IN 1994, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia entomologist Prof Mohamed S. Mohamedsaid noticed strange white beetles on curry leaf plants. Careful study revealed that the beetles came from a genus restricted to Sri Lanka where it is represented by one species, Silana farinosa, commonly known as the tortoise beetle.

'Aspidomorpha deusta' [Picture left from `Serangga' (Vol. 5, No. 2, June 2000)] is a common tortoise beetle east of Java. This foreign species was found on a beach off Kapar, Selangor. --

"It's very unlikely that its presence would have gone unnoticed, for the host plant is also an important crop,'' he explains, adding that the leaves of the plant are an essential ingredient in Malaysian cooking, especially curries.

The taxonomist, who works with UKM's Centre for Insect Systematics, reckons the creatures might have been feeding on dry curry leaves when they were unwittingly packed into someone's luggage and brought into Malaysia from Sri Lanka.

"They are real pests as these popular plants are endangered by them,'' he says, adding that the curry leaf plant had never before been attacked by insects as it emits a powerful smell.

More recently, another species of foreign tortoise beetle was found on our shores.

"In all my years of studying beetles, which included combing the beaches of Malaysia for tortoise beetles, I have never encountered a specimen belonging to the species collected in March last year,'' he says.

According to Prof Mohamed, Aspidomorpha deusta is common from Java eastwards to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

These beetles were collected from a beach where they were feeding on wild creeper near the coal storage area of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Power Station in Kapar, Selangor. After some investigation, Prof Mohamed discovered that the coal used in the plant usually came from Australia, China or South America, so the be suitable host plants are available, as in this case, a proliferation of immigrant species can occur,'' he explains.

But the worrying news is that though new species of beetles might be coming in, our own indigenous species could slowly be declining. For instance, the professor feels that the impressive scarab beetle could slowly be diminishing.

"Huge scarab beetles (picture, right) are usually found in forests far from the city, but nowadays, they are a rare sight even in jungles,'' he says.

According to him, these magnificent-looking beetles are sold to foreigners and insect buffs for substantial amounts. But there are no statistics to show the scarabs are actually declining - underlining yet again the importance of research into our biodiversity.

"So far in Malaysia, no beetle has been recorded as an endangered species,'' says Prof Mohamed. "That's because there are no records or statistics on them.''

Beetle hunting, anyone?