My April 2016 exploration mission in the Makay massif ( to be discovered ici), led by Naturevolution and ProjetsPlusActions, had for objective to collect insects in order to inventory the entomo-fauna of this region whose knowledge still remains incomplete (My testimony on the site of Naturevolution : ici).
In a first report published in May (à lire here) presenting the course and feelings of this trip to the end of the world, I explained the important work of determining the specimens to be undertaken with world specialists of the various families, a project requiring several months. The purpose of this new report is to give a progress report on this work.
During the summer, specimens were classified by families and subfamilies (where possible), and entomologists interested and available to conduct the contacted determinations.
Here is a non-exhaustive inventory of the main families collected and identified to date, out of a total of 146 samples (several individuals of the same species have sometimes been packed together in the same tube).
Samples were recently sent to the following specialists:
- Hans R. Feijen – Biologist at Terrestrial Zoology Department of Leiden (Netherlands) and fly specialist Diopsidae of Madagascar
- Christophe Girod – specialist in African Dermaptera (earwig)
- Eric Guilbert – Senior Lecturer at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris (MNHN), Institut de Systématique, Evolution et Biodiversité, and specialist in Hétéroptères Tingidae
- Sylvain Hugel – Neurobiology at the CNRS and specialist in Orthoptera (find an interview here)
- Pierre-Olivier Maquart – PhD at the University of Stirling (Scotland) and specialist in African Cerambycidae (an interview will soon be published)
- Claire Villemant – MNHN researcher and Hymenoptera specialist
Formicidae are first studied by myself and then, if data are interesting, confirmed by Brian Fisher, Californian ant specialist.
Many other specimens are not yet in the determination phase: their study will be done in the coming months. Indeed, due to the poor knowledge of the Malagasy entomo-fauna, the absence of classification for many families and a lack of specialists, the determination of many specimens remains impossible.
While waiting for a return of the specimens and the first results, here is a photo album of the Makay 2016 mission…
- You can also read my testimony on the Naturevolution website here.
Recommendation of work and DVD on this theme
– Makay : Discovering the latest Eden
– Makay, les aventuriers du monde perdu[Blu-ray 3D]
