A Pocket Guide: Phasmids of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore

Although phasmids are found in almost all tropical forests, not much was known about them until recently. Over the last 25 years, the Phasmid Study Group (popularly known as PSG) has become an important group, with its members actively studying and identifying specimens of such insects. The author has been researching and photographing these insects for many years. Here in this book, the best photographs have been selected to enable readers to identify insects from West Malaysia and Singapore with relative ease. Breeding is also simplified by the listing of known food plants. This excellent book is essential for all who are interested in the natural history of Southeast Asia.

Author(s): Francis Seow-Choen

Dr Francis Seow-Choen F.R.E.S. is by profession a senior consultant colorectal surgeon. However, In spite of his very busy professional schedule, he is also a very committed amateur naturalist. He has been avidly interested in natural history all his life. During his schooldays, weekends were spent at the Raffles Museum or the Johor Zoo sketching animals. Before and after school he would look for all sorts of animals in the fields and swamps around the Kallang River in Singapore.

Dr Seow-Choen first started rearing phasmids as a young boy—a popular hobby then as phasmid droppings were used as a type of Chinese remedy. He started serious phasmid research in 1990 as a result of encountering phasmids in Malaysian forests and not being able to find adequate information on their biology. Since then he has collected phasmids both from Southeast Asia and other countries around the world.

Dr Seow-Choen has discovered and described many new phasmid species from Singapore, Malaysia and China. He has published 32 papers on phasmids and this is his third book on these insects. Because of his prolific work, the notable phasmid expert Paul Brock named a rare and beautiful species Loxopsis seowi from Malaysia in his honour. He also currently keeps hundreds of live specimens belonging to dozens of species at home.

Publisher: Natural History Publications (Borneo)

First Published: November 2005

No. of Pages: vi + 120 pp.

Size: 11.5 x 17 cm (Softcover)

ISBN: 983-812-109-6

Cover: SB

Price: US $10.00

Weight: 30g

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