Visitor insects of Ooia spp. (Araceae) at Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark, Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract

The study was conducted at Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark (Kinabalu Geopark), Sayap Substation and Poring Substation to study the visiting insect’s interactions with two species of Ooia (Araceae). This study aimed to observe and identified the visitor insects for both Ooia species, analyzed the overlap of visiting insects between the two plant species of Ooia sayapensis and O. kinabaluensis, and to determine the difference in the number of the two species receiving visits from insects. Total of 124 individual insects were recorded, consists of six families including Staphylinidae, Erotylidae, Blattidae, Formicidae, Vespidae, and Drosophilidae. The Wilcoxon data analysis showed no significant difference (p>0.05) for the overlap of visiting insects in the two species of Ooia. However, the number of insect visits on O. sayapensis Kartini was higher (Day-1= 32% and Day-2= 33%) than O. kinabaluensis (Bogner) S.Y.Wong & P.C.Boyce (Day-1= 23% and Day-2= 16%) respectively. The difference of insect visitation rates between the two Ooia species suggest there is multiple factors influence their ability to attract insects. This study will add fundamental data on visitor insects of Ooia sayapensis within its habitat.