Fauna Of The Batu Caves Selangor

FAUNA OF THE BATU CAVES,
SELANGOR.
PREFATORY I -OTE .
1.
BY
C.
11.
BODE~
KLOSS.
INTRODUCTION.
BY
CEDRIC DOVER.
TOPOGRAPHY.
111.
BY
:;\lERCIA HEY_TES-WOOD
AND
CEDRIC DO ER.
FROM
.( JOURXAL OF THE FEDER - TED :'IALAY ST . TES :;\U; SEUMS. '
VOL .
XIV,
P ARTS
3
4,
PP.
325- 330,
JULY,
1929.
t. n~
III.
FAUNA OF THE B ATU CAVES, SELANGOR.
SUMMARY.
PAGE
Prefatorv I Tote
ii. In troduction
iii. Topog aphy
1.
iv.
C. Boden Kloss
Cedric Dover
Mercia H eynes- V'l ood
and Cedric Dover E . S. \Villbourn Cedric Dover
Ekendranath Ghosh
Chas. Chilton
Geology v. Flora
vi. Mollusca vii. Crustacea : Isopoda Vlll.
Crus tacea :
An omos traea
G. O. Sars
DC Nematoda
- J. G. de Man
x . Arachnida Pedipalpi
(part) and Aranere Louis F age xi. Arachnida: Acarina
(Ixodidre)
- Stanley Hirst
xii. Orthoptera and Derm aptera
- L. Chopard xiii. N europtera
- 1 Ja than Bank s
xiv. Microlepidoptera
- Edward Meyrick xv. Diptera
- F. W. Edwards and
Cedric Dover XVI.
Rhynchota
- Cedric Dover
xvii. Coleoptera
K. G. Blair 1.
325
326
328
331
333
334
338
3 3~
352
356
365
366
372
374
376
378
381
PREFATORY NOTE.
By C. BODEN KLos s.
Director of Museum s, Straits Settlements and
Federated Ma lay S tates.
The r eports in this series of papers are mainly ba sed
on the collections made b y Mr. and Mrs. Cedric Dover
during the association of the former with the Selangor
Museum. On the transfer of Mr. Dover from the Museums
to the Agricultural Department, S.S. and F.M.S., his work
on the Batu Caves came to an end and though it is hoped
to publish a f ew more reports on material which is still
being s tudied the investigations will not be as complete as
they might have been had Mr. Dover more tim e to devote
to them.
I have n o t thought it necessary to write any de tailed
notes on vertebrates for this series of papers since such as
occur in the caves are all of species fairly common in th e
Malay States. There are fou nd several species of bats, the
to ad Bufo melanoslictus a nd the "white cave-snake."
E laphe taeniura: birds are not present in the Caves as no
" birds'-nest ~' swift (Co llocalia species) frequents the limeston e mass.
325
III.
fA ... A OF THE BAT
CA \'ES, SEL NGOR.
ii .
Il\TH ODt:CTIO. ·.
By
CEDRIC DO VER.
The Batu Caves, near Kuala Lumpur, ha e been known
Lo na tural ists since 1879 when, accordi.ng to D. D. Daly,
they were discovered by Mr. H. C. Syers, then Superin tendent of P olice in Selangor State. The par ty accompanying
Mr. Syers does not appear to have 'is' ted th e cave w hich
is th e subject of this report, a nd Daly's account has no
mor e than a quaint historical interest.
The first attempt to study the fauna of the Ba tu Caves
~ras made in 1898 by 1r. H. ~ . Ridley, Director of Gardens,
Straits Settlemen ts.- In the" Repo r:t of the BriLish Assoda Lion for th e Advancement of Science" for that year he
indicated th e general char acter of the caves and tI eir fauoa ,
but no attempt \ 'as made at a detailed study. The inter e.. t
of subsequnt naturalists in the Ba tu Caves is due entirely
10 Ridley's work.
T he most important contribution, since Ridley"
account, on the fa una of caves in Bur ma and the Malay
Peninsula is the m emoir by N. Annandale, J. Coggin Browu
and F . . H. Gravely. In this paper the literatur e on the
subj ect is indicated, and th e animals then k nown from the
Burmo- ialay Caves (including the Ba tu Cayes) are
r ecorded. So far as the Batu Caves are concerned there
a r e naturally certain errors of identification, and only a
fraction of the fauna is enumerated.
