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Bio Palembanica 1.
: 48-58 .
This journal is available online at: https://ejournal.
Rediscovery of the Sumatran Endemics Onychogomphus rappardi (Odonata: Gomphida.
and Herona sumatrana sumatrana (Lepidoptera: Nymphalida.
, with Notes on Observations of Other Rare Butterflies and Moths from the North of Sumatra
DICK BAL1*
Ministry of Agriculture.
Fisheries.
Food Security and Nature.
Nature Department.
Box20401, 2500 EK Den Haag.
The Netherlands.
*Corresponding Author.
E-mail: d.
bal@minlnv.
Received 2 December 2024iCAccepted by M.
Iqbal: 22 December 2024iCPublished online 24 December 2024.
Abstract Several rare insects were observed around Ketambe in the centre of the Leuser Ecosystem in July 2024.
The main subjects discussed are the micromoth Collinsa sp.
sphoraria Swinhoe .
upposedly new to scienc.
and the rediscoveries of the dragonfly Onychogomphus rappardi Lieftinck, 1937 and the butterfly Herona sumatrana sumatrana Moore, 1881.
Both O.
rappardi and H.
sumatrana sumatrana are Sumatran endemics.
Other observations of several rare species are the butterflies Arhopala athada athada (Staudinger, 1.
Deramas livens livens Distant, 1886.
Jamides malaccanus celinus (Fruhstorfer, 1.
and the moths Corymica deducta (Walker, 1.
Speiredonia sandokana Zilli & Holloway, 2005 and Teulisna plagiata Walker, 1862.
Keywords: butterflies, dragonflies, moths, rare.
Sumatra.
Introduction Northern Sumatra is famous for its Gunung Leuser National Park, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site AoTropical Rainforest Heritage of SumatraAo (UNESCO 2.
The area is relatively well researched, particularly because it is the habitat of the Sumatran Orangutan Pongo abelii (Ebsyar et al.
Ketambe (Aceh Provinc.
and Bukit Lawang (Sumatra Utara Provinc.
are two ecotourist sites where Sumatran Orangutan can be encountered.
In 1971.
Herman Rijksen established the Ketambe Research Station, especially designated for the research of the orangutans.
This research station was also frequented by other scientists, like taxonomists Willem de Wilde and Brigitta de Wilde-Duyfjes who in 1979 collected the material of what 30 years later appeared to be the orchid species Calanthe leuseri Cribb, 2009, an endemic of the Ketambe area (Clayton & Cribb 2.
Based on the online platforms for public observations of species of all kinds of taxonomic groups, like iNaturalist .
Naturalist 2.
, the phenomenon of what is called Aocitizen scienceAo is becoming more and more important in the field of the knowledge of the distribution of species.
That knowledge is crucial for the protection of biodiversity Ae not only of well-known species like the Sumatran Orangutan, but especially of insects and arachnids (Rachman et al.
This paper shows how easy it is to find even during a short visit - insect species that were not previously known to the island of Sumatra or to rediscover endemic taxa which have not been recorded for 75 years or more.
In this paper, the rediscovery of the Sumatran endemics Onychogomphus rappardi (Odonata:
Gomphida.
and Herona sumatrana sumatrana (Lepidoptera: Nymphalida.
is discussed, with notes on observations of other rare butterflies and moths from the Ketambe area.
Rediscovery of the Sumatran Methods The observations of the species discussed in this paper were made by the author in July 2024 during a visit to the the primary and secondary forests around the village of Ketambe.
Aceh Province (Fig.
In addition to these observations, the only other recent observation of the dragonfly Onychogomphus rappardi, made by C.
Gan, is included in this paper.
Figure 1.
Gunung Leuser National Park .
ttps://w.
no/resources/6.
, with locations mentioned in the Recent and historical data on thedistribution of the species discussed in this paper were collected using the websites w.
iNaturalist.
Naturalist 2.
and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF 2.
, complemented with literature cited in the text.
The relatively new online platform Observation.
ttps://observation.
did not have any records of the species discussed.
Results and Discussion The results will be discussed in four sections.
Firstly an observation of a hitherto unknown moth species is presented, provisionally named Collinsa sp.
sphoraria Swinhoe .
fter the species it seems to be closest t.
