Species belonging to the genus Thismia are some of the strangest and most magical-looking in the plant kingdom, which has earned them the nickname ‘fairy lanterns.’
No exception to the rule, a newly discovered Thismia species from eastern Peninsular Malaysia looks like something that belongs in a fantasy world.
Take a look below.
Thismia aliasii.
Standing just 11 cm tall, Thismia aliasii is an easy-to-miss and Critically Endangered new species described in the open-access journal PhytoKeys.
The genus Thismia consists of plants that are mycoheterotrophic, meaning they do not photosynthesise and instead rely entirely on fungi for their nutrition. The unusual flowers seen on Thismia species facilitate specialised pollination mechanisms involving small insects such as fungus gnats.
Thismia aliasii was first documented by co-author Mohamad Alias Shakri in 2019 during a field expedition in Terengganu’s Chemerong Forest Eco Park, not far from a hiking path.
Terengganu’s Chemerong Forest Eco Park, habitat of the new species.
“The discovery of Thismia aliasii is very interesting as it was found in a mountainous region known for its natural beauty. The discovery was made on the edge of a popular mountaineering trail, but, remarkably, the species was first recognised by Alias.
“It was not easy to obtain specimens for further study as its habitat is on the mountain and COVID time delayed search efforts. Fortunately, targeted field work to find this plant was successful with the support of NAGAO.”
Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh, co-author of the paper.
Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh with Thismia aliasii.From left to right Angan and Alias and Zubir with Thismia aliasii.
Thismia aliasii is provisionally classified as Critically Endangered (CR) under the IUCN Red List criteria, with only five individuals observed across multiple surveys. The primary threats to its survival stem from habitat degradation due to increasing hiking activities in the region.
This discovery adds to Terengganu’s reputation as a hotspot for Thismia diversity, being home to 13 species of the genus, including six endemics.
Siti-Munirah MY, Mohamad Alias S (2025) Thismia aliasii (Thismiaceae), a new species from Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia. PhytoKeys 254: 175-188. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.254.136085
“We have not only revived Francis Walker’s species Topiris candidella, from 1863, but also expanded our understanding of an entire group of small white moths.”
A moth neglected by experts for a century is found to have been collected by Alfred Russel Wallace 169 years ago
Cutting-edge techniques allowed scientists to show the moth as belonging to a genus comprising 14 species, 11 of which are new to science
One of the new species has been named after Greta Thunberg
Alfred Russel Wallace
Scientists at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London, have discovered that a long-overlooked moth specimen in the Museum’s collection was in fact collected by explorer and naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1855. This was at the same time as he was formulating his own revolutionary ideas on the origins of species which he would go on to share with Charles Darwin.
The small white moth, Topiris candidella, was described in 1863 by Francis Walker but was dismissed in 1927 by leading entomologist Edward Meyrick as “better neglected” having suffered substantial damage due to historic storing practices. The moth has remained overlooked for nearly a century, until now.
Using a cutting-edge DNA sequencing method, NHM scientists extracted genetic material from a single fragment of one of the specimen’s remaining legs and connected it to a group of moths found throughout South East Asia.
The scientists were able to prove that rather than being a single neglected species, Topiris is in fact a genus of 14 species, including 11 species which are new to science and described today in the paper published in ZooKeys.
One of these species is named Topiris thunbergella, in honour of Greta Thunberg and her work in raising awareness of the environmental pressures on the native forests of South East Asia.
A new to science species of land snail was discovered by a group of citizen scientists working together with scientists…
Dr David Lees, Senior Curator for Microlepidoptera at the Natural History Museum, adds, “This discovery highlights the incredible potential of modern DNA analysis to reveal the evolutionary history of species, even from fragmented and long-forgotten specimens.
“By applying this innovative sequencing technique, we have not only revived Francis Walker’s species Topiris candidella, from 1863, but also expanded our understanding of an entire group of small white moths.”
During their research, David and fellow moth expert, Mark Sterling, found that a hidden label under the pin of the broken moth bore the handwritten letters “SAR”, a clue that this moth had been collected by Alfred Russel Wallace as part of over a thousand moths he collected at Rajah Brooke’s Forest retreat.
