Rodent species associated to dokong (Lansium domesticum Corr.) – A beneficial factor

C. H. Lee and B. Ithnin

Abstract

Four dokong areas in Baling infested by bark borers were studied for the rodent species present. Seven species, i.e. rats, Rattus tiomanicus, R. rattus diardii, Chiropodomys gliroides and Lenothrix malaisia, and squirrels, Callosciurus caniceps, C. notatus and Sundasciurus tenuis, were found and identified in the areas. Three areas had only 3–4 species while the area within the proximity of the jungle had all the seven species. In the laboratory, three species, namely R. tiomanicus, L. malaisia and S. tenuis, were found to remove scabby, swollen and brittle bark tissues of dokong to feed on borer larvae. The size of chippings, tooth and scratching marks left on the infested branches as a result of feeding conformed to the chippings and marks noted in the dokong field. The size of chippings and marks made by these three species overlapped in their dimensions. The other four species, i.e. R. rattus diardii, C. gliroides, C. caniceps and C. notatus, were found not to scrape on bark borer-infested branches in the laboratory. Thus they are not the species that would have fed on bark borers of dokong trees in the field.

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