The cone karst of the Lingyun area forms part of the inclined and elevated Yungui Plateau, a vast area of limestone and sedimentary rock extending from southern Yunnan, through the northwest of Guangxi and into Guizhou. The limestone has been highly dissected, structurally altered and geomorphically modified, leading to several cycles of karstification, as evidenced by the large caves, often with two or three levels of passages and chambers (Clarke, 2002a). During a recent international speleological expedition to caves in the cone karst region of Lingyun County in northwestern Guangxi Province, some very interesting troglobitic (cave adapted) shrimps, fishes and terrestrial organisms were collected (Clarke, 2001a, 2001b, 2002b) including two recently described carabid beetles (Dueve, 2002, 2004). Most of the new troglobitic species found during the expedition were collected from the upper level relict karst passages or chambers in these large multi-level caves (Clarke, 2001a, 2001b). A subsequent expedition by the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, also collected some troglobitic shrimps from the same cave (S. Li, pers. comm.).