Topiris albidella
Paralecta rosiflora
Topiris thunbergella
Topiris salva
This was in December 1855, just months before he published his ‘Sarawak Law’ paper, which eventually led to a joint reading (at Darwin’s request) of their theories of evolution through natural selection.
Beyond the scientific breakthrough, the study has wider conservation implications. Of the 24 species reviewed in their paper, only three have been recorded since 2000, highlighting the urgent need for biodiversity monitoring in this region.
Mark Sterling added, “The 80 million specimens currently held in the Natural History Museum’s collections continue to be a critical resource for understanding biodiversity and assessing the effects of environmental change.”
Research article:
Sterling MJ, Price BW, Lees DC (2025) A revision of the hitherto neglected genus Topiris Walker, 1863 (Lepidoptera, Xyloryctidae) with taxonomic notes on the genus Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910. ZooKeys 1229: 297-368. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1229.119155
This press release was originally published by the National History Museum, London. It is republished here with permission.
When Rebecca Tarvin was a graduate student studying toxins in the skins of poisonous frogs, she and her colleague Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar collected a frog in Colombia that they suspected was a new species. It differed in coloration from a similar Colombian frog in the genus Epipedobates and had a different mating call.
Rebecca Tarvin and Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar attempt to catch a frog. Photo credit: Juan Camilo Ríos Orjuela
In 2022, eight years later and a newly appointed assistant professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Tarvin met up with Colombian biologists to collect more of these frogs and confirm a new species. Such “holotype specimens” are necessary to document a new species for posterity. Collecting specimens and identifying new species also helps scientists track the impact of environmental changes and understand the evolutionary origin of traits such as skin toxins, which may one day have medical uses.
Some of the specimens including the holotype (bottom left) prepared for the Museo de Historia Natural C. J. Marinkelle at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and UC Berkeley’s Museum of Verterbrate Zoology. Photo credit: Rebecca D. Tarvin, UC Berkeley
Collecting the frogs was easy; they seem to thrive along roadsides and in semiurban areas. But what to name the species? A Colombian colleague played for the team a tape of local marimba-based music called bambuco, and one style, called bambuco viejo, or currulao, stood out. The name Epipedobates currulao seemed appropriate, and with this month’s publication of a paper describing the new species in the journal ZooKeys, it’s now official.
Epipedobates currulao. Photo credit: Juan Camilo Ríos Orjuela
“We ended up going with currulao because we liked how it brought in the human perspective,” Tarvin said. “The frog is part of the sound landscape; when they call, it’s part of the background noise in the region. Similarly, currulao is more than just a genre of music. It’s also the cultural practices around the music, the gathering, dancing and the relationship-forming aspects of the experience.”
A performance by Cantadoras del Pacifico at the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Currulao, which combines marimbas and drums, is popular in black communities along Colombia’s Pacific coast.
Tarvin is still investigating the toxins produced by frogs in the genus Epipedobates, which is small, containing about eight species, but is the most recently evolved group of poisonous frogs in South America. By comparing the genetics of these frogs with other poison frog groups, she hopes to understand how their chemical defense technique evolved. Most poisonous animals are brightly colored to advertise their unpalatability, such as the Monarch butterfly’s bright orange color and the gaudy orange, black and blue of poison dart frogs. But Epipedobates frogs are more subtly colored, if not downright drab. Perhaps, she said, bright coloration evolves after the frogs develop their toxic defenses.
An adult individual of Epipedobates currulao in Vadrilleros, Valle de Cauca, Colombia. Photo credit: Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar
Epipedobates acquired its chemical defenses more recently than any other group in the poison frog family and shows the largest range in color and defense, Tavin said, but they’re also interesting because of how they acquire their toxicity.
“What’s unique about poison frogs, specifically, is that they sequester toxins from their food, so it’s an entirely different kind of defense that requires an entirely different physiology, compared to venom-producing animals, like snakes and bees,” she said. “Poison frogs eat arthropods that have small amounts of chemicals that can be either toxic or distasteful. And then they accumulate those to levels that become relevant for their own predators.”
