First published: 23 January 2026.
The IUCN Red List is the most authoritative source of the extinction risk of species and plays a central role in shaping conservation priorities. Yet despite their ecological importance and high diversity, tropical insects are very under-represented in the Red List. This gap reflects multiple challenges, including limited data on species distributions and population trends, difficulties in applying the Red List Criteria, and a lack of coordination between tropical entomologists and the IUCN structures responsible for publishing official assessments.
This recent publication in the Royal Entomological Society journal, Insect Conservation & Diversity demonstrates that these barriers can be overcome. Focusing on an understudied but ecologically vital group – dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from Sabah, Malaysian Borneo – the authors show that robust IUCN Red List assessments are feasible for tropical insects.
The study began with the compilation of a global occurrence dataset comprising more than 30,000 records. This included the authors’ openly available dataset of Sabah records hosted on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), additional records from taxonomic and ecological studies across Southeast Asia, and further global data sourced from GBIF.
Using this comprehensive dataset, the authors applied the IUCN Red List Criterion B (geographic range) and performed a regional (Sabah-level) and global assessment of 159 dung beetle species. To support these analyses, they developed new R scripts capable of batch processing multiple species at once and are compatible with the latest R version and spatial packages.
Expert validation played a crucial role in refining the results. Following this process, Red List categories were finalised for 74 species (47%) at the regional scale and 81 species (51%) at the global scale. These assessments can now be objectively used to guide future conservation and research actions, both within Sabah and globally.
Importantly, the assessments were carried out in collaboration with members of the IUCN SSC Dung Beetle Specialist Group and its Red List authority. This example highlights the value of these specialist groups as platforms for collaboration and engagement between tropical entomologists and the wider Red List community – providing training and support, and improved coordination of Red Listing exercises for under-represented insect groups.
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