These are the only papers r elating to the Batu Caves
as a whole, b u t a f e\,f s tray papers on isolated m embers
of var ious groups have also been ·published. These are
mentioned in the repor ts which follow.
The following acco unt deals with the fauna of th e Dark
Cave, th e only cave in Ba tu Caves hill whi ch was likely Lo
yield results of an y spelaeological inter est. The n Lll1lerOLl .
smaller ca es in this hill mav excite the interest of other
observers, b ut for th e most part their fauna (such as i t is )
is identical with that of the ca e I have studied. The collections on which it is m ainly based were made b y m y w ife
(nee Mercia Heynes-\Vood), and m yself, on many visits
10 the caves during 1926. It is believed that our investigalions are fairly complete, but it has been impossible to get
all our collections d termined and f uture students will
undoubtedly be able to discover additional species and facts
of biological interest.
Our in work was inspired by the excellent study of
the Siju Cave, Assam, undertaken by S. W . Kemp and
B. N. Chopra.
326
,
1929. ]
DOVEn : Batu Caves, Introduction.
327
REFERENCES .
D. D. Daly : " Caves at Sungei Batu in Selangor." -Journ .
Straits Branch Roy. Asia t. Soc. No.3, pp. 116- 119, 1879.
H. N. Ridley: " Report on Caves in the Malay P eninsula."R ep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem ent of Science, Bristol
meeting, 1898, pp. 572- 582.
~. Annandale, J. Coggin Bro vn and F. H. Gmve]y : " The
Limestone Caves of Burma and the Malay P eninsula."Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal (ne, ser.), IX, pp . 391-423,
1!H3.
S. \Y. Kemp and B. I . Chopra: "Th e Siju Cave, 'aro Hills,
Assa m."-Rec. Ind. Mus., XXVI, parl I, 192'1.
3
III. FAUNA
F THE BATU CA YES, SELANGO
iii. TOPOGRAPHY.
By MERCIA HEYNES-WO OD and CEDRIC DOVER.
Plates V, VI and map.
The Batu Caves are situated in the Batu Caves Hill,
a solid limestone mass son e eight miles to the north-west
of the town of Kuala Lumpur in Selangor. A general
account of the topography of the caves has already b een
published by Mr. H. N. Ridley, F.R.S. (1898), and it is our
inten tion only to describe here the chief topographical
characteristics of the Dark Cave-the only cave in the
series which affords any spelaeological intere t. We have
not found it possible to proyide a detailed topographical
map, but we believe .that the accompanytng sketch-map,
draw n with the aid of a tape-measure, a compass, and a n
a neroid barometer, is sufficiently accurate to m ake it useful
to the biological student. The geology of the cave is discussed by Mr. E. S. V Tillbourn in the paper which follows.
T he Dark Cave opens towards the south on the f ace
of tll e limestone cliff, a little below and to the left of the
Cathedral cave, a favourite haunt of visitor s. It is
appr oached by a number of irregularly hewn steps-a
tribute to the influence of the tourist. The m outh of the
cave is abou t 44 fee t broad and abou t as high; ther e is little
or no bat-guano for the first 50 feet or so, at the end of which the r oof is considerably higher and admits a shaft
of ligh t. After this tlle cave turns abr uppy to the right,
con tinuing in a north-westerly direction f or about 430 feet,
sloping gradually upwards all the tim e till a r Ollnded r ocky
space, fain tly li t by a shaft of light from the top; is r eached.
\ Ve might call this ection A of the cave.