Tarvin offers one piece of advice: Because they’re covered in poisons, don’t lick your fingers after picking one up.
Research article:
Betancourth-Cundar M, Ríos-Orjuela JC, Crawford AJ, Cannatella DC, Tarvin RD (2025) Honoring the Afro-Colombian musical culture with the naming of Epipedobates currulao sp. nov. (Anura, Dendrobatidae), a frog from the Pacific rainforests. ZooKeys 1226: 139-170. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1226.123803
This story was originally published by UC Berkeley. It is republished here with permission.
Discovered in the Andean cloud forests of northern Peru, a new species in the blazing star family (Loasaceae) has reinforced the vital role of citizen science in plant research.
An international research team collected, identified and documented the rare plant after seeing photographs uploaded by Peruvian naturalist, Carlos Pérez Peña, on the citizen science platform iNaturalist. Assigning the species the name Nasa katjae, they published the discovery in the open-access journal PhytoKeys.
Nasa katjae has striking scarlet-red flowers adapted for hummingbird pollination and is endemic to a single forest near Colasay in the Cajamarca region of Peru, not far from a populated area. Due to its extremely narrow range, it is likely particularly vulnerable to the threat of habitat loss.
The discovery highlights the importance of protecting the remaining pristine habitats in the Amotape-Huancabamba Zone, a biodiversity hotspot home to many rare and isolated species. The team behind the study emphasise that, without immediate conservation efforts, these ecologically fragile regions could be lost to agricultural expansion and climate change before they are fully understood.
Lead author Dr Tilo Henning of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research remarked on the significance of the find: “If we have overlooked this striking plant, think about what we have missed in more unobtrusive organismal groups such as mosses, fungi and insects.”
“Discovering such a conspicuous flowering plant in a forest directly adjacent to a larger human settlement signifies that we have not even begun to fully map the biodiversity of some regions. We urgently need more taxonomists and funding to meaningfully tackle this.”
While some areas in northern Peru have recently received formal protection, the forest fragment in which Nasa katjae is found remains unprotected. The authors of the study urge decision makers to take action to safeguard these habitats before it is too late.
The discovery of Nasa katjae displays the power of digital tools and citizen science in biodiversity research. Platforms like iNaturalist prove invaluable in detecting and documenting rare species, complementing traditional fieldwork and accelerating new discoveries.
Original source
Henning T, Allen JP, Montesinos-Tubée D, Rodríguez-Rodríguez EF, Peña JLM, Acuña-Castillo R (2025) No end to endemism – contributions to the difficult Nasa Weigend Series Alatae (Loasaceae). A new species from Peru and the rehabilitation of “ Loasa” calycina Benth. PhytoKeys 252: 163-186. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.252.141635
Based on this press release by the California Academy of Sciences.
Researchers have discovered the first new genus and species of plant in a U.S. national park for nearly 50 years.
Described in the OA journal PhytoKeys, the new-to-science woolly devil (Ovicula biradiata) is a member of the sunflower family, despite looking quite different to its sunburst-shaped relatives.
The small, fuzzy flower grows in the harsh, rocky soils of the Chihuahuan Desert and only appears after rainfall. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)
The national park is located within the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest and most biologically diverse warm desert in North America, and is a highly studied floristic region.
“While many assume that the plants and animals within our country’s national parks have probably been documented by now, scientists still make surprising new discoveries in these iconic protected landscapes,” says corresponding author and Academy researcher Isaac Lichter Marck, PhD.
From an elevation of less than 1,800 feet along the Rio Grande to nearly 8,000 feet in Chisos Mountains, Big Bend includes massive canyons, vast desert expanses, forest mountains, and an ever-changing river. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)
Park volunteer Deb Manley was first to observe the plant in March of 2024 by who uploaded the unknown species to the community science app iNaturalist, where an international community of botanists assembled to identify the mysterious flower.
Known to botanists as a “belly plant,” or a small, discreet plant that can only be properly observed by lying on the ground, this distinctive wild flower with furry white foliage and maroon ray florets is an ephemeral species that only blooms after rain. It thrives in harsh rocky habitats with scant rainfall and grows alongside a variety of drought-tolerant shrubs, such as ocotillo, hedgehog cactus, and creosote.
