o_19ko2dt161ng2j4e1tgnoqv1s45a.pdf

ARTHUR Y.C. CHUNG (2007)
Initiative, UK, was conducted in Sabah between the years 2000-2003, involving researchers
from the Natural History Museum (London), Universiti Malaysia Sabah and the Sabah Forestry
Department. One of the focal study groups was soil and leaf-litter inhabiting beetles, which
have been little studied.
In the adjacent country of Brunei, Mawdsley (1994) investigated the spatial structure of the
Coleoptera assemblage in the rainforest and explored ways in which biologists can scale up
estimates of species richness from a local to a regional scale. He used a wide range of collecting
methods to sample from ground to canopy levels and compared the importance of each sampling
method. Stork (1987a; 1987b, 1991) studied the arthropod fauna of lowland rainforest trees,
in the same area as Mawdsley, wherein he emphasized the composition, guild structure and
faunal similarity between Coleoptera and other insect groups.
Other research on Coleoptera has focused on certain beetle groups, emphasizing their taxonomy
or ecology. Much of the research has been conducted by foreign researchers. Abang (2001)
provided a list of publications on insect taxonomy (including beetles) authored by foreign
scientists in Malaysia. Despite high diversity in the order, only 11 papers were published on
beetles in the Malayan Nature Journal and the Malayan Naturalist from 1940 to 1990 (Kiew &
Lyons 1992). Mohamed Salleh Mohamedsaid is one of the very few Malaysian beetle
taxonomists. His work focuses on the taxonomy of leaf beetles, Chrysomelidae (e.g.,
Mohamedsaid 1996a; 1997). A total of 1,073 species and 215 genera from 13 subfamilies
were recorded in Malaysia and Borneo (Mohamedsaid 2004). In addition, Fatimah Abang of
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) works on longhorn beetles (e.g. Abang & Vives
2004, Abang 2003, Vives & Abang 2003) and weevils (pers. comm.).
Davis (1993) and Davis et al. (1997) investigated the ecology and behaviour of rainforest
dung beetles in south-eastern Sabah. Hammond (1984) published a checklist of Staphylinidae
occurring in Borneo, but emphasized that this list is conservative and that the actual number
of staphylinids could be many times more than the figure in the list. Stork (1986) published an
inventory of the Carabidae from Borneo. Hlavac and Maruyama (2004) worked on
Staphylinidae that exhibit mutualistic relationships with ants in Peninsular Malaysia. Fireflies
were studied by Ballantyne and Menayah (2000), and Mahadimenakbar et al. (2003). The
Forest Research Institure Malaysia (FRIM) has also conducted some ecological research on
fireflies (Krishnakumari 2002) and has on-going research on their biology and habitat
requirements (L.G. Kirton, pers. comm.).
Japanese researchers have also contributed significantly to research on beetle diversity and
taxonomy in Malaysia. Mizunuma and Nagai (1994) published a comprehensive, illustrated
account of the world’s lucanids, and many of the species featured are found in this region,
including Malaysia. Ohara et al. (2001) worked on Histeridae, Ochi and Kon (1994) on dung
beetles, and Kon et al. (1995) on Passalidae, while Araya (1994) and Araya et al. (1994)
worked on Lucanidae. Makihara (1999) studied the Cerambycidae of Kalimantan, and his
illustrated publication is often used as a reference in Sabah and Sarawak because,
biogeographically, they share a lot of similarities with Kalimantan. The on-going Bornean
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Conservation (BBEC) Programme has provided opportunities
for Japanese researchers to work on beetles in Malaysia, particularly in Sabah (Mustafa &
Kusano 2004).
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