Th e cave now turns sharply to the left (section B),
continuing in a more or Ie s flat straight course for about
400 fee t w hen a shallow muddy pool is reached, which
varies in size and char acter accordin g to the amount of
rainfall in the vicinity. This is the "stream" to which
f r equent r eference is made in the following pages: it is
chiefly interesting as the habitat of the r emarkable
cr ustacean Parabathynella malaya . O. Sal's. On crossing
this stream (Fig. 1) · we pass through a nar row tunnel,
through which a strong cold current of air blows, and then
into a larg "central hall," the total length from the en trance
Lo the cen tral hall being about 1,040 feet. For most of its
leng th tlus part of th e cave is covered with a deep deposit of
bat-gua no, this deposit in the first 400 feet being especially
abundan t, soft and irregular, and ometimes forming banks
on the sides; after 550 fee t and before the central ball the .
floor is more or less firm and flat eyerywhere, and practically
devoid of r ock s and boulder • which are not uncommon
328
1929.]
H E YNES- \ VOOD
& DOVER : Top ography, Balu Caves. 329
before 500 f eet. On the right about 100 feet away from
the turning to the left is a stalactitic formation formin a
sm all alcove in which water is deposited in little pools which
we h ave called planarian pools (Fig. 2) as plana rians occur
here in grea t ab undan ce.
\ Of the cen tral hall little n eed be said except tha t it is
very large and m ore or less circular in shape; it is dimly
lighted by a shaft of ligh t from a n opening in the r oof
at the extrem e r igh t. It is irregularly dotted w ith rocks
and boulders, som e of the latter (on the left as one enter s
the hall) being ver y large and prom inent. Three passages
open into this hall, the central one being more or less a
continuation of the first par t of the cave. On the right, as
one en ters the hall, th e floor slopes down war d and then
upwards forming a little elevated tunnel, whi ch is r em arkable f or being the only place in the entire cave in w hich
Mr . H . C. Abraham or ourselves' could fin d the prim itive
trap-door spider Liphistius batuen sis Abraham . 'Ne did
no t measure the cen tral h all but es timated its len gth and
breadth to be abou t 300 and 200 f eet r espectively.
The entrance to the continuation (section C) of the
main p art of the cave is about 75 feet br oad, w ith a f ew
scatter ed r ock s, and a conspicu ous stala gmite a little way
in (Fig. 3). This is much the largest section being about
1,500 f eet long and f or ming with sections A and B (excluding the passage across the central h all) at total leng th of a
little over 2,500 f eet. Section . ~ a sinuous pasSage, ;- cky,
in some parts, fla t in others, and containing n umerous
stalactites and stalagm ites in th e centre and at the sides ; a
number of eleva ted short tunnels are present on the sides.
F igs. 4 and 5 are two photogr aphs tal{en in this section,
fig. 4 showing a particularly lar ge dome-like stalactite.
M ter 600 feet the cave b en ds som ewhat to the r ight,
a part of it sloping abruptly upwar ds almost to the ' roof.
At the top, on th e left, th ere is a sheer drop which leads
back again to th e m ain section. Ther e is no thing that is
particularly noteworthy in this part of the cave: it ends
in a slight upward slope lea ding to a sm all hole abou t two
feet high, which we were unable -to investigate.
T o the left of the entrance to section C is another small
cavern approached by a sheer r ocky drop. This cavern (D )
is about 360 f eet long, with a narrow ide t unnel of about
240 f eet, which has a r emarkably low 'roof as fig. 6 shows.
It has no other featur es deserving special m ention .
On the extr em e r ight of the cen tral hall, opposite the
shaft of light to which we have referred, is another cavern
(E ) w hich extends for about 400 feet. At the en trance is
a large pool remarkable for the clearness of its water
(Fig. 7) . At 300 feet this cavern slopes abruptly downwards
ending in a deep pit at the end. T he floor is m o~tly h?Iq
and rocky and th~r~ i ~ littl~ Qr J:!Q fr~sh guano.
-
330
Journal of the F.M.S. Museums.
[VOL. XIV,
Th e tempera ture and humidity of th Dark Cave varies
at various depths, but r ough r eadings showed that it is
nowhere so different and constant as to affect the fauna .
'Ve have, therefore, made no attempt to record exact
readings. T h e waters in the cave ar e all sligh tly alkaline,
howing a p.H. (read with the B.D.H. Universal Indicator)
va rying between 7·5 and 8·0. Thi might at first appear
remarkable as the guano is, of cour e, distinctly a id, but
that it is quite na tural will be obvious hen it is .rem emb red that these waters are situated in limes tone. '.