Researchers have only observed the plant in three narrow locations across the northernmost corner of the park, and it is possible that populations of the species are already diminishing.
Big Bend National Park staff members Carolyn Whiting, Deb Manley, and Patty Manning discovered the plant while hiking through the northernmost reaches of the park. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)
“Plants that thrive in deserts are often quite unique, having evolved specific mechanisms to withstand the extreme drought-and-deluge conditions of these arid landscapes—from water-storing structures to rapid life cycles triggered by rain,” says Lichter Marck.
“But as climate change pushes deserts to become hotter and drier, highly specialized plants like the woolly devil face extinction.”
The plant’s woolly appearance and striking red petals inspired the name Ovicula biradiata. Ovicula, meaning “tiny sheep,” refers to the thick, white hairs that cover the plant’s leaves and honors a more iconic endangered species in Big Bend: the bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Biradiata, or “bi-radial,” refers to the two ray florets in each of the plant’s flowers. Researchers working with the plant affectionately dubbed the fuzzy flower the “woolly devil,” which has become its suggested common name.
Park botanist Carolyn Whiting observes the unknown species in March 2024. (Photo courtesy of Big Bend National Park)
“Now that the species has been identified and named, there is a tremendous amount we have yet to learn about it,” says Big Bend National Park botanist Carolyn Whiting.
“I’m excited to discover whether there are other populations in the park, the details of its life cycle, what pollinates it, and whether we’ll observe it this spring, given the current drought.”
Researchers are now investigating the woolly devil’s potential medicinal properties.
“Under the microscope, we noticed specific glands that are known to possess compounds with anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties in other plants within the sunflower family,” says Academy co-author Keily Peralta.
“While further research is needed to determine these properties, this discovery underscores the potential knowledge we stand to gain from preserving plant diversity in fragile desert ecosystems.”
Original source
Manley DL, Lichter Marck IH, Peralta K, Castro Castro A, Wogan KA, Whiting CV, Powell AM (2025) Ovicula biradiata, a new genus of Compositae from Big Bend National Park in Trans-Pecos Texas. PhytoKeys 252: 141-162. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.252.137624
Picture in your mind the discovery of a new species.
What do you see? Researchers cutting through dense, untouched rainforests? Perhaps a submarine plunging into a deep-sea trench, illuminating a new world?
Well, it’s not always quite so dramatic. In fact, researchers in China discovered Branchiostegus sanae when they were scrolling through online seafood markets and noticed some deepwater tilefish with unique cheek patterns.
Branchiostegus sanae. Credit: Huang et al.
These red-and-white facial markings reminded the research team of the Studio Ghibli character San from Princess Mononoke, whom they chose to honour in their naming of the species.
Published in the open-access journal ZooKeys, Branchiostegus sanae is a deepwater tilefish belonging to the family Branchiostegidae. Researchers confirmed its new-species status using genetic analysis, and chose “sanae” as the specific epithet (that’s the part that differentiates species within a genus), in a nod to Hayao Miyazaki’s animated creation.
Branchiostegus sanae at a seafood market. Credit: Jiangyuan Chen.
“Finding a new species in this group is a rare and fortunate event, especially one as distinctive as Branchiostegus sanae.
“In Princess Mononoke, San is a young woman raised by wolves after being abandoned by her human parents. She sees herself as a part of the forest and fights to protect it. The film delves into the complex relationship between humans and nature, promoting a message of harmonious coexistence between the two: something we hope to echo through this naming.”
Lead author, Haochen Huang.
The Chinese fishermen who sell the new-to-science species call it the“鬼马头鱼” (ghost horsehead fish), and this also contributed to the species name because, fittingly, “Mononoke” (もののけ) refers to supernatural spirits in Japanese folklore.
As their name suggests, deepwater tilefish are found at great depths, with some species found 600 m below the surface. They are important food fish, commonly found in seafood markets in East and Southeast Asia.
Branchiostegus sanae is far from the only new species discovered at a seafood market. Indeed, a new giant isopod was recently dicovered in the same way – and also recieved a pop-culture inspired name. Check it out below!
