When doing research on the few possible "lifer" birds that I could find on this trip to Sabah, and in particular, looking for sites to find the Bornean Frogmouth, I read about the Trus Madi Entomology Camp. This piqued my interest, as there is almost nothing I like more than setting up lights and seeing what insects appear. Surely this entomology camp would be right up our alley! Upon reading further, I saw photos of light traps covered with hundreds of moths and other insects. This was definitely a place that Laura and I needed to investigate!
We had arranged to stay just one night at the entomology camp and all arrangements were done through local birding guide Calvin Ng. I would have loved to stay another night here (this is a common theme pretty much anywhere Laura and I travel), especially since the drive up a rough track takes several hours, which limited the daylight searching we could do.
The Trus Madi Entomology Camp is situated along a ridge in the mountains at around 1200m elevation. We experienced a bone-rattling ride in the Toyota Land Cruiser up the very poor road which accesses the camp. As we ascended higher into the mountains, the beautiful forested ridges of Trus Madi Forest Reserve surrounded us. What a place.
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| View from Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
It was around 5 PM when we finally arrived at the Entomology Camp. Laura and I were shown our room - fairly basic, equipped with two single beds, but suitable for our needs. We threw our bags down and set off exploring down the road. We passed numerous light traps to attract insects - in just a few short hours, they would be covered with moths!
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| Moth trap at Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
As dusk approached, I turned my focus towards Bornean Frogmouths. This Bornean endemic is seen by very few visiting birders since it is more reliable at a few sites in Sarawak and Kalimantan, and absent from most of Sabah which is where most birders visit. Of course I had never seen it (or even been in range for it). There is usually a pair or two along the ridge near the Entomology Camp, and within seconds of playing the tape, Laura and I had a response! The Bornean Frogmouth called a few times, but before we could draw it in closer, a burst of rain began to fall and we quickly retreated back to the buildings since we had left our umbrellas behind.
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| Toyota Land Cruiser at Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
We enjoyed a delicious meal that was prepared for us by one of the women living/working here. The food alone is worth the trip to Trus Madi; it was some of the best I've had in Sabah. Additionally, coffee/tea and snacks were available 24/7. After enjoying our meal we spent some time checking out the various pinned insects on the walls, educational posters about the pitcher plants, mantises and butterflies, and the extensive library.
Once nightfall hit, the real fun began. There are about a dozen light traps set up at various intervals along the road which runs along a ridge here. The lights turn on at dusk and remain on all night. Due to the often windy conditions along the ridge, the white sheets are secured at five points (the four corners and the center). This minimizes movement of the sheets, allowing insects to perch easily while also making photography easier.
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| Moth traps at Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
During our visit a few of the light traps were out of commission but there were still eight fully functional ones. And once night fell, the insect show began!
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| Moth madness - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Hoplia aurata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Idaea vacillata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Ophthalmitis variegata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Ropalidia sumatrae - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Enispa elateria - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Laura and I quickly realized what the night would have in store after we checked the first sheet. It was popping off!
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| Unidentified moth - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Monolepta sp. - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Zamarada baliata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Lista ficki - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Tanaorhinus malayanus - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Normally when I am mothing back home, I have two light traps that I set up and I go back and forth between them, photographing all the insects on both sides of each sheet. Usually there are more than enough insects to keep me busy and I can just go back and forth between the two sheets with new species appearing frequently. But there was just so much to see here at Trus Madi; no doubt we would be missing so many species since we could only check out one trap at a time.
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| Polygrammodes limitalis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Mustilizans dierlii - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified Feather-legged Moth (family Stathmopodidae) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Chorsia quentini - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
One of my favourite groups of moths is the subfamily Arctiinae, also known as the tiger moths and allies. These moths have an enormous variety of colours and patterns; very few are clad in drab browns and grays. I photographed close to 40 species of tiger moths during our one night at Trus Madi Entomology Camp! Here are a few of the standouts:
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| Cyana pudens - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Ammatho syntipica - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Ammatho roseororatus - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Spilarctia groganae - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Cyana selangorica - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Siccia clarimaculata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Monosyntaxis trimaculata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Padenia obliquifascia - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Barsine lucibilis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Cyana conclusa - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Adites sp. - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Another favourite group of mine is the visually appealing emerald moths (subfamily Geometrinae). These geometer moths have incredible diversity throughout the world, and that is the case in Borneo, too. I photographed 15 species of emerald moths this evening (plus a few that I haven't identified).
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| Comostola meritaria - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Lophophelma erionoma - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Eucyclodes albisparsa - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Eucyclodes semialba - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Dooabia lunifera - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Berta albiplaga - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Paramaxates spinivescia - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
The crambid moths (family Crambidae) are another group that I find interesting for some unexplained reason. Below are a few of my favourite crambids from Trus Madi.