In the second section the rediscovery of Onychogomphus rappardi Lieftinck, 1937 and Herona sumatrana sumatrana Moore, 1881, both endemics of Sumatra, are discussed.
In the third section other Lepidoptera species that are very rare in Indonesia and regionally .
discovered in Sumatra are discussed: the butterflies Arhopala athada athada (Staudinger, 1.
and Deramas livens livensDistant, 1886, and the moth Teulisna plagiata Walker, 1862.
In the last section, other Lepidoptera species that are very rare in Indonesia, although recently seen on Sumatra by others, are briefly discussed: the butterfly Jamides malaccanus celinus (Fruhstorfer, 1.
, and the moths Corymica deducta (Walker, 1.
, and Speiredonia sandokana Zilli & Holloway, 2005.
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Figure 2.
Map of the Ketambe area.
The triangle is the location of Collinsa sp.
sphoraria and Herona sumatrana sumatrana .
he location described in the text as east of the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road is a little further to the eas.
The hexagon is the location of Onychogomphus rappardi.
Visible are the narrow corridor of primary forest north of the village of Ketambe, and Alas River with three tributaries .
erial photo from nl/map.
Figure 3.
Foothills of east Ketambe, close to the location of Onychogomphus rappardi, with plantations, secondary forest and Ae presumably Ae remnants of primary forest (Photograph: Dick Ba.
Rediscovery of the Sumatran Discovery of a new species of the genus Collinsa On 26 July 2024 a small but rather conspicuous moth was photographed (Fig.
north of Ketambe, between the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road .
hat crosses the Gunung Leuser National Par.
and River Alas.
The location, at around 3o41Ao32AyN/97o39Ao07AyE .
he same as the triangle in Fig.
, is part of a narrow corridor of primary rainforest at about 500 m above sea level .
, connecting the forests on the higher mountains east and west of the road.
The forest belongs to the hill dipterocarp forest type, with species like Macaranga triloba.
Parashorea lucida and Rubroshorea leprosula .
ers obs.
The observation .
Naturalist 2024.
was submitted to two micromoth specialists via iNaturalist.
Roger Kendrick and Terry Whitaker, with the suggestion that it was Collinsa sphoraria Swinhoe, 1892, a species from the Thyrididae family.
They concluded, however, that it is a hitherto unknown AomorphospeciesAo closely related to that species.
It is as yet undescribed and received therefore on iNaturalist the morphospecies code AuGL Collinsa sp.
near sphoraria (Sumatr.
Ay.
For the purpose of reference in other publications, the more suitable name Collinsa sp.
sphoraria is chosen, indicating that the undescribed species has affinity to Collinsa sphoraria Swinhoe, 1892, a species that is distributed from India to Australia.
The differences with the latter species are as follows: the apex is more extended, almost hook-like.
the subapical oblique stripe and mid-termen blotch differ in straightness and shape, and the pattern colour of the main ground colour is a richer burgundy brown than the plainer orange brown of Collinsa sphoraria.
The species is also closely related to an undescribed Collinsa species from Sumatra called AoCollinsa sp.
11Ao on the website AoPyralids of Borneo plus ThyrididsAo .
ttp://pyralidsofborneo.
org/index.
php?collinsa-sp-11-plate-4-not-borne.
It is not unusual that Thyridid moths remain undescribed for a long time and have to be given provisional names.
On the website AoPyralids of Borneo plus ThyrididsAo295 morphotypes are included which remain to be described as new species.
Figure 4.
Collinsa sp.
sphoraria Swinhoe.
Gunung Leuser National Park, near Ketambe (Photograph: Dick Ba.
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Rediscovery of two Sumatran endemic taxa The first species to be discussed in this section is the dragonfly Onychogomphus rappardi Lieftinck, 1937, from the Gomphidae family.
The species was first described in Lieftinck .
from a specimen of a male, collected by F.
Rappard Auover an exposed stream near Pagar Gunung, 550 mAy (Lieftinck 1.
, southeast from the city of Bengkulu (Bengkulu Provinc.
The holotype is in Naturalis.
Leiden.
The Netherlands (GBIF 2024.