So far only 31 species are described in the family Branchiostegidae, and 19 species in the genus Branchiostegus. From 1990 to 2024, only three new species of Branchiostegus have been described.
Other species of the genus Branchiostegus found in Chinese waters. Credit: Huang et al.
The study, led by researchers from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science, Zhejiang University and Ocean University of China, involved a combination of morphological analysis and genetic sequencing. Specimens were deposited in prestigious marine biological collections in China to facilitate future research.
Original study
Huang H, Chen J, Ke Z, Zhang C (2025) Branchiostegus sanae, a new species of deepwater tilefish (Eupercaria, Branchiostegidae) from the South China Sea. ZooKeys 1227: 129–142. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1227.130512
Happy Lunar New Year! For more than a billion people worldwide, today is a day of gifts, dancing, celebration and – of course – plenty of delicious food.
Coinciding with the first new moon of the lunar calendar, the 29th of January marks the beginning of a vibrant 15-day festival, which includes 7 days of holiday in China.
As 2025 is the Year of the Snake, we have gathered some of favourite studies celebrating the the scaly world of serpents to celebrate the occasion!
The tug-of-war coral snakes
A different kind of food fight.
A study published in Herpetozoa includes incredible footage of two red-tailed coral snakes (Micrurus mipartitus) engaging in a tug-of-war over a caecilian, a legless amphibian.
Check out the video below.
Two Micrurusmipartitussnakes tugging prey in opposite directions. Credit: Henrik Bringsøe and Niels Poul Dreyer.
The event marked the first documented wild case of kleptoparasitism, or food theft, within the family Elapidae.
Rhynchocalamus hejazicus is a recently discovered and secretive snake species from the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia.
Upon the species’ discovery, researchers dubbed the stylish serpent “the missing piece of the puzzle” as it fills a large distribution gap for its genus.
Published in Zoosystematics and Evolution, the research also includes a completely black variation of of the species known as a ‘melanistic morphotype.’
An expedition into the jungles and cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador revealed five dazzling new species of eyelash vipers, previously misidentified as one species.
Published in Evolutionary Systematics, the study received global attention from publications such as National Geographic thanks to the taxonomic importance and visual appeal of the research.
Red-wine morph of the Central American Eyelash-Pitviper (Bothriechis nigroadspersus), photographed in the Caribbean Island Escudo de Veraguas, off the coast of Panamá.Credit:Alejandro Arteaga.
Two species of African shovel-snout snakes, Prosymna confusa and Prosymnalisima, were published as new species in ZooKeysback in 2022.
Endemic to Angola, the snakes have unique beak-like snouts that allow them to dig into sandy soils. They also have backward pointed lancet-shaped teeth that they use for cutting open lizard eggs.
Kalahari shovel-snout snake (Prosymna lisima) from southeastern Angola. Credit: Chad Keates.
As they spend the majority of their time underground, these species were not the easiest to study, but they are certainly a treat for the eyes when they surface their wedge-shaped heads!
The Pensoft journal collection contains innumerable snake studies, so we could go on forever sharing our favourites. Instead, we will wish you a happy and prosperous 2025 filled with plenty of safe snake encounters.
It is estimated that only around 20% of the world’s insects are formally described. A formal description is the foundational understanding of a species, including a scientific name, information on how to identify the species, its biology, and where it can be found. With such a large proportion of our insects lacking this foundational information, we are left viewing the insect world through a very small window. This has major implications for conservation of insects and the ecosystems in which they play integral roles. It also limits our understanding of our natural resources, with the study of insects being valuable in a variety of fields, from healthcare and biochemistry, to biological pest control, to insect-inspired engineering.
Unfortunately, with a worldwide lack of taxonomic experts, limited funding, and the immense scale of describing the world’s insects, documenting our insect diversity before it’s lost to extinction is a considerable challenge. But this is where community engagement and citizen science can shine.
