The Conservation and Collection of Cocoa Insects Fauna at the Malaysian Cocoa Board

Abstract

Cocoa ecosystem provides favorable conditions for numerous insect species, with more than 200 species were recorded in Malaysia. Some of the insects are economically important, particularly insects that are associated with cocoa. A collection of insects was carried out throughout Malaysia via insect expeditions, field observations, and samplings in various landscapes, ranging from monoculture to intercropping planting systems. This involves several techniques such as hand-picked, baiting techniques, sweeping for aerial and flying insects, trapping for crawling and ground surface insects as well as light traps for nocturnal insects. To date, more than 10,000 individual insects were collected since 1981. Of these, 11 orders of insect from 177 families belonging to more than 600 species were identified, deposited and conserved in the Insect Museum at the Entomological Unit of the Malaysian Cocoa Board Hilir Perak. In order to disseminate information on the biodiversity of insect pests and diseases of cocoa to the target users, the online portal was developed in 2013. The portal, Cocoa Pests and Diseases (CROPED) can be accessed online at the URL of http://croped.koko.my. Until November 2018, 50 articles mainly on the management of pests and diseases of cocoa were uploaded with detail description of 28 species of insects. Conservation of thousands of live specimens is currently maintained at the Insect Museum. This information was made available to the public and researchers for further reference.