Hong Kong beetle and butterfly research sheds light on “insect apocalypse”

By Lily Ng
Apr 01st 2019

It is about Dr. Tim Bonebrake’s research study with his two students Calvin Leung Tsz-kin (current final year Ecology & Biodiversity Bsc) and Tom Au Tsun-fung (Biological Sciences, 2017 Bsc, currently a PhD candidate at the University of Indiana). They are enthusiastic in carrying out their studies on stag beetles and moths.

For details, please visit SCMP news on March 31, 2019.

 

Calvin’s research on stag beetles in Hong Kong highlights the difficulty in documenting trends and distributions of under-studied insects. As part of his Final Year Project he is relating habitat quality and availability to the distribution of different stag beetles.

 

 

Tom’s work on newly-established butterflies in Hong Kong demonstrates how climate change might be shifting the distributions of species in the tropics. His work also highlights the complexity of attributing specific causes behind ecological changes.