The Insect database in Dokdo, Korea: An updated version in 2020

Abstract

Background Dokdo, a group of islands near the East Coast of South Korea, comprises 89 small islands. These volcanic islands were created by an eruption that also led to the formation of the Ulleungdo Islands (located in the East Sea), which are approximately 87.525 km away from Dokdo. Dokdo is important for geopolitical reasons; however, because of certain barriers to investigation, such as weather and time constraints, knowledge of its insect fauna is limited compared to that of Ulleungdo. Until 2017, insect fauna on Dokdo included 10 orders, 74 families, 165 species and 23 undetermined species; subsequently, from 2018 to 2019, we discovered 23 previously unrecorded species and three undetermined species via an insect survey. As per our recent study, the database of insect species on Dokdo has been expanded to 10 orders, 81 families, 188 species and 23 undetermined species. This database has been registered in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; www.GBIF.org) and is the first record for insect fauna on Dokdo.