Noxious arthropods as potential prey of the venomous Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) in a West Javan volcanic agricultural system

Arthropods play a significant role in ecosystems as prey for animals such asinsectivorous primates. The venomous Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) is anocturnal primate endemic to the island of Java, Indonesia. It remains unknown ifits venom is partially sequestered from noxious arthropod prey. We studied thelittle-known arthropod community in a rural agriculture system in West Java,Indonesia, in order to investigate the potential prey and source for sequestrationof venom. We found specimens of the partially noxious insect orders Lepidoptera,Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera and of the class Arachnida inslow loris foraging trees in an agricultural area in West Java, Indonesia. To examinethe effects of environmental conditions on the abundance of this food source,arthropods were trapped every two weeks for five months, using sweep net transects,Malaise and pitfall traps. Trap type had a significant effect on taxa caught. Windstrength negatively affected the number of Lepidoptera captured in the Malaise trapand humidity had a confounding effect on Orthoptera caught by sweep net. Despitethe short-term nature of our study, by using a combination of trapping methods, weidentified a relatively high diversity of insects in a human-dominated landscape. Ourresults can be used as a basis to understand the proximate and ultimate factorsshaping the use of venom by the slow loris as a primate.Keywords: Arachnida; Indonesia; Insecta; Malaise trap; Nycticebus; sweep net Journal of Natural History Volume 49, 2015 - Issue 31-32