Dung beetles are an ecologically important group of insects as they provide many vital ecosystem services, respond rapidly to environmental changes and are excellent indicator species. Over the past years, the Tropical Ecology & Entomology Lab (TEE Lab) has been studying Southeast Asian dung beetles, with the hopes of better understanding their taxonomy and natural history, and how their communities respond to environmental changes.
In early June 2024, we organised a sharing session on dung beetle research, which was held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens Seed Bank. Our TEE Lab members, Assoc Prof Eleanor Slade, Marx Yim, Zann Teo, Jedidiah Ong and Ong Xin Rui, presented on our work on dung beetles to our collaborators from the National Parks Board (NParks), Mandai Nature and the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM).
Eleanor presenting an overview of the sharing session. Photo 2024 Ong Xin Rui.
Through back-to-back talks, we gave an overview of dung beetle surveys across Singapore's parks and forested areas, sampling techniques, molecular applications, and our efforts towards enhancing knowledge of dung beetle taxonomy and natural history.
Hands-on dung beetle identification session. Photos 2024 Marx Yim & Ong Xin Rui.
We also organised a hands-on identification session, where the participants had a go at identifying dung beetle specimens and were taught how to identify certain species using unique morphological characters. We had many engaging discussions with our collaborators, which would hopefully lead to future dung beetle research opportunities.
The TEE Lab and our collaborators from NParks, Mandai Nature and LKCNHM. Photo 2024 Gina Goh.
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