Japanese scientists discover new ladybug species on university campus
Researchers from Kyushu University spent three years analyzing about 1,700 tiny ladybug specimens and found a new species on a pine tree on campus.
Although discovering new species often brings to mind long expeditions to remote tropical forests, Japanese researchers have shown that nature's secrets can be closer than expected. Scientists from Kyushu University discovered a previously unknown ladybug species on a pine tree right on their campus. Over three years, they analyzed about 1,700 tiny ladybug specimens.
The work also led to another new ladybug species found off-campus. The lead author named that species after his grandmother Takako, thanking her for encouraging his childhood interest in insects.
How could these insects remain unnoticed for so long? According to the scientists, the explanation lies in a few simple factors. First, insect researchers usually don't pay much attention to pine trees, preferring other habitats. Second, different species of small black ladybugs look so similar that they cannot be distinguished with the naked eye; precise identification requires dissection and microscopic study of body structures.
The researchers describe the new ladybug species in detail in the journal Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae.