The species was previously Ae under different names Ae reported from Sanggaran Agung and from west of Bangko (Jambi Provinc.
in 1914 and 1915 respectively, and from Takengon .
n the centre of the Aceh Provinc.
These locations are shown with small squares in Fig.
Lieftinck .
also mentioned an observation Auin the bed of a rocky forest brook on Mt.
Dempo, 1.
000 mAy, near Pagar Alam (Sumatra Selatan Provinc.
, presumably from 1936, because it is an observation not far from the location of the holotype.
Dow et al.
stated that the species was Auknown with certainty only from the holotype male from southwest SumatraAy.
Rory Dow assessed the status for the IUCN Red List in 2007 and wrote: AuOnychogomphus rappardi is a very poorly known There have been very few records, and none in more than 50 years, but there has been almost no expert sampling on Sumatra over this period.
Until more information becomes available it must be listed as Data DeficientAy (Dow 2.
With Aunone in more than 50 yearsAy he referred to Lieftinck .
, but in that publication no later observations were mentioned than summed up before, so the last historical records are from 1936.
Figure 5.
Map with the known locations of Onychogomphus rappardi.
the small squares represent the historical records from GBIF, the large squares the recent records, all discussed in the text .
Naturalist 2024.
Rediscovery of the Sumatran Figure 6.
Onychogomphus rappardi in secondary forest.
Ketambe (Photograph: Dick Ba.
Figure 7.
Onychogomphus rappardi, same individual as above .
Figure 8.
Herona sumatrana sumatrana .
Gunung Leuser National Park, near Ketambe (Photographs: Dick Ba.
The first observation after 86 years was made by C.
Gan at Bohorok River in Bukit Lawang (Sumatra Utara Provinc.
, at 3o33AoN/98o07AoE .
Naturalist 2024.
The observation dates from 28 December 2022, but the species was not recognized on iNaturalist until 12 June 2024.
The dragonfly was encountered along a trail parallel to the clear, fast-flowing river with sand banks, moss-covered rocks and tangled roots, providing ample perching and foraging sites for dragonflies.
This river winds through tropical rainforest on steep hills.
The trail was shaded and relatively quiet, with a mix of dappled sunlight filtering through the forest canopy (C.
Gan, pers.
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The second observation was made by the author on 26 July 2024 in a patch of secondary forest between plantations at the edge of Ketambe, just outside Gunung Leuser National Park, at 3o40Ao31AyN/ 97o39Ao47AyE .
Naturalist 2024.
The dragonfly could be approached very easily when it perched above a very small stream along a path going uphill (Fig.
6 and .
The situation resembles that of Bukit Lawang, also in being near the fast flowing, relatively large Alas River and a smaller tributary .
oth less than 200 m awa.
Although there has been no research on the ecology of this species, it seems likely that Onychogomphus rappardi, like other species from this genus, is a species of fast flowing, small to medium large rivers with rocks.
It prefers hilly, forested landscapes and has been seen resting in semishade not too far from the river.
The second species to be discussed in this section is Herona sumatrana sumatrana Moore, 1881, from the Nymphalidae family.
The species was first described in Moore .
from a specimen collected .
t an unknown dat.
in the Sultanate of Deli, which is nowadays part of North Sumatra Province.
That sultanate comprised of two parts: the surroundings of Medan and the surroundings of Tebing Tinggi.
After the publication of the species description, the nominate subspecies was collected only in 1949-1950 .
s far as can be reconstructed with sources on the interne.
, in the same region: in Lauttador, east of Tebing Tinggi, at about 100 m asl, with 11 specimens from Natural History Museums in Rotterdam and Leiden.
The Netherlands (GBIF 2024.
Note that the specimens in Naturalis with code ZMA.
INS.
5167009 and ZMA.
INS.
5167010 are from a species of the Pieridae family and were erroneously made part of the list of preserved specimens on GBIF.
the georeferenced location of these specimens on the GBIF map .
outhern part of Sumatr.
is to be ignored.
The nominate subspecies is endemic to Sumatra (Iqbal et al.
There are seven other subspecies (Iqbal et al.
Savela 2.