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| Pachynoa sp. - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Talanga sabacusalis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Sameodes pictalis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Parotis marginata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Pylartes subcostalis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Pachynoa spilosomoides - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
In addition to the hundreds of species of moths, Laura and I paid attention to a lot of other insects, too. The leafhopper, cicada and beetle diversity in particular was off the charts!
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| Cyclommatus lunifer - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Gununga alacris - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Onukia sp. - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Orientopsaltria montivaga - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Deflorita pulchra - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified true weevil (family Curculionidae) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Anatkina lepidipennis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Olenecamptus optatus - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Batocera rubus - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
We noted two species of dobsonflies; the yellow one was by far the most common.
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| Protohermes dichrous - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Protohermes spectabilis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Out of the various bee species, my favourite was this blue species of carpenter bee called Xylocopa tumida. It is only known from the highlands of Borneo; indeed, the only records on iNaturalist are from the Trus Madi Entomology Camp.
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| Xylocopa tumida - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
At various points I played the tape for Bornean Frogmouth, but the persistent rain was not helping matters and we never heard it again. Even if it was active it would be impossible to hear it calling due to the white noise created by the rain and wind. At least the inclement weather did not seem to affect the insects!
As the evening wore on, Laura and I came up with a plan for how we would maximize our mothing experience. Due to the rain which was getting stronger, we decided that we would only stay up until around 10:30 or so, sleep until 4 AM, and then spend the last hour and a half of night back at the sheets. Often, certain insects fly at different hours of the night and so checking the sheet just before dawn can be extremely productive.
Here are a few additional photos before we headed back to the camp where our beds awaited.
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| Eupterote multiarcuata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Endotricha sp. - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Eoophyla nigripilosa - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Lyssa zampa - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified shield bug (subfamily Pentatominae) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified moth - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Stericta divitalis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Tamba coeruleobasis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified pyralid moth (subfamily Galleriinae) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified assassin bug (subfamily Harpactorinae) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified moth - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Daddala microdesma - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Monocerotesa proximesta - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Sypna albilinea - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified moth - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Tamba lala - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Bracca georgiata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Borbacha bipardaria - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
This moth was on the short list for Moth Of The Night. What a stunner!
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| Sinna calospila - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
4:00 AM arrived far too quickly, but the thoughts of all the new moths for us got us out of bed. The rain had stopped, too so we were able to put our umbrellas away.
Our plan had worked out well. Though there weren't as many new moths as we had hoped, there were still hundreds that we hadn't noticed the previous evening. Very few moths were fluttering around and most had dew on them, so we surmised that the flight must have mostly shut down at some point during the wee hours of the night.
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| Ourapteryx claretta - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified moth - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Plutodes flavescens - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
It was now a race against the clock; by sunrise many of the moths will have left, and those that remain become breakfast for the Ashy Drongos and other birds that reside in these hills. Below is a selection of some of the species from our early morning session.
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| Pyrops cultellatus - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified geometer moth (family Geometridae) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Rhabdoblatta sp. - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Locharna limbata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Unidentified moth (family Cossidae) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Thysanoptyx sp. - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Krananda semihyalina - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Phyllium bradleri - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Barsine lucibilis - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
As the sky lightened I tried for the Bornean Frogmouth in a few different spots, but it did not respond. Laura were quite fortunate that we had heard one the previous evening. But we will have to return to Trus Madi in the future to obtain views of one. Or perhaps we will do a trip to Sarawak one day where there are other sites to find the frogmouth.
My flashlight caught the eyeshine of a nightjar on the road and it tolerated our approach. This is a Gray Nightjar, a species that winters in the highlands of Borneo among other areas. It was a new Borneo species for me, and I obtained my first photographs of the species. A few minutes later the first White-rumped Shama kicked off the dawn chorus and it was soon joined by Ashy Drongos, Bold-striped Tit-Babblers and more. The Gray Nightjar disappeared to its roost site for the day.
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| Gray Nightjar - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Sunrise at Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Laura and I headed back to our lodging once the brief dawn chorus quieted back down. I quickly fell asleep; good thing I set an alarm! We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then headed out on the trails. We wouldn't be leaving for Kota Kinabalu until after lunch and so we had most of a full morning to explore the ridge during the day.
Since the frogmouth had been our only major bird target here, we were able to explore all morning at our own pace without worrying about targeting any species. We could just enjoy the birds, herps, insects and pitcher plants (of which there were many!). This species is Reinwardt's Pitcher-Plant (Nepenthes reinwardtiana) and it was abundant in a few areas.
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| Nepenthes reinwardtiana - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
This particular individual had been chosen as the host for some sort of mining insect, perhaps the larvae of a fly or moth. I still haven't been able to figure out what species mines this plant.
