Despite the enormous ecological success of insects elsewhere on earth, they have failed to colonize oceans. A significant portion of the marine littoral insect fauna consists of Coleoptera and the highest number of species belongs to the beetle family Staphylinidae. At present, over 400 species in 91 genera and eight subfamilies are confined to marine coastal habitats. Coastal Staphylinidae are polyphyletic, and have diverse adaptations of structure, physiology, and behavior. Aleocharinae contain the largest number of coastal species (about 200 species in 46 genera). Today I would like to briefly introduce my research program on the diversity, phylogeny, habitat evolution, and historical biogeography of the coastal Aleocharinae. Three selected aleocharine lineages containing many coastal species published with my colleagues are provided.

• Kee-Jeong Ahn(Department of Biology, Chungnam National University)