Located half a world away in Germany, a leading insect expert and adventurer wrote to Australia asking if it had any unidentified specimens he could examine. It’s not uncommon for museums to have vaults filled with sprawling collections of insects and spiders that are yet to be examined, so one leading institution was happy to oblige.
Taxonomy is a rare profession that involves meticulously describing animals and plants, and comparing them to similar species. It’s accepted that at least 200,000 types of insect live in Australia, but only 62,000 have been named.
The University of Greifswald’s Tobias Mainda was excited when his parcel from the Queensland Museum arrived. “Since my childhood, I’m a big fan of the Australian fauna and loved watching Crocodile Hunter! That’s why it was logical for me to be also interested in Australian species,” he told Yahoo News.
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Two examples of Megalopinus casuarius were collected in Cape York in the 1980s. Source: Australian Journal of Taxonomy/Getty
Mainda specialises in a family of insects called Megalopinus a family of tiny predators that hunt smaller insects. He was trekking through India with limited phone reception, hoping to see them in the wild for the first time, when he responded to our questions.
“I have not seen a Megalopinus alive yet, but that’s what I try to do during my field trip to India in the next four months,” he said.
Related: 😳 Decades-old Aussie museum display discovered to be new species
It’s easy to see why an entomologist would become fascinated by Megalopinus – they look like tiny alien creatures from 1970s sci-fi movies. They are characterised by their massive eyes and short antennae and are found in fungi-covered decaying logs across the western hemisphere.
“It’s always amazing to discover a new species. It shows us how large the diversity on our beautiful planet is and that we absolutely need to protect this garden Eden,” Mainda said.
“And without described species we would not know about their existence. Without knowing about them, we can’t protect them!”
What was so surprising about the new species?
Inside the package from Queensland, were specimens collected in the 1980s by the late Australian entomologist Geoff Monteith during expeditions to Cape York Peninsula in the state’s far north.
While it clearly contained examples of known Megalopinus species, two specimens caught Mainda’s trained eye.
Looking closely at the 2.5mm long insects, something odd immediately stood out. There are only four known species of Megalopinus in Australia, and the specimens he was studying appeared visually quite different to all of them.
“It’s probably most related species is found on Sulawesi in Indonesia. Very far away from Australia. That’s stunning! How is that possible?” he said.
“Look, from in between Australia and Sulawesi only a few species are known. From the whole of New Guinea (one of the biodiversity hotspots of our planet) only one species is known so far!”
Mainda believes there’s a simple reason his newly described Megalopinus casuarius is unlike other Australian species. He thinks there are probably many more yet to be discovered, some of which would resemble it.
“An Australian new species helps us to understand the diversity of Australia itself but also of the greater Australasian region,” he said.
The description of Megalopinus casuarius was published in the Australian Journal of Taxonomy and co-authored by Lara Lopardo and Peter Michalik.
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