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AN OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH ON BEETLE DIVERSITY & TAXONOMY IN MALAYSIA
measures of biodiversity that provide a basis for decision making in relation to conservation
(Harper & Hawksworth 1995).
Many beetles attack living trees and, thus, reduce the commercial value of their timber (Booth
et al. 1990). They also sometimes cause the death of the trees, either directly or by transmitting
pathogens. Some scarab beetles attack and cause severe damage to oil palm (Wood 1968) and
rattans (Chung 1995). The gold dust weevil, Hypomeces squamosus, is one of the commonest
defoliators that attacks many tree species, including dipterocarps and fast-growing exotic tree
species (Chey 1996). Many cerambycids beetles are stem-borers: their larvae can severely
damage trees, resulting in devaluation of timber and, sometimes, tree mortality. Thapa (1974)
reported attack by the cerambycid borer, Cyriopalus wallacei, on dipterocarps in Sabah.
Ambrosia beetles (Scolytidae and Platypodidae) also cause damage to many species of forest
trees and rattans (Anzai 1991; Chung 1995; Chey 1996).
Some beetles are beneficial to humans. The discovery of a weevil pollinator had a dramatic
effect on production in Malaysian oil palm plantations. The weevil, Elaeidobius kamerunicus,
was introduced into Malaysia in 1981 to replace the practice of assisted pollination (Syed et
al. 1982; Yee et al. 1984). Sakai et al. (1997) also reported that beetles of the families
Chrysomelidae and Curculionidae contributed to the pollination of Shorea parvifolia in
Sarawak. In addition, dung beetles (Scarabaeidae) are important decomposers and nutrient
recyclers in the rainforest.
More research needs to be carried out on beetles because, in spite of their economic importance,
there is still a lack of taxonomic and ecological information on the order in South-east Asia.
For example, Hammond (1990; 1992) estimated that about 75% of the 6,000 species of beetles
collected from a lowland forest in Sulawesi were undescribed, and Mohamedsaid (1990, 1993a;
1993b, 1994, 1996a) described numerous new species of leaf beetles in Malaysia within a
short period of time.
STUDIES ON BEETLE DIVERSITY AND TAXONOMY IN
MALAYSIA & ADJACENT COUNTRIES
Chung (2003) recorded 106 families of beetles in Borneo, mainly from Sabah (Appendix 1).
This number, however, does not include all the families known to occur in Borneo. In Peninsular
Malaysia, at least 93 beetle families are known to occur (Tung 1983), this number being based
on the beetle family list issued by the Commonwealth Institute of Entomology in England.
A few recent studies on beetle diversity have been conducted in Malaysia. Chung (1999) and
Chung et al. (2000a & b) compared the beetle diversity in various habitat types in Sabah, that
is, primary forest, logged-over forest, forest plantations and oil palm plantations. In Peninsular
Malaysia, Fauziah (2003a; 2003b) conducted beetle surveys in Langkawi and Johore. Abang
and Norashikin (submitted) investigated the diversity and distribution of night flying beetles
in a lowland mixed dipterocarp forest site in Sabah using modified Pennsylvanian light traps.
Burghouts et al. (1992) also compared Coleoptera with other invertebrates in their study on
leaf-litter decomposition and litter invertebrates, in a Sabah lowland rainforest. A project on
“Tools for monitoring soil biodiversity in the ASEAN Region,” with funding from the Darwin
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