket's tropical climate is tempered by cool North-East breezes from November to March, and by fresh on-shore winds in summer months.
The Andaman Sea, separated from the Bay of Bengal by the Andaman-Nicobar Ridge, is part of the Indian Ocean. Thailand's Andaman coast extends for 870 kilometres from the Surin Islands on the northern border with Burma to Tarutao National Park on the southern border with Malaysia.

Fig.2 Phuket Island
Two distinctively different varieties of island are found in the Andaman Sea. Low-relief granite intrusions, including the Surin and Similan islands, run in series roughly parallel to the more dramatic limestone islands. Island groups such as Koh Phi Phi have been shaped by a variety of forces from a massive limestone platform that was deposited 350 million to 450 million years ago.
Phuket Island itself is mainly granite, with low forested mountains and a series of fine white-sand beaches, mostly on the west coast. Much of the forest has been cleared, first for rubber plantations and then for tourism development. The one remaining significant stand of virgin rainforest can be found at Khao Phra Thaeo Park.
Phang Nga and Krabi provinces, mainland and islands alike, display the same dramatic limestone ("karst") geography of the Phi Phi Islands. Khao Sok National Park, just to the north and east of Phuket, has large areas of tropical forest, some of it still remote enough to harbour wild tigers.
Year-round temperatures on Phuket vary between 21-34 degrees Celsius. Water temperatures range from 26-28 degrees Celsius. The northeast monsoon season, roughly November till April, brings consistently sunny weather, cool breezes and low humidity, with moderate seas. The southwest monsoon, May till October, sees the rainiest and most unpredictable weather along with frequent swells of the Indian Ocean.

Material and methods

Table I. Overview of collected material
Country	Region	Place	UTM	Date	Quantity	Legit	Determinator	Collection
Ordo Entomobryomorpha Börner, 1913
Familia Entomobryidae Schött, 1891
Entomobrya Rondani, 1861 sp.
TH¹	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.01.15	1a²2j³	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE⁴
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.01.31	1a	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.02.04	1a1j	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
Lepidocyrtus Bourlet, 1839 sp.
Country	Region	Place	UTM	Date	Quantity	Legit	Determinator	Collection
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.01.15	4a	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.01.31	2a	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.02.04	1a2j	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
Salina MacGillivray, 1894 sp.
Country	Region	Place	UTM	Date	Quantity	Legit	Determinator	Collection
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.01.15	4a2j	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.02.05	1a	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
Familia Isotomidae Börner, 1913
Pseudisotoma Handschin, 1924 sp.
Country	Region	Place	UTM	Date	Quantity	Legit	Determinator	Collection
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.01.15	1a3j	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.02.04	1a5j	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE
TH	Phuket	Kata	MJ27	1999.02.05	1j	Moerenhout W	Janssens F	KAVE

¹ TH=Thailand; ² a=adult; ³ j=juvenile; ⁴ KAVE=Koninklijke Antwerpse Vereniging voor Entomologie

Fig.3 Stations
Kata is a little seaside village, far south at the western coast of Phuket, around a rocky with jungle covered headland and a little cove. Collembola were collected by William Moerenhout in two habitats: in decomposing leaf litter in the garden of the Lucky guest house, 110/44-45 Moo 4, Kata-Karon, about 1 km inland from the Kata Yai Beach (7.81N 98.30E) (Fig.3 A) (1999.01.15, 1999.02.04 and 1999.02.05) and in decomposing leaf litter at the border of the tidal zone of the rocky Northern end of the Kata Yai bay (7.81N 98.29E) (Fig.3 B) (1999.01.31).

Collections were made by hand, sampling litter from the soil into a flat plate and using a mouth operated aspirator to collect the specimens. The specimens were immediately fixated in the fixative of Gisin (1960) ¹ and transfered in 96% ethanol after temptative generic identification on 1999.02.17. Generic identification is based on the keys of Gisin (1960), Fjellberg (1980) and Palissa (1964). The specimens are kept in the collection of the Royal Entomological Society of Antwerp.

Discussion

In total, 33 specimens were collected divided among four species. The ecology and the habitat affinity is shortly discussed for the four species.

Entomobrya sp.
Three adult and three juvenile specimens were found.

Lepidocyrtus sp.
Seven adult and two juvenile specimens were found.

Pseudisotoma sp.
Three adult and eight juvenile specimens were found.

Salina sp.
Five adult and two juvenile specimens were found.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank William Moerenhout for collecting the Collembola during his visit to Thailand.

References

Endnotes

¹ Gisin's fixative :

95% ethanol	750 ml
ethyl ether	250 ml
glacial acetic acid	30 ml
40% formaldehyde	3 ml