Shao Xiong Chui

Research interests

• Foraging Ecology;
• Behavioral Ecology;
• Natural History

What started out as a Bachelor's project to sort out the taxonomy of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) in Singapore consequently led to the realisation that stingless bees, as a speciose, highly-social group, would make for a great model organism in the areas of biology and ecology. From bee-bee nest interactions and social dynamics, to cohesive colony characters on resource foraging preferences, there are still many more layers to peel back in the understanding of this group of important tropical bee pollinators. With stingless bees as the choice of model organism, I subsequently returned to my interest in flower-visitor interactions in the form of a Master's project in the pollen foraging preferences of stingless bees in an urban garden. At present, my research in stingless bee foraging ecology (plant-insect interactions) continues for this PhD.

Foraging ecology is my main research interest as it allows for the exploration and understanding of the complex and often dynamic interactions between insects and the plants that they rely on. Stingless bees are my chosen group for research as apart from honey bees, stingless bees are the only other group of highly eusocial bees. More speciose than honey bees, stingless bees are great for the study of foraging ecology across divergent groups attuned to the collection of similar resources in tropical rainforests.

My current project:

1. Spatial distribution and availability of dipterocarp resin sources and their chemical redundancy in stingless bees;
2. proportion of resin and wax in stingless bee cerumen (nest material) used to construct various nest structures and their associated microbial communities.

Publications

• Leonhardt, S. D., & Chui, S. X. (2024). The Importance of Plant Community Composition and Diversity for Plant Resins Collection and Functioning. In P. Vit, V. Bankova, M. Popova, & D. W. Roubik (Eds.), Stingless Bee Nest Cerumen and Propolis, Volume 1 (pp. 187–200). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43274-3_9
• Leonhardt, S. D., Chui, S. X., & Kuba, K. (2024). The role of non-volatile chemicals of floral rewards in plant-pollinator interactions. Basic and Applied Ecology, 75, 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2024.01.002
• Lee, J. X. Q., Soh, Z. W. W., Chui, S. X., Leong, A. Q. E., Ong, C. N. Y., & Ascher, J. S. (2023). Hornets (Vespidae: Vespinae) of Singapore: Ecology, identification, and national conservation assessment. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 71, 457477. https://doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2023-0034
• Chui, S.X., Wahab, R.B.H.A. & Leonhardt, S.D. Stingless bee (Apidae: Meliponini) foraging and predation at trunk resin sources: Rare observations captured with microcontroller-based camera traps in a lowland dipterocarp forest. Insect. Soc. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-022-00889-x
• Ascher, J. S., Soh, Z. W. W., Chui, S. X., Soh, E. J. Y., Ho, B. M., Lee, J. X. Q., & Ong, X. R. (2022). The bees of Singapore (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila): First comprehensive country checklist and conservation assessment for a Southeast Asian bee fauna. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 70, 39-64.
• Chui, S. X., Keller, A., Leonhardt, S. D. (2021). Functional resin use in solitary bees. Ecological Entomology, DOI: 10.1111/een.13103.
• Quek, Z. B. R., Chui, S. X., Lam, W. N., Fung, T. K., Sivasothi, N. (2020). Autecology of the common fishtail palm, Caryota mitis (Arecaceae), in Singapore. Botany Letters, DOI: 10.1080/23818107.2020.1717612.
• Yong, G. W. J., Soh, Z. W. W., Chui, S. X., Chan, A. A. Q., Ascher, J. S. (2019). Insect visitors to flowers of cultivated Ardisia elliptica Thub. (Myrsinaceae) and Memecylon caeruleum Jack (Melastomataceae) in Singapore. Nature in Singapore, 12, 75-80.
• Ascher, J. S., Soh, Z. W. W., Ho, B. M., Lee, R. Y. Y., Leong, A. Q. E., Chui, S. X., … Soh, E. J. Y. (2019). Bees of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and vicinity. Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore, 71(suppl.1), 245–271.
• Soh, E. J. Y., Soh, Z. W. W., Chui, S. X., & Ascher, J. S. (2016). The bee tribe Anthidiini in Singapore (Anthophila: Megachilidae: Anthidiini) with notes on the regional fauna. Nature in Singapore, 9, 49–62.
• Ascher, J. S., Heang, P., Kheam, S., Ly, K., Lorn, S., Chui, S. X., … Phauk, S. (2016). A report on the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) of Cambodia. Cambodian Journal of Natural History, 23.