These arc the main features of the topography of the
Da 'k Cave. It will be seen that this cave differs con!>iderably
from th e Siju Cave, especially in the pre ence of st!llactites,
th e absence of a large stream, an d th e compa ra tive paucity
of rocks an d boulders. These dH'fercnces, proljably the
result of the geological d ifference in age, undoubtedly
account for man of Ihe differences between the ·fanna of
the two cave, thongh it is in many respects essel tia lly
similar.
PL TES (V & VI) .. :
Fig. 1. The s tream near the end of section 13 of the cave.
Note the t unnel-like portion beyond, w hi ch leads
inlo the cen tral h all.
2. A photograph taken a 1iltle over 600 feet fro m the
"
entrance on the left in the tunnel behind th e
stalacti tes are th e little pools i n which planarians
a re abund ant. The passage on the right lead's
oulwards.
3. E ntrance to section C of Dark Cave.
"
4. A photograph taken abo ut Ule middle of scclion C.
"
Note the large stalagmite.
5. Another vi w in section C.
"
6. The first side tunnel in cavel"l1 D, showing the
"
extremely low roof.
7. The stream a t th e entran ce to caver n E , photo"
graphed f r om within looking outwa rds.
8. The wh ite cave-sna ke Elaphe taenillra grabowsk!Ji.
EXPL .', T ION OF THE
"
FAUNA OF THE BATU CAVES,
SELANGOR.
l V.
GEOLOGY.
E. S. WILLBOUR
T.
FROM
" JOURNAL OF THE FEDE RATED MALAY STATES yIUSE M ."
YOLo X IV, PARTS 3 & 4,
PP .
331- 2,
JULY,
1929.
III.
FA NA OF THE BATU CAVES, SEL KGOR.
iv.
By E. S.
'VILLRO RN,
GEOLOGY.
B.A ., Assistant Geologist, F.M.S.
('Vith one text-figure) .
The Batu Caves Hill forms a conspicuous landmark
near the northern limit of the Kuala Lumpur plain. It is
urrounded by flat alluvium , with a h eight only a few feet
above sea-level, a nd the bedrock below the alluvial plain
is probably limestone. About a mile away in the north
is hilly country built up of quartzite, and on the north-east
side is a hill of vein-q uartz, part of a large quartz vein,
ten miles long, w hi ch form.s prominen t cliffs further Lo the
east. The granite mountains of the l\Iain Range approach
to within a mile 01' two of the lim es ton e hill on its wes tern,
northern, a nd north-eastern flanks .
The whole of the Batu Caves Hill is composed of
marble, or crystalline limestone, of P ermo-Carboniferous
age, older than the gra nite. It is usually fine grained in
texture and white in colour, and only occasionally do the
crystals of the marble attain a diameter of as much as
half a millimetre. Sometimes the marble is darker, as seen
at the south ern western corner of the mass, where a gently
sloping fault plane is seen to separate white from black
marble. The marble is composed of calcite (Ca CO a), and
dolomite, Ca Mg (CO 3 h, in very varying proportions. Pure
calcite contains no magn esia, w hile pure dolomite contains
21 ·7 per cent. Twenty-four analyses showed a composition
'arying from 0·2 per cent. to 15·7 per cent. of magnesia,
and the variation was quite irregular. The average magnesia
(;ontent of 24 amples tak en from differe nt points of the
hill was 5·7 per ccnt. There are no inter-bedded shales or
schists. Numerous fissures penetrate th e mass, some being
filled with veins of calcite, several feet in width, the central
part of which consists of calcite crystals as big as three
inches across. Specimens of steatite or soapstone have been
collected from veins exposed by quarrying, a nd lumps of
a deposit composed of well-rounded polished grains . of
haematite, cem ented by calcite, which h as been deposited
by running water in :fi sur es, have also be n found.
In the caves th e stalagmites and stalactites, 0 characteristic of similar limestone caves in P erak, Pah ang and
P erlis, are h ere also strongly developed. Caw noors ar e
331