Bong-Woo Lee

Insect Fauna of Mt. Sudeog-san in Gyeonggi-do, Korea

The study on insect fauna around Mt. Sudeoksan in Gyeonggi-do was conducted from May to October, 2008. In the study, 232 species of 54 families within 10 orders were investigated, and 504 reference specimens were collected.

Insect Fauna of Mt. Dogo, Chungnam Province, Korea

Insect fauna of Mt. Dogo, Prov. Chungnam, was investigated during March-September in 2006. In total, 292 species of 62 families belonging to 11 orders were identified through this study.

Insect fauna of Mt. Sambong, Samcheok, Gangwon-do.

The study was conducted to study the insect fauna of Mt. Sambong, located in Samcheok, Gangwon-do between April and August of 2009. As a result, a total of 1,130 insects of 7 orders, 53 families and 331 species were investigated, including 2 newly recorded species and 4 endemic species to Korea.

West meets east: How do rainforest beetles become circum-Pacific? Evolutionary origin of Callipogon relictus and allied species (Cerambycidae: Prioninae) in the New and Old Worlds

The longhorn beetle genus Callipogon Audinet-Serville represents a small group of large wood-boring beetles whose distribution pattern exhibits a unique trans-Pacific disjunction between the East Asian temperate rainforest and the tropical rainforest of the Neotropics. To understand the biogeographic history underlying this circum-Pacific disjunct distribution, we reconstructed a molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Prioninae with extensive sampling of Callipogon using multilocus sequence data of 99 prionine and four parandrine samples (ingroups), together with two distant outgroup species. Our sampling of Callipogon includes 18 of the 24 currently accepted species, with complete representation of all species in our focal subgenera. Our phylogenetic analyses confirmed the purported affinity between the Palearctic Callipogon relictus and its Neotropical congeners. Furthermore, based on molecular dating under the fossilized birth-death (FBD) model with comprehensive fossil records and probabilistic ancestral range reconstructions, we estimated the crown group Callipogon to have originated in the Paleocene circa 60 million years ago (Ma) across the Neotropics and Eastern Palearctics. The divergence between the Palearctic C. relictus and its Neotropical congeners is explained as the result of a vicariance event following the demise of boreotropical forest across Beringia at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. As C. relictus represents the unique relictual species that evidentiates the lineages expansive ancient distribution, we evaluated its conservation importance through species distribution modelling. Though we estimated a range expansion for C. relictus by 2050, we emphasize a careful implementation of conservation programs towards the protection of primary forest across its current habitats, as the species remains highly vulnerable to habitat disturbance.

Insect fauna of Mt. Gittae-Bong, Samcheok, Gangwon-do.

This study was conducted to investigate the insect fauna of Mt. Gittae-bong located in Samcheok city, Gangwon-do between May and October 2009. As a result, a total of 1,317 insects of 8 orders, 53 families and 449 species were identified and enumerated.