Diversity and ecology of black flies in tea plantation area of Puncak Bogor, Indonesia.

Black flies fauna in Indonesia has been studied extensively, however their ecology is still remaining unexplored. The study was carried out by collecting the larvae and pupae black flies in tea plantation area, Puncak Bogor. The collection sites were the streams located in 3 differents type of altitude, i.e. (1) the natural forest area (1200 m above the sea level) (P1); (2) the tea plantation area (900-1200 m asl) (P2); and (3) the housing area of the official tea plantation (900 m asl) (P3). The collection of black flies were done beweekly from July 2012 to April 2013. The result showed that 12 species of black flies were recorded which belong to one genus, Simulium s.l. and three subgenera (Nevermannia, Gomphostilbia and Simulium s.str). In P1, the area with high elevation (natural forest), it was found the most number of black flies species (11 species). In the streams around and in the tea plantation area (P2), it was found 7 species, and in P3, the official housing area, it was recorded 8 species. The analysis satistically showed that P1 was dominated by larvae and pupae of S. (S.) argyrocinctum, P2 by larvae and pupae of S. (N.) feuerborni, and P3 by S. (S.) argyrocinctum and S. (N.) feuerborni. The distribution of these species was different according to the elevation of the areas.