A Study on Four Methods of Sampling Ichneumonidae and Braconidae at Two Different Habitats of Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia

A study on four methods of sampling Ichneumonidae and Braconidae at two different habitats of Fraser’s Hill was conducted from 12 – 15 November 2000. The sampling methods tested were malaise trap (MT), yellow pan trap (YPT), flight intercept trap (FIT) and sweeping net (SWN). YPT collected the most ichneumonids while FIT collected similar numbers of ichneumonids and braconids. MT seemed to collect less ichneumonids individuals as compared with other two methods, but had high H’ for ichneumonid morphospecies, indicating that MT is relatively a better method for estimating diversity over the other methods. None of the tested sampling methods has better edge over the others in collecting ichneumonids and braconids irrespective of habitat types. As such, the use of all suitable sampling methods for certain habitats per unit time are still the best suggestion in order to get enough collection and better diversity of estimation especially for ichneumonids.