In Australia, a new species of beetles was discovered, which were called “punks” because of their “mohawks”

In Australia, a new species of beetles was discovered, which were called “punks” because of their “mohawks”

James Tweed

A new species of long-nosed beetle was discovered in Australia. It has long white spiky hairs that earned it the nickname “punk bug”.

The researcher who found the beetle initially mistook it for bird droppings, reports say BBC, Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Australian Geographic.

University of Queensland researcher James Tweed came across an insect less than a centimeter long while hiking in Leamington National Park.

“I saw this white thing on the leaf and walked past, thinking maybe it was bird droppings. But something in my brain told me to turn around. And there was this pretty spectacular bug sitting right next to my tent.” – said the entomologist.

The body of the insect was black-orange in color, but it was the white hairs that made it special.

“Many hairs stuck out almost vertically, giving them the appearance of a mohawk,” Tweed added.

It was not easy for the scientist to identify the beetle, because he had “never seen anything like it.”

It turned out that Tweed had discovered not only a new species of long-nosed beetle, but also a new genus or group of insects.

“Species within the same genus are very closely related to each other, and in this case we do not believe that any of the previously discovered species are related.” – noted the researcher.

According to Adam Slipinski of the Australian National Insect Collection, it was very difficult to determine the function of the beetle’s hairs, because they have not found similar specimens.

He noted that similar to 1970s punk rockers, this species of beetle is most active at night, so the hairs may be a form of camouflage.

“During the day, they have to somehow survive in order not to be noticed by birds, lizards or other predators. Perhaps with the help of this camouflage, the beetles are trying to be similar to bird droppings, or perhaps it is covered with a fungal infection.” – said Slipinski.

According to another theory, the barbed hairs may be similar to a cat’s whiskers and provide the ability to sense the environment.

The new species of beetle was given the scientific name Excastra albopilosa. “Excastra” is translated from Latin as “from the camp”, and “albopilosa” is “white and hairy”.

We will remind, in the Bahamas discovered the new species of deep-sea crustacean is an ancient isopod with giant eyes and a transparent body.