Albert Allen false firefly beetle (Namibdrilus albertalleni) from Namibia with unique morphology of Drilini

NEWS - Albert Allen false firefly beetle (Namibdrilus albertalleni) from Namibia brings the Drilini to 16 genera as this unique taxon provides new insights into the diversity and evolution of this enigmatic and intriguing lineage of paedomorphic beetles.

Drilini are soft-bodied predatory beetles with females undergoing incomplete metamorphosis. About 150 described species are distributed across the Afrotropical, Palearctic and Oriental regions with the highest diversity known from sub-Saharan Africa.

The type species in this study is the only representative of Drilini with unidentified mandibles and no hooks on the dorsal part of the median aedeagal lobe, two of the few characters used for identification. Morphology belongs to the Drilus clade which previously contained only taxa from the Palearctic Region.

The Namibian specimen and the generic name Namibdrilus are derived from the Republic of Namibia, plus Drilus, the genus name within the Elateridae. The name albertalleni is from Albert Allen who allowed Robin Kundrata and Gabriela Packova from Palacky University in Olomouc to study the unique specimen.

Based on the results of molecular phylogeny and morphological characters, Drilini is divided into clades A, W, S, M and D. Clades A, W, S and M contain Afrotropical taxa singly or predominantly with some species of clade S extending into the Oriental Region, while clade D contains exclusively Palearctic species.

The researchers suspect that Namibdrilus from southern Africa belongs to one of the African clades, but morphologically it belongs to the clade containing the Palearctic species. All known African Drilini differ from Namibdrilus by having a short frontoclipal region and a median aedeagal lobe with a dorsal hook.

One of the most striking characters of Namibdrilus is that the frontoclipal is very forward and is even visible from the ventral view of the head. Drilini have frontoclipal regions of variable shape, but none of them resemble the frontoclipal region of Namibdrilus which is oriented straight forward and somewhat truncated apically and broadly rounded.

Original research

Kundrata R, Packova G (2024). Discovery of a new soft-bodied click-beetle genus from Namibia with a unique morphology leads to a modified diagnosis of Drilini (Coleoptera, Elateridae). ZooKeys 1213: 183-197, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1213.131283

Dlium theDlium

Mashpi walkingstick (Trychopeplus mashpiensis) from Chocó, Ecuador, based on males, females and eggs

NEWS - Researchers report Mashpi walkingstick ( Trychopeplus mashpiensis Conle, Valero & Hennemann, sp. nov.) from the Chocó ecoregion of northwestern Ecuador is new to science based on its unique body ornamentation and egg structure morphology. Trychopeplus Shelford 1909 is a genus of Neotropical stick insects (Phasmida Leach 1815) known for its remarkable morphological adaptations that allow it to blend in almost perfectly with epiphytic lichens in its habitat. These adaptations make Trychopeplus one of the most cryptic stick insect genera. The genus was described to distinguish the Neotropical species from Pericentrus Redtenbacher 1908 based on morphological differences and distinct geographic distribution compared to the type species Pericentrus moewisi Redtenbacher 1908. Pericentrus is known to be restricted to East and South Asia, whereas Trychopeplus is endemic to the Neotropics. Oskar Conle from the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Germany, Pablo Valero from the Un...

Giant shield bug (Pycanum alternatum)

Giant shield bug or pycanum rubens ( Pycanum alternatum ) is a species of animal in Tessaratomidae, has a large shield covering the back, shiny green-blue-brown colored and appears to have a powder or wax layer, inhabiting the leaves of plants in open forests or bushes . P. alternatum is also called a stink bug because of its ability to release pungent aromas when disturbed. These insects live solitary with a partner and usually the mother gather in a family together in nymphs. White eggs are attached under the leaves of the plant. Nymphs can be found in the same host as their parent. The nymph has a flat rectangular shape with a large vein in the middle like a flat leaf. Nymphs having striking colors are light green, orange and red. Color may represent various stages of development or gender. The initial stage has a small size and red color. It grows in a bigger size and turns orange then ends in green. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemipter...

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

Dlium