Nature Science

10 BEAUTIFUL BUGS DISCOVERIES

Can you believe hundreds of new species of insects have been discovered just within the past year alone? The good news is, many are incredibly beautiful. Check out the 10 beautiful bugs we are particularly excited to see below.

1. PTERINOPELMA SAZIMAI

This stunning blue tarantula blew us out of the water with its iridescent brilliance. It was discovered by Dr. Ivan Sazima in Brazil. The tarantula’s survival is threatened due to Brazil’s tarantula pet trade. The Sazimai lives on an “ecological island” separated from other ecosystems by tabletop mountains, making this spider a truly rare and lucky find.

2. TROLL HAIRED INSECT

Trond Larson and his team of ecologists recently discovered 60 new species of insects in the Suriname rainforest. He published the findings recently in a post for Conservation International, the organization that funded Larson’s expedition.

Among the most stunning of these insects was the “Troll Haired Insect,” named for the tuft of “hair” growing from its back.This hair is actually a waxy secretion from the abdomen that serves to protect this cool bug from predators, distracting them into attacking the detachable hair instead of an insect’s body.

It is a type of plant hopper. Scientists still aren't sure what species this belongs to, so does not have a latin name.

3. COPIPHORA LONGICAUDA

Another new species discovered by Larson and his team were some unique versions of more common insects. For example, most katydid’s are purely herbivores, eating plant matter to survive.

This new species, the Copiphora Longicuada, however, is a predator, using strong mandibles to consume its fellow insects. His beautiful, innocent, look is just a charade.

4. TELEUTINI KATYDID (Pseudophyllinae: Teleutini)

The Teleutini is an entirely new genus of katydid, discovered by the Larson team. The Teleutini Katydid has totally unique long spiny legs, meant to put off predators.

As katydids are particularly vulnerable to change in their environment, their presence in Suriname is a testament to that country’s pristine beauty.

5. COPROPHANAEUS LANCIFER

This new discovery is a whopper. Coprophanaeus lancifer is the largest of all South American dung beetles. It is also unusual in that both the male and female possess a large horn on their heads, used for battles with others of their own kind.

The beetles can be vastly different in size from each other, depending on how much food they consume in their larval stage. Despite their name, they eat more carrion than dung. And, in doing so, they provide a critical function to the rainforest in ridding it from dead carcasses quickly.

6. ISSUS

It looks like mechanical gears aren’t just a human invention. Scientists in the UK reported, in a recent issue of Science magazine, that they had discovered natural gears in the legs of the Issus nymph.

The Issus is a form of a grasshopper. It only possesses its gears for its adolescent life -- once it reaches full adulthood it sheds them, although researchers have no idea why.

The gears in these insects legs are used for leaping, winding up, and then exploding with power. At the top of its legs, a minuscule pair of gears intermeshes, like a zipper. In 2 milliseconds, it catapults, accelerating at nearly 400 G's, 20 times more force than a human body can withstand.

It zips at over 8 miles per hour, making it one of the fastest accelerators in the animal kingdom. In fact, the legs of this bug outpace its nervous system. The gears engage before it jumps, with movements synchronized to within 1/300,000 of a second.

7. TINKERBELLA NANA

The Tinkerbella Nana was recently discovered in Costa Rica by a team of researchers led by scientist John Huber.

It is incredibly small -- measuring less than 250 micrometers. Three or four of them could fit within a typed period. The species was named after the fairy from Peter Pan, Tinkerbell. These insects are almost completely invisible due to their small size, just like their fairy namesake.

8. LITURGUSA TESSAE

Scientist Gavin Svenson recently discovered 19 new praying mantis species from Central and South America. His findings were recently published in the 2014 edition of ZooKeys.

Svenson is the curator of invertebrate zoology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. His findings tripled the known number of bark mantises. One of Svenson’s discoveries, the Liturgusa Tessae, was named for his daughter Tessa.

9. NEOTROGLA AURORA

Until now, it was easy to distinguish the gender of animals based on their sex organs. But the research led by Rodrigo Ferreira and published in the April 17, 2014 edition of Current Biology has revealed four new species of insect of the genus Neotrogla, in which the males have vaginas, and the females have penises.

During their 70-hour marathon mating sessions, they work like vacuum cleaners, sucking the sperm out of the male vaginas.

As of now, these insects are the only animals known to science that exhibit fascinating switch up.

10. TUCKERELLA JAPONICA

While scientists have only recently discovered a trove of new species of mites, including the Tuckerella Japonica (above), they have also found that these bugs have been around for eons.

They escaped detection due to their practically invisible size. But now, with better tools, researchers have not only found that they exist, but have been finding evidence of their existence for thousands of years.

Read more about Beautiful Bugs, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 New Beautiful Bug Books.

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