Biodiversity and Spatiotemporal Variation of Longhorn Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Tropical Forest of Thailand

Abstract

Longhorn beetles are highly diversified and important for agriculture and health of the environment. However, the fauna and ecology of these beetles are not well known in Thailand. This study is the first to report the biodiversity, elevation, and seasonal distribution of longhorn beetles. Specimens were collected by malaise traps from 41 localities in 24 national parks throughout the country during 2006–2009. The traps were operated at each site for 12 consecutive months with a monthly service. A total of 199 morphotaxa in 36 tribes of 6 subfamilies were identified from 1376 specimens. Of these, 40.7% and 14.5% of total taxa were singletons and doubletons, respectively. The Shannon diversity index and observed species richness at Panernthung, Loei Forest Unit and Mae Fang Hotspring were high at 0.96 (30), 0.88 (50), and 0.86 (34), respectively. Local richness ranged between 3 and 50 species, while the species richness estimator showed between 6 and 1275 species. The most relatively abundant species, Nupserha lenita, Pterolophia sp.1, Oberea sp.3, Acalolepta pseudospeciosa, and Ac. rustricatrix represented 4.80%, 4.80%, 4.80%, 4.5%, and 4.43% of the species, respectively. The species with the widest distribution range of percentage of species occurrence (% SO) was Pt. sp.1 (63.4%), followed by Ac. rustricatrix (39%) and Moechotypa suffusa (39%). In a significantly negative relationship between species richness and elevation (p > 0.05, R2 = 0.04), the species richness pattern showed a hump-shaped curve that peaked at the middle elevation (501–1000 m asl). Regarding seasonal variation, most of the species occurred during the hot season (March–April) and peaked in early rainy season (May), while a low number of species were found during the mid-rainy (June–October) and cold season (November–February). Ordination analysis indicated that the distribution of most species was associated with regions and forest type, and most of the species correlated with forest located at middle and low elevation. The results of this study indicated the very high biodiversity of longhorn beetles in Thailand, which suggests that an understanding of their seasonal and elevational distribution will be of value to agriculture management and conservation. They also indicated that malaise traps are appropriate for the evaluation of biodiversity.

Biodiversity and Spatiotemporal Variations of Mecoptera in Thailand: Influences of Elevation and Climatic Factors

“…The spatial distribution of insects has been reported in various insect groups, and the results revealed different relationships depending on the taxa [ 23 , 29 , 30 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. Our result showed a hump-shaped distribution pattern of this insect, which was similar to previous reports from the Qinling mountains in Yunan province and the Sichuan Basin in Sichuan province, China, suggesting that the highest species numbers occurred in the middle elevation [ 22 , 68 ].…”

“…This placement endows Thailand with rich biodiversity, particularly in its flora and fauna [ 27 ]. Insects are especially diverse, with over 10,000 species recorded [ 28 ], and numerous studies have reported on insect diversity, distribution, and community structure within the country [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. In the case of Mecoptera, there has been a significant increase in the number of species identified in Thailand over the past five years.…”

Local stochastics and ecoclimatic situation shape phytophagous chafer assemblage composition

“…Diversity patterns of phytophagous beetles are known to be generally linked to species turnover of their host plants (Kemp et al, 2017; Luo et al, 2021; Ødegaard, 2006) and their distribution is correlated with the region and forest type (Yotkham et al, 2021). Other guilds, such as dung‐feeding beetles, respond to shade cover rather than plant species composition.…”

Local stochastics and ecoclimatic situation shape phytophagous chafer assemblage composition

“…Diversity patterns of phytophagous beetles are known to be generally linked to species turnover of their host plants (Ødegaard 2006;Kemp et al 2017;Luo et al 2021) and their distribution is correlated with the region and forest type (Yotkham et al 2021). Other guilds, such as dung feeding beetles, respond to shade cover rather than plant species composition.…”