The Insect Investigators citizen science project, which ran in Australia in 2022, aimed to involve schools throughout the taxonomic process, to contribute to large-scale collection and documentation of Australian insects, while fostering an appreciation for insect diversity and the role of taxonomy. Fifty rural schools from Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia participated by setting up Malaise traps (tent-like passive insect traps) to sample local invertebrates near their schools over four weeks. This project resulted in over 60 thousand insect specimens being collected from often under-sampled, more remote parts of Australia. The resulting specimens are preserved and deposited in Australian museums for future research, including taxonomic work.
Malaise traps set up at Kwoorabup Nature School (left) and Beerwah State High School (right) to sample insects as part of the Insect Investigators project.
Through this project, several schools were involved in collecting a rarely collected group of parasitoid wasps belonging to the subfamily Miracinae (aka miracine wasps). These tiny wasps (typically 1-2mm in length) are very difficult to collect using traditional methods, though they appear to be quite diverse in Australia. As parasitoids, miracine wasps require an invertebrate host to complete their lifecycle. For miracine wasps, this host is a leaf-mining caterpillar – the kind that eats small twisting tunnels on the inside of leaves. The wasps lay their eggs inside these caterpillars, and the wasp larvae hatch and eat the caterpillar from the inside out!
‘Insect soup’ – specimens collected via Malaise Trap at Kwoorabup Nature School.
Due to their caterpillar-eating biology, and the fact that they are picky eaters, usually targeting a specific species, these wasps can be used to control pests. For example, the miracine wasp species Mirax insularis in Puerto Rico, and Centistidea striata in Brazil, are known to attack coffee leaf-miners, a major pest of coffee plantations – so you may have one of these wasps to thank for your morning coffee!
As part of this project, we engaged with schools to involve them throughout the process of describing the miracine wasps they had collected. First, we ran in-person and online or hybrid workshops with the students to teach them about the new wasp they had discovered, and the taxonomic process involved in describing and naming it. The students then brainstormed a variety of creative names for the new species, which were collaboratively curated and voted upon to arrive at the final species names.
From Queensland, we have Mirax supremus, meaning ‘highest’ in Latin, named after the Pinnacle program at Beerwah State High School, which the students were a part of.
Mirax supremus.
From South Australia, comes Ceduna Area School’s species, Mirax ceduna, named after the school and town the wasp was collected from (colloquially known as the ‘golden bum wasp’).
Mirax ceduna.
And from Kwoorabup Nature School in Western Australia (WA), Mirax kaatijan, meaning knowledge/learning in the Noongar language of the south-west region of WA, to represent the new knowledge the students had learnt about insect diversity, and the importance of knowledge about our insects.
Mirax kaatijan.
Though the descriptions themselves are a small step towards the immense task of describing Australia’s insects, it was inspiring to see the students and their communities really engage with the process and build a connection with their local insects, and an appreciation for these tiny, often-overlooked wasps. We hope this project plays a role in inspiring the next generation of budding entomologists and taxonomists in Australia.
References
1. Stork, N.E., How Many Species of Insects and Other Terrestrial Arthropods Are There on Earth? Annual Review of Entomology, 2018. 63(1): p. 31-45.
2. Song, C., et al., Bee Sting-Inspired Inflammation-Responsive Microneedles for Periodontal Disease Treatment. Research (Wash D C), 2023. 6: p. 0119.
3. Mika, N., H. Zorn, and M. Rühl, Insect-derived enzymes: a treasure for industrial biotechnology and food biotechnology. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol, 2013. 136: p. 1-17.
4. Galli, M., et al., Can biocontrol be the game-changer in integrated pest management? A review of definitions, methods and strategies. Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection, 2024. 131(2): p. 265-291.
5. Gorb, S.N. and E.V. Gorb, Insect-inspired architecture to build sustainable cities. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2020. 40: p. 62-70.
6. Zhang, Y., A. Reid, and J.F.C. Windmill, Insect-inspired acoustic micro-sensors. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2018. 30: p. 33-38.
7. Suzuki, K., et al., Development of water surface mobile robot inspired by water striders. Micro & Nano Letters, 2017. 12(8): p. 575-579.
8. Engel, M.S., et al., The taxonomic impediment: a shortage of taxonomists, not the lack of technical approaches. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2021. 193(2): p. 381-387.
