• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 1998

Twenty-five nominal species of Korea stag beetles have been reported from Korea since Heyden (1887). As a result of the present study, seven species are synonymized and the following six species are excluded from Korean fauna because they have been misidentified: Aegus laevicollis, Platycerus delicatulus, P. acuticollis, Gnaphaloryx velutinus, Prismognathus angularis and Nipponodorcus montivagus. The two species, Dorcus taiwanicus and A. laevicollis are discovered newly. Therfore, Korean Lucanidae consists of 14 species of 10 genera.

• Proceedings of the National Institute of Ecology of the Republic of Korea
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2022

Psalidoremus is one of the subgenus which consists of five species and eleven subspecies through Taiwan, Japan, Korea and north eastern part of China which present strong endemism to their distribution. While most of advance studies focus on the new species or subspecies from this taxon, this paper suggests paleogeographical assumption and hypothesis of how they diverged from common ancestors. Phylogeographical patterns illustrated by the distribution of five species, which including Prosopocoilus inclinatus, Prosopocoilus hachijoensis, Prosopocoilus dissimilis, Prospocoilus pseudodissimilis, Prosopocoilus motschulskii respectively, has been assessed in this research. Speciation history is suggested by morphological tendencies especially in male mandibles with assumption from geographical patterns of under sea level.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.45-53
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• 2019

The popularity of keeping stag beetles (Dorcus titanus castanicolor Motschulsky 1861, Coleoptera: Lucanidae) as pets has increased. Consistent with the rise in the number of insect farms using these beetles, the number of contaminated or diseased D. titanus castanicolor has also increased. This investigation was conducted to analyze the cause of D. titanus castanicolor disease. The contaminated larvae of D. titanus castanicolor showed Allomyrina nudivirus infection symptoms similar to those of Allomyrina nudivirus infection. However, the disease carried by of D. titanus castanicolor is not derived from the virus infecting Allomyrina, as determined by PCR. Our study revealed that the major gut microbes of infectious D. titanus castanicolor belonged to the phylum Proteobacteria, and specifically, Pseudomonas knackmussi (Symptom 1 - 39.62% to Symptom 2 - 41.50% to Symptom 3 - 76.76% as the disease progressed severely) and Citrobacter koseri (Symptom 1 - 1.48% to Symptom 2 - 6.04% to Symptom 3 - 6.16% as the disease progressed severely) were detected. Additionally, a high proportion of larvae from the uninfected group were found to harbor bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes (72%). However, as the disease progressed severely in these beetles, the proportion of Firmicutes decreased (Symptom 1 - 72.03% to Symptom 2 - 44.7% to Symptom 3 - 26.3%). These findings imply that colonization by Firmicutes was inversely proportional to Proteobacteria colonization in the gut. This was found to be true for both the normal and disease conditions of D. titanus castanicolor. In this study, we examined the distribution of intestinal microbial communities in normal and contaminated larvae. We observed a correlation between these contaminated microbes and the overall health of the beetle, and our findings suggest that there may be a link between disease progression and the gut microbiome.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2015

In an effort to obtain foundational data required to evaluate the therapeutic effect of educational insect rearing, this study surveyed current educational pet insect rearing practices in Korea and examined the expected psychological effects from participating in the activity. Data were collected from those who visited the special insect exhibition in May 2013 using a self-reporting survey. The results indicated that 48.3% of the responders had experienced insect rearing, and that rhino and stag beetles were the most commonly reared insects. Most of the respondents (83.1%) reported they were not currently rearing any insects, which suggested that insect rearing tends to be a one-time experience. Expected psychological effects could be divided into emotional (56.3%) and cognitive (41.8%) effects, and these varied by age and gender. The differences in expected psychological effects were particularly clear between adults and adolescents, the latter of whom were the main participants in the activity. It is therefore necessary to develop standardized manuals and care programs for more diverse insect species with which to help keep up consumer interest in educational insect rearing. These efforts will help champion the psychotherapeutic effects of educational pet insect rearing and enhance its role as a learning aid.