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Malaysia (Malakka)

PostPosted: 04 Jul 2012 03:49
by Vladimir
Hi all, I am in Malaysia. It has been 5 months since I am here. I will be staying here probably for 7 more months. I have visited half of Malay Peninsula-Malacca, but still have not found any Chrysididae wasps. I tried with yellow plates still no results . Standard forage plants that I had previously seen in Malta and Russia didn't find in this area .. Maybe you have any idea where to find wasps? Or maybe to someone from forum previously had worked in the equatorial forests of Southeast Asia?

Re: Malaysia (Malakka)

PostPosted: 06 Jul 2012 10:56
by Villu
Hi!

I know exactly the situation. I used to think I am pretty good at finding chrysidids since I had no problems finding them in Europe. However when I had a chance to stay half a year in French Guiana I really sucked at finding chrysidids. The habitats and substrates where I used to find chrysidids were either not there or if I found similar places chrysidids were not there. Nevertheless I found some chrysidids and gradually gained some experiences and my success increased. Amazonia is not the same as South-East Asia but climate and habitats can be quite similar (when compared with European habitats) and maybe sharing my experiences helps you too.

It seems to me that finding chrysidids on flowers is most successful in dry habitats. Chrysidids are relatively rarely seen on flowers in northern Europe (except Hedychrum) and rainforests. However you might still find Stilbum on some nectar rich flowers often with longer corolla. The flowers usually known to attract chrysidids are not present in tropics but I have heared thet some tropical plants of the Euphorbiaceae family can be very useful.

I had the best success in small villages, gardens etc. - moderate human influence is better than deep rainforest. In these areas wooden constructions attracted chrysidids for the search of possible host nests. Worked like in Europe - dry wooden (not necessarily wooden) post or wall, direct sun, patience and chrysidids arrived.

In Malaysia you should try to find some Amiseginae and Loboscelidinae. In French Guiana Amisega was pretty abundant on the ground level of rainforest. They preferred sun-spots, where direct sun penetrated canopy like sides of very narrow forest roads, where they kept running around on the leaf litter. You will not see them just by walking along the road, you have to look for them since they are difficult to spot. Many other Amiseginae species stay also on grasses and small bushes - wherever the eggs of phasmids may be hidden.

I did find few chrysidids also on the sunlit leaves at forest edges and at an aphid colony but not many.

I also used malaise traps. These did collect few chrysidids too but not many, around 1-3 specimens per week in one trap. Pan traps collected abundantly Amisega species when placed in the suitable habitat but not many other chrysidids. I have heared that in SE Asia there are green ants that start to collect insects from pan traps. These ants will not drown despite the detergeent in the water.

I hope that it was helpful and hopefully someone with more experiences contributes more on this interesting topic. Please let us know if you get some useful experiences with finding chrysidids in Malaysia.

Good luck,
Villu

Re: Malaysia (Malakka)

PostPosted: 11 Jul 2012 16:35
by Vladimir
Thanks for the info, I'll try to search again..

Re: Malaysia (Malakka)

PostPosted: 11 Jul 2012 17:13
by Euchroeus
Hi Vlad,

one suggestion: change the colour of your pan traps.
I know that some studies were done on the importance of the colour of the pan traps in relation with different habitats.
As far as I remember, in tropical areas blue or violet pan traps work better than yellow pan traps.

Good luck!
Paolo

Re: Malaysia (Malakka)

PostPosted: 11 Jul 2012 17:45
by Vladimir
Thanks Paolo, I will try..