9. Slater‐Baker, M.R., et al., First record of miracine parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Australia: molecular phylogenetics and morphology reveal multiple new species. Austral Entomology, 2022. 61(1): p. 49-67.
10. Navarro, P. and F. Gallardo, Host instar preference of Mirax insularis (Muesebeck) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a koinobiont parasitoid of Leucoptera coffeella Guerin-Meneville (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae). Journal of Agriculture- University of Puerto Rico, 2009. 93: p. 139-142.
11. Penteado-Dias, A.M., New species of parasitoids on Perileucoptera coffeella ( Guérin-Menèville) (Lepidoptera, Lyonetiidae) from Brazil. Zoologische Mededelingen, 1999. 73: p. 189-197.
12. Slater-Baker M-R, Guzik M, Rodriguez J, Howe A, Woodward A, Ducker N, Fagan-Jeffries E (2025) Three new species of Australian miracine parasitoid wasps collected by regional schools as part of the Insect Investigators citizen science project (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Miracinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 98: 19-45. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.98.137806
Back in 2018, I began conducting fieldwork on grasshoppers in Texas. Among the specimens I collected that year, I noticed something intriguing—what appeared to be a new species of Agroecotettix. That initial discovery set the stage for years of research, stretching through 2024. During this time, I continued to collect Agroecotettix specimens and studied collections from several institutions, including the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Brigham Young University, and the Mississippi Entomological Museum.
Agroecotettix aristus.
By analyzing these specimens, I identified 16 new species of Agroecotettix from the United States and Mexico. Interestingly, most of these species are associated with mountainous of Texas and Mexico. Some also inhabit the South Texas Plains ecoregion and the Edwards Plateau.
Habitat and Behavior of Agroecotettix
Agroecotettix grasshoppers are often found on thorny, leguminous shrubs such as Acacia and Vachella. Mesquite is typically not a host. In the Big Bend region of Texas, I often found them on Sotol—sometimes consuming pollen, other times seeking shade beneath the leaves during the heat of the day.
Individuals of Agroecotettix dorni roosting during the heat of the day on Dasylirion leaves
One sweltering day in Big Bend National Park, it was 113°F, and I was trudging through Boquillas Canyon, searching for grasshoppers. After two hours of seeing a couple grasshoppers, I was ready to leave. Then, glancing up, I spotted 40 or 50 grasshoppers clustered on the undersides of Sotol leaves, sheltering from the mid-day sun. Many of them were Agroecotettix, alongside other flightless desert grasshoppers like Phaulotettix and Netrosoma. It was just like picking fruit off a tree—no net needed.
A view from Big Bend National Park.
Agroecotettix crypsidomus.
Much of what we now know about Agroecotettix species stems from the work of Dr. Theodore Cohn. During the 1950s and 1960s, he conducted extensive fieldwork in Mexico, often in areas that are now too dangerous to access. His collections were invaluable for identifying several of the new species, highlighting the enduring importance of historical specimens and natural history collections.
Naming these species offered a unique opportunity to honor individuals and ideas that have influenced me such as:
LeVar Burton: One species is named after this the Reading Rainbow and Star Trek icon. Burton is an American treasure who has inspired a love of reading in millions, including me. As a child, I grew up watching Reading Rainbow and later found myself reading those same books to my own kids during school events.
Ted Turner: Another species honors Ted Turner, the entrepreneur and conservationist. Turner’s efforts to preserve vast swaths of the western U.S. have will have a lasting impact on biodiversity.
Image of Michael Dorn courtesy of Supercon Conventions under a CC BY 2.0 license
Michael Dorn: Known for playing Worf on Star Trek, Dorn inspired another species name. Work was always my favorite character. A portion of this species anatomy resembled a Klingon weapon, making the connection apt.
IDIC: One species is named after the Vulcan philosophy of “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.” This Star Trek principle seemed a fitting name for a species in this group of cryptic species.
Jay Silverheels: another species honors Silverheels’ cultural impact and the Texas landscapes where the series was set. A Native American athlete and actorwho most famously portrayed the fictional character Tonto in “The Lone Ranger” television series from 1949-1957, Silverheels was one of the first Native American actors to portray a major Indigenous character on a television series. Throughout his career, Silverheels advocated for more inclusion of Indigenous people in media and founded the Indian Actors Workshop in Los Angeles during the 1960’s.