: schoenbergi Staudinger, 1890 from Borneo, djarang Fruhstorfer, 1893 from Nias, pringondani Fruhstorfer, 1893 from Jawa, dusuntua Corbet, 1937 from Peninsular Malaysia, pahala Corbet, 1942 from Sabang and Weh Island, attenuatus Tsukada, 1991 from Nasi, and artifex Tsukada, 1991 from Pagai.
The most recent known observations are from 1992 on Borneo .
and Jawa .
, and from 1984 in Peninsular Malaysia .
(GBIF 2.
No record is known from Sumatra since 1949 (M.
Iqbal, pers.
The author photographed Herona sumatrana sumatrana on 26 July 2024 (Fig.
iNaturalist 2024.
, north of Ketambe, between the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road and River Alas.
The location .
ee the triangle in Fig.
, at around 3o41Ao32AyN/97o39Ao07AyE.
As yet, no details about the ecology of this species are known.
It seems obvious, however, that the habitat of H.
sumatrana sumatrana at the east coast of Sumatra Utara Province, where this species was found in the 19th century (Moore, 1.
and 1949-1950 .
ee abov.
, must have been different to the hill dipterocarp forest type of Ketambe.
Species that are very rare in Indonesia, now .
discovered on Sumatra In this section, the observations are presented of three species that are very rare in Indonesia and have not - or at least not recently - been reported for Sumatra.
The butterfly Arhopala athada (Staudinger, 1.
, from the Lycaenidae family, is a species from mainland Southeast Asia.
Indonesia and the Philippines.
In Indonesia the nominate ssp.
athada is presenton Sumatra.
Kalimantan and Jawa (Iqbal et On iNaturalist and GBIF only observations from mainland Southeast Asia can be found.
For Indonesia, on GBIF not even historical records can be found.
A historical source of observations in Indonesia is Evans .
: from Sumatra three males are mentioned .
o location or dat.
No record is known from Sumatra since that publication (M.
Iqbal, pers.
Arhopala athada athada was photographed by the author on 24 July 2024 (Fig.
iNaturalist 2024.
, north of Ketambe, east of the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road.
The location .
ast of - but close to - the triangle in Fig.
, at around 3o41Ao32AyN/97o39Ao07AyE, consisted of the hill dipterocarp forest type.
The butterfly Deramas livens Distant, 1886, also from the Lycaenidae family, is a species from mainland Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
In Indonesia the nominate ssp.
livens is reported from Sumatra and Kalimantan (Iqbal et al.
Based on iNaturalist and GBIF, recent observations are only known from mainland Southeast Asia.
There are two records from Indonesia in 1983 that can be found on GBIF under the name Deramas livena Distant, 1886, without an exact location.
A record without a date, under the name Deramas livena livescens Fruhstorfer, 1897, which is a synonym of ssp.
livens, can be found on GBIF, with the location AoBaliAo.
Fruhstorfer described this taxon from the AuBai von PalabuanAy on Jawa (Fruhstorfer, 1.
In De Nicyville & Martin .
two males are mentioned .
nder the synonym Zarona pharygoide.
from AuBekantschanAy .
ithout a dat.
This has to be Bekancan, situated Rediscovery of the Sumatran northwest of Berastagi in North Sumatra Province, according to the description of this place on p.
359 of this publication and because two males from Aunortheast SumatraAy were mentioned in Fruhstorfer .
, under Poritia livens livens, with reference to this publication.
No record is known from Sumatra since these publications (M.
Iqbal, pers.
), which means that there are no published observations on Sumatra in the last 130 years.
Deramas livens livens was photographed on 25 July 2024 (Fig.
iNaturalist 2024.
north of Ketambe, east of the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road, in the forest near what is known as the Aobase campAo, at the bank of a small river, further east from the location of Arhopala athada Ketambe is less than 100 km away from Bekancan and both locations belong now to the eastern part of Gunung Leuser National Park, so these areas are still connected.
The moth Teulisna plagiata Walker, 1862, from the Arctiidae family, was described from a specimen from Sarawak (Malaysi.
It looks more or less like Teulisna karena Uerny, 2009, which is known from Sumatra with one published observation (GBIF 2024.
, but that species misses the black apical spots.