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| Unidentified mine on Nepenthes reinwardtiana - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Since there are no trails here (constructing them would be almost pointless given the dense vegetation and steep slopes), all of our exploration was done along the entrance road. We walked for about a kilometer or so before turning around. The birding was excellent, especially when we found our first big flock. Mixed in with the group were a few highlights: a photogenic Red-billed Malkoha, several Pygmy Heleias, a pretty Velvet-breasted Nuthatch and our first Orange-breasted Trogon for Borneo (we had seen this species previously in mainland Malaysia and Thailand). The trogon was actually a new species for the eBird hotspot.
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| Red-billed Malkoha - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Orange-breasted Trogon - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Trus Madi Entomology Camp is situated at around 1200 m in elevation and so it has an interesting mix of highland and lowland species. It felt strange to be seeing or hearing highland birds like Pygmy Heleia, Crimson-headed Partridge, Little Cuckoo-Dove and Mountain Barbet while also finding lowland species like Banded Broadbill and Sunda Scimitar-Babbler. We saw a typical lowland leafbird - Lesser Green Leafbird - only a few minutes after finding a highland species, the Bornean Leafbird. An interesting mix!
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| Pygmy Heleia - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Borneo is home to eight species of hornbills. These iconic birds are typically associated with the lowlands and it is possible to find all eight species in a day in some of the lowland locales (I succeeded with this once at Tabin!). Only a couple of species venture into the hills such as the Rhinoceros Hornbill and Wreathed Hornbill. We had several flyovers of Wreathed Hornbills during our morning walk.
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| Wreathed Hornbill - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Compared with our nocturnal insect adventures, it was a nice change of pace to photograph several insect species on grasses and tree trunks during the day.
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| Spotted Grass Dart (Taractrocera ardonia) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Common Three-ring (Ypthima pandocus) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Tosena fasciata - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Oothonecroscia mjobergi - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
Laura is always on snake patrol, especially when the birding is a bit slow. As we were walking back to the camp she suddenly yelled "snake!". Sure enough, an absolutely gorgeous Oriental Whipsnake was draped in the ferns and other vegetation at eye-level.
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| Oriental Whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
If someone reading this is wondering "how the heck does Laura spot so many snakes when they blend in so well?", well, I wish I knew the reason! It is incredible...
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| Oriental Whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
I couldn't resist extracting the whipsnake from the foliage for a closer look. The colours were absolutely incredible.
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| Oriental Whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
This was the largest Oriental Whipsnake that we had ever seen. All stretched out it likely was over five feet in length.
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| Oriental Whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
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| Oriental Whipsnake (Ahaetulla prasina) - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
And with that, our time at Trus Madi came to an end. We had just one final treat in store. A Black-billed Malkoha was skulking beside the restaurant; this was a lifer for Laura!
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| Black-bellied Malkoha - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
We enjoyed one final meal, said goodbye to the staff, and hopped in the Land Cruiser with Peter for the long drive back to Kota Kinabalu.
I wish I could say that the drive back was smooth sailing. Unfortunately, all of the rain that we had received in the past 24 hours had rendered several sections of the road nearly impassible, even with a high-clearance 4x4 like a Land Cruiser. During one particularly muddy uphill section Peter managed to get the vehicle stuck. His attempts at reversing the truck out of the area only made us sink deeper. We couldn't get any traction and the truck was properly stuck. We needed outside reinforcements to help us out of our situation, or else risk spending the night here.
Fortunately, we had just passed a gate and there were a couple of young guys working there. Peter set off on foot, returning 20 minutes later in a 4x4 pickup truck with the boys from the guard house. Luckily, they had a tow rope as well.
With great effort (and a lot of flying mud), the pickup was able to tow us out of the muddy spot. It then went ahead of us, barely making it through the bad section and to the flat area beyond. With a combination of the pickup towing us, and Peter blasting through the muddy section as fast as he could, we fishtailed up and out of the mud! I felt sorry for whoever needed to drive the road next...
The rest of the drive back to Kota Kinabalu was uneventful other than some fog and rain in the Crocker Range and we arrived at the airport shortly after 6 PM. We said our goodbyes to Peter and picked up our rental car for the final leg of our trip.
Our whirlwind trip to Trus Madi had been expensive and over far too quickly, but we had had an amazing time in a gorgeous corner of the world. I hope to return one day!
And I'll finish this blog post with some numbers from Trus Madi, as I'm sure some people are wondering how many moth species we found. It is hard to land on an exact number because I haven't been able to identify a large proportion of them. But according to iNaturalist I photographed 641 individual insects, including 488 individual moths (I tried to photograph each species only once, but I have a few duplicates). I have been able to identify 206 of the moths down to species, but there are likely another 200 others, for a total of roughly 400 different moth taxa. Not a bad haul for a single evening of mothing.
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| Scopula divisaria - Trus Madi Entomology Camp, Sabah, Malaysia |