Clayton Moore: Known for playing the Lone Ranger, “moorei” honors Clayton Moore for his portrayal of this fictional Texas Ranger that embodied justice, bravery, and connection to the American West.
Frida Kahlo: The species name kahloae patronym the iconic Mexican painter known for her vivid and symbolic artwork. Her enduring connection to Mexican culture makes her an apt figure to be commemorated through this species, which is endemic to Mexico.
Exploring the Agroecotettix genus has been a journey into the unexpected. What began as a few curious specimens turned into the discovery of 16 species (and counting). The biodiversity of this group, particularly in Mexico, is likely even greater than we currently realize.
The natural world never ceases to amaze. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you look a little closer using new techniques or tools—and suddenly, there’s a universe of diversity waiting to be discovered.
Research article:
Hill JG (2024) Desert diversification: revision of Agroecotettix Bruner, 1908 (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Melanoplinae) with descriptions of sixteen new species from the United States and Mexico. ZooKeys 1218: 177-230. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1218.133703
The Hades’ snake moray (Uropterygius hades), a dark brown, slender snake moray eel, has chosen the road less traveled, thriving in dim and muddy river mouths, unlike most of its marine moray eel relatives. It is widely distributed across the Central Indo-Pacific, and has been found in southern Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, southern Java, and Fiji. This new moray eel was named after Hades, the god of the underworld, due to its unique habitat, burrowing behavior, high sensitivity to light, and most notably, its deep, dark coloration.
Live photo of Uropterygius hades. Image credit: Dr Wen-Chien Huang
Scientists Dr Wen-Chien Huang, Dr Rodulf Anthony Balisco, Dr Te-Yu Liao, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan, Western Philippines University, the Philippines, and Dr Yusuke Hibino, Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History, Japan, describe this new species in a paper published in the open-access journal ZooKeys. They named it after Hades, the underworld god, to emphasize its imposing appearance and its habitat in dim, turbid environments. This idea was inspired by Dr. Wen-Chien Huang, who was influenced by Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Hades in the movie Clash of the Titans.
Live photo of Uropterygius hades. Image credit: Dr Wen-Chien Huang
There are approximately 230 species of moray eels worldwide, with most inhabiting marine environments. Only one species has been confirmed to spend the majority of its life in freshwater. Some marine species, like the slender giant moray (Strophidon sathete), can tolerate and occasionally enter lower-salinity environments such as river mouths. However, moray eels specifically adapted to estuarine habitats are exceedingly rare.
The discovery of Hades’ snake moray was actually accidental, when the three researchers from National Sun Yat-sen University investigated the cave of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, aiming to survey the aquatic fauna and targeting a cave eel species, the bean-eyed snake moray (Uropterygius cyamommatus). This eel, with its highly reduced eye size, is considered an ideal example for studying the evolutionary processes that allow eels to adapt to cave environments. However, the researchers did not find any bean-eyed snake morays in the cave; instead, they collected a slender moray with a conspicuous, uniformly deep dark color.
Fresh specimen of Uropterygius hades. Credit: Dr Wen-Chien Huang
When kept in an aquatic tank, the Hades’ snake moray exhibits tail-first burrowing behavior, which is rarely seen in moray eels. Additionally, it is highly sensitive to light, consistently attempting to hide when exposed to it. Its small eyes—thought to be an adaptation to low-light environments—and its reduced number of head sensory pores—believed to help avoid clogging by the substrate—suggest that this species might be an excellent burrower, relying primarily on chemoreception rather than vision to detect prey or avoid predators.
Original source:
Huang W-C, Hibino Y, Balisco RA, Liao T-Y (2024) Description of a new uniformly brown estuarine moray eel (Anguilliformes, Muraenidae) from the Central Indo-Pacific Ocean. In: Ho H-C, Russell B, Hibino Y, Lee M-Y (Eds) Biodiversity and taxonomy of fishes in Taiwan and adjacent waters. ZooKeys 1220: 15-34. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1220.129685