On iNaturalist and GBIF.
Teulisna plagiata has hitherto only been recorded on the island of Borneo, mostly in Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawa.
, but also on one location in east Kalimantan Ae which seems to be the only record in Indonesia.
The author photographed Teulisna plagiata on 26 July 2024 (Fig.
iNaturalist 2024.
north of Ketambe, between the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road and Alas River.
The location .
ee the triangle in Fig.
, at around 3o41Ao32AyN/97o39Ao07AyE, was the same as described in the first section.
Figure 9.
Butterflies and moths from Gunung Leuser National Park, near Ketambe: A.
Arhopala athada athada.
Deramas livens livens, and C.
Teulisna plagiata (Photographs A and C: Dick Bal.
B: Henriytte Bal-Dielema.
Figure 10.
Butterflies and moths from Gunung Leuser National Park, near Ketambe: A.
Jamides malaccanus celinus.
Corymica deducta, and C.
Speiredonia sandokana (Photographs: Dick Ba.
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Notes on other species that are very rare in Indonesia The butterfly Jamides malaccanus (Ryber, 1.
, from the Lycaenidae family, is a species from southThailand.
Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.
This species has one subspecies on Sumatra.
malaccanus celinus (Fruhstorfer, 1.
, an endemic subspecies of the island (Iqbal et al.
The specimen in GBIF from Padang (GBIF 2024.
which has been identified as Jamides malaccanus saturatus (Snelle.
is probably Jamides parasaturata (Fruhstorfer, 1.
, that was also seen in the Bengkulu Province, because the male lacks the black submarginal spots on the upper hindwing of Jamides malaccanus.
furthermore subspecies saturatus is a Javan endemic.
On iNaturalist, there are two records of Jamides malaccanus .
present for Sumatra, both from Bukit Lawang in 2022.
The author photographed this species on 24 July 2024 (Fig.
iNaturalist 2024.
, north of Ketambe, east of the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road, which is some 50 km southeast from Bukit Lawang.
The moth Corymica deducta (Walker, 1.
, from the Geometridae family, is a species that occurs from India eastwards to Japan and southwards to Indonesia.
Historical and recent records for Indonesia are scarce, although this species can be easily recognized.
The species was collected in 2000 in the hills north of Parapat (North Sumatra Provinc.
and south of Padang (West Sumatra Provinc.
The author photographed this species (Fig.
iNaturalist 2024.
on the same day and location as Jamides malaccanus celinus.
The moth Speiredonia sandokana Zilli & Holloway, 2005, from the Erebidae family, is a species that was described from specimens collected around Toba Lake.
North Sumatra Province .
Other specimens are known from the island of Borneo (Malaysia and Brunei Darussala.
and recent observations on iNaturalist come from Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.
The author photographed this species on 25 July 2024 (Fig.
iNaturalist 2024.
, also north of Ketambe, east of the Blangkejeren-Kutacane road.
The observations discussed in this paper are important records of rare species insects in Sumatra.
It should be emphasized, though, that a species that seems to be very rare, could have been just overlooked by scientists and both locals and tourists who take the trouble to post observations on internet platforms.
But for the species discussed in this paper, it is clear that they benefit from the presence of a large stretch of rainforest in and around the Gunung Leuser National Park.
Rainforest ecosystems are globally threatened by logging, draining, burning and other human activities.
Thus it is important that both scientists and the general public document the value of this incredibly biodiverse Acknowledgments First af all.
I wish to thank the guides Safar and his brother Sabri from Ketambe for guiding me through the jungle and helping to find the butterflies and moths discussed in this paper.
Thanks to Cheong Weei Gan for providing information on the habitat of the dragonfly you rediscovered in Bukit Lawang, and Rory Dow for checking the identity of this species.
A word of gratitude to the members of the iNaturalist community who were so kind to validate my observations on this invaluable Aocitizen scienceAo Special thanks to Roger Kendrick and Terry Whitaker for letting me know that I found a species of Collinsa new to science and to Muhammad Iqbal who helped me in the search for literature that was not accessible on the internet and encouraged me to write this paper.
Finally.
I thank the reviewers for their valuable suggestions and feedback on the first version of this paper.
References