Early collections and documentation of mammalian biodiversity in Malaysia

Knowledge on insect taxonomy in Borneo and Peninsula Malaysia dates back to the primacy of the colonial days. This was in the early 19th century when entomology was part of a swelling wave of interest in natural history in the western countries. It was a time when entomology consists of mostly taxonomic and life history studies. Hence, most early work revolved around the description of species, genera or families of insects collected mainly through explorations or by collectors who sent them to the British Museum (Natural History) or similar institutions for deposition. With good techniques applied to entomological specimen preservation, these specimens are still in existence in various museums in Britain, Europe and the United States of America. Today these collections serve as valuable reference materials for the taxonomic studies of all known groups of insects, particularly that of our region. Only a relatively insignificant proportion of these valuable specimens have been deposited in the local institutions in Malaysia such as Sarawak Museum and research agencies related to forestry and agriculture in both Sabah and Sarawak.

Table 2 shows some of the early publications that have contributed significantly to our knowledge base on insects of Malaysia. Among early contributors to the study of Malaysian insects were Hugh Low, Alfred Russell Wallace, G.E. Bryant, H.M. Pendlebury, E. Mjoeberg and C. M. Enriquez. The famous explorer Sir Hugh Low was among the first visitors to Sarawak during the White Rajah's reign. He arrived in 1845 and later served in Labuan (1848-1877) and Perak (1877-1889). In his general account of Sarawak, its inhabitants and wildlife published in 1848, he included the descriptions of two new species of beetles which Low had collected himself (Earl of Cranbrook & Leh, 1983). A.R. Wallace, the prominent naturalist spent some time collecting in Matang, Sarawak in 1855. His collections went largely to the British Museum, now The Natural History Museum (NHM), where they still exist. Much of Wallace's material was described by Chaudoir in several important monographs, and Andrews described many of the carabid beetles collected in Borneo by Bryant and Pendlebury (Stork, 1986). Enriquez was an army Major in 2/20 Burma Rifles situated in Taiping, Perak and visited North Borneo in June 1925 with the main objective of collecting insects, particularly butterflies and also spiders. Some 218 different butterflies were collected together with other plants and animals (Enriquez, 1995).

A comprehensive literature survey (Table 2) indicates that most of the published work on the insect fauna of Malaysia are the results of pioneering works carried out by individuals who have deposited their collections to the Natural History Museum in London or similar institutions in the United Kingdom (Fatimah, et al. 1996). The documentation revolved around the description of species, genera or families of insects collected either through organized expeditions or by individual collectors. Of the 29 orders of insects, about 50 % of the groups have no proper scientific documentation. The survey also indicates that among the prominent orders of insects studied include the Coleoptera, Odonata, Siphonaptera, Isoptera and Lepidoptera. Systematics work on Malaysian insects obviously bloomed in the early 1990's and declined in the early 1970's.

With the awareness that the tropical forest ecosystem is facing rapid alteration, the 1970's also marked the surge of interest in tropical biology in the western countries. These include the call for biological inventories and tropical ecosystem studies, studies on tropical aquatic ecosystems and monitoring forest conversion. Following this surge of interest in tropical biology, collections of insects in this region have attracted many foreign scientists and avid collectors to Borneo and Peninsula Malaysia, including the Japanese, British, Americans, Germans and others. Although in some instances these collectors were required to deposit duplicate specimens at the local research institutions most of the more valuable holotype specimens have ended up in foreign institutes or museums. Such arrangements are often inevitable because foreign collectors find it necessary to bring back the collected specimens to compare with a large range of existing collections in museums of their home country before correct identification and accurate scientific names can be assigned. This need to export specimens for correct identification will only be eliminated when Malaysia has succeeded in establishing a world-class reference center for such purpose through amassing huge collections of our own biological heritage.