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| Specimens sorted | 39,730 |
| Samples sorted and sequenced | 157 |
| Individuals with high-quality sequences | 5,466 |
| Potential beetle species (OTUs) | 1,543 |
| Papers published (2021–2026) | 11 |
| New species described / in progress | 45 |
Taiwan Leaf litter Beetles Project
Exploring the hidden diversity of beetles in Taiwanese forests
Welcome
The forest floor is home to an enormous diversity of insects: decomposers, predators, fungivores and parasitoids. Many of them are beetles. Despite their high species diversity and ecological importance, almost nothing is known about them, and identifying them is very difficult or even impossible.
Our project aims to change that. We sample leaf litter across Taiwan, sort out the beetles, and use DNA barcoding to find out which species live where, how they live, and how diverse and unique Taiwan's forest-floor fauna really is.
Project goals
- Sample the forest floor across Taiwan, from lowlands to high mountains.
- Catalogue all beetle species found in the samples:
- cox1 DNA barcodes
- species identification
- distribution
- Collect basic biology data, such as larval morphology and ecology.
- Map diversity and endemism in Taiwan by combining the data of all species.
How we work
Our workflow goes from a bag of leaf litter to DNA barcodes for every beetle:
- Collecting – sifting forest leaf litter in the field.
- Extracting insects – using Winkler extractors.
- Sorting – picking out all beetles from each sample.
- DNA extraction – using the HotShot protocol.
- PCR amplification of the cox1 gene – two reactions per specimen (full 658 bp barcode and a shorter 407 bp fragment) to increase success rate.
- Sequencing – pooled PCR products are sequenced directly in our lab (up to 2,500 samples at once).
- Analysis – DNA barcodes are used to delimit species, match larvae with adults, and map where species occur.
Example: mysterious larvae with cases
Beetle larvae that live inside cases are common in leaf litter all over Taiwan, but for a long time nobody knew what they were.
- Identification: by matching larval DNA with adults, we identified them as Stenochinus (family Tenebrionidae). Only 7 rare endemic species of this genus had been reported from Taiwan.
- Species number: species delimitation revealed 11 potential species, one of which also occurs in Japan.
- Distribution: most species live at low and middle altitudes, and they are found not only in natural forests but also in secondary forests and plantations.
This shows how DNA barcoding can take a group of insects from "completely unknown" to having basic biodiversity data.
Where the data leads
By combining the data from all species, we can map:
- species diversity across Taiwan,
- endemism (species found only in Taiwan or small parts of it),
- expected diversity change by 2060, using species distribution models.
These maps can help identify areas with high richness and endemism, with practical uses such as conservation management.
Project in numbers
| Specimens sorted | 39,730 |
|---|---|
| Samples sorted and sequenced | 157 |
| Individuals with high-quality sequences | 5,466 |
| Potential beetle species (OTUs) | 1,543 |
| Papers published (2021–2026) | 11 |
| New species described / in progress | 45 |
Numbers as of September 2026. The project is still running – more samples will be collected and more data generated.
Get involved
Our preliminary identifications need proper taxonomic work, so we are looking for collaborators! If you work on the taxonomy of any beetle group occurring in Taiwan, please get in touch.
- Contact: Martin Fikáček – mfikacek@gmail.com
- Project website: taiwanbeetles.net
Team
Martin Fikáček, Bin-Hong Ho, Fang-Shuo Hu, Chun-Fang Chang, Chih-Chi Chen, Yu-Chieh Hsu, Chen-Wen Lin, Guan Jie Phang, Albert Damaška, Enrico Ruzzier
Institutions: National Sun Yat-sen University (Taiwan); National Museum of Natural Science (Taiwan); University of Copenhagen (Denmark); Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences (Czech Republic); World Biodiversity Association (Italy)
Funding
The project is supported by the National Science and Technology Council of Taiwan (113-2621-B-110-005-MY3) and by the Czech Science Foundation (25-15506S).
