A sensational discovery almost slipped through the fingers of an Australian researcher: he almost mistook a newly discovered beetle for bird droppings. The insect is not only a new species, but also a completely new genus. The unusual appearance probably has a specific purpose.
“I was walking through the Binna Burra Lodge campsite (in Lamington National Park south of Brisbane) one morning when something on a lomandra leaf caught my eye,” says James Tweed, a PhD student at the University of Queensland. He was camping there with other researchers in the rainforest in the hinterland of the Gold Coast.
“To my surprise I saw the most special and fluffy longhorn beetle I had ever seen. At 9.7 millimeters long, he was a striking red and black beauty, covered in long white hair.”
Even the most experienced experts knew nothing about insects
What Tweed didn’t know at the time: the insect was a remarkable new genus of fluffy longhorn beetles. After the trip, the young researcher scoured books, scientific articles and the Internet to find a match to the species, but nothing looked even remotely similar. Photos posted on a Facebook group of an Australian beetle aroused a lot of interest, but even the most experienced experts could not provide answers.
An email to the experts at the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) ultimately confirmed the suspicion. The experts there confirmed that it was undoubtedly a completely new species. But that was not enough: when Tweed was able to compare his discovery with the extensive collection at the ANIC, it turned out that it was actually a completely new genus – or family of species.
Doesn’t look particularly appetizing
The name of the unexpected sensational find: Excastra albopilosa. “We chose the genus name Excastra, which is Latin for ‘from the camp,’ and for the species name we chose albopilosa, which translates to ‘white and hairy,'” Tweed said. “We don’t yet know what these hairs are for, but our first theory is that they make the insect look as if it has been killed by an insecticidal fungus.”
“This could deter predators such as birds from eating the insect, but until someone finds more specimens and studies this species further, we can’t say for sure why this beetle is so hairy.
Mystery why beetles have gone unnoticed until now
The area near Lamington National Park has been popular with entomologists for over 100 years, so it’s a mystery that it hasn’t been found yet. Tweed itself has also been unsuccessful: “I came back several times to look for more specimens, but no luck.”
Climate change reduces the chance of observations
The accidental discovery is further evidence that countless species around the world remain undiscovered. Estimates suggest there are about 5.5 million, but so far only a fifth of them have been named and described. “Insects are the most diverse group of animals on our planet, but also the least appreciated and studied.
But this enormous biodiversity is also threatened, as Tweed clearly indicates. “We are experiencing a rapid decline in biological diversity worldwide,” he says, mainly as a result of climate change, but also as a result of the many human interventions in nature. Many unknown species are therefore threatened with extinction; long before they are even discovered.
Source: Krone
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