Insect species recorded in sugarcane fields of Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, over three seasons in 2012

Takeshi OSAWA1

1 National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, , Japan

Corresponding author(s): Takeshi OSAWA (arosawa@gmail.com)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Ecological Research Data Paper

Abstract

The diversity of insect species in cultivated fields provides a number of ecosystem benefits, including natural pest control and pollination. However, current knowledge of the insect fauna in agricultural landscapes is extremely limited when compared with information available for other ecosystems, such as forests and rivers. Here, we present data on insect diversity, including functional feeding group diversity, in sugarcane fields of Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. Sugarcane is a major Thai crop. We collected insects using light trap systems located in 16 sugarcane field plots. Each light trap was deployed in an individual 0.16 ha plot. Trapping was conducted over three seasons, including both dry and rainy periods, in March, June, and October of 2012. On each trapping day, we collected insects in the evening from 18:00 to 19:30. The traps yielded a total of 98,423 individuals including 143 species belonging to 26 families. We classified collections into five functional feeding groups: herbivores, predators, decomposers, parasitoids, and pollinators. The dominant functional species were herbivores, followed in rank order by predators; most individuals in the traps were predatory species. We assembled an insect fauna data set that will be useful in the study of southeast Asian agricultural ecosystems and provided the data in the Darwin Core Archive format.

Keywords: Occurrence, Observation

Data published through GBIF: http://www.gbif.jp/ipt/resource?r=kku_insect1

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: All species were identified by the authors and divided into respective functional feeding groups based on Triplehorn et al. (2005) and by comparison with specimens of the insect museum at Khon Kaen University. If we could not obtain sufficient reference information for proper identification, we determined the function of each specimen using relevant morphotypes such as the snout.

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Khon Kaen III sugarcane variety in Muang District sugarcane fields (16°18.85'N, 102°49.644’E, 16°18.698'N, 102°49.303’E, 16°13.989'N, 102°48.56’E, 16°13.5'N, 102°48.335'E; geographic coordinate system: WGS84)
Coordinates: 16°21'0''N and 16°31'48''N Latitude; 102°45'36''E and 102°56'24''E Longitude 

Living time period: 2012 MAR.-OCT.

Methods

Method step description: NA
Study extent description: Khon Kaen III sugarcane variety in Muang District sugarcane fields (16°18.85'N, 102°49.644’E, 16°18.698'N, 102°49.303’E, 16°13.989'N, 102°48.56’E, 16°13.5'N, 102°48.335'E; geographic coordinate system: WGS84).
Sampling description: We collected insect species within the plots with black light-blue light traps (20 W light bulbs) covered with 100 × 100 cm of thin white cloth (Fig. 2). Using a net, we captured all of the insects attracted to the lights. The sampling effort required of this procedure was quite tractable. Sugarcane grows rapidly and is able to develop from seedling to mature phases in a few months, reaching a final height of > 3 m. Sweeping and beating to collect insects in the cane fields through the seasons required unacceptably high levels of effort. The light trap sampling system is very straightforward compared with direct collection procedures, such as sweeping and beating. The light traps were located 2 m distant from the plot edges, and 1 m above ground level. The lights shone from 18:00 through 19:30 on each sampling day. Insect collection was only performed under very uniform conditions by avoiding days with rain or wind; the temperature in this part of Thailand varies very little throughout the year. Only rainfall irrigates sugarcane in this area with cane planted in the dry season (October–December), and harvested the following year in the November–February. We made one insect collection in each plot during each of three phases of sugarcane growth: tillering (March, 3 months old), stalk elongation (June, 6 months old), and harvesting (October, 10 months old). Thus, our collections spanned the typical regional cycle of the sugarcane planting, and included seasonal changes that are likely to have influenced the composition of insect communities. All of the insects were counted and identified in the laboratory.
Quality control description: All species were identified by the authors and divided into respective functional feeding groups based on Triplehorn et al. (2005) and by comparison with specimens of the insect museum at Khon Kaen University. If we could not obtain sufficient reference information for proper identification, we determined the function of each specimen using relevant morphotypes such as the snout.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Insect species recorded in sugarcane fields of Khon Kaen Province, Thailand, over three seasons in 2012
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://www.gbif.jp/ipt/archive.do?r=kku_insect1
Publication date of data: 2016-09-09
Language: English
Licences of use: This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode">Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License</a>.

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2015-03-27
Hierarchy level: Dataset