A new species of slug has just been discovered in Britain that has razor-sharp teeth and eats worms.
Now another new species of bug has been discovered in Britain - an insect caught scuttling around London's grand Natural History Museum.
By the looks of things, if you wish to discover a new species of creepy-crawly, Britain is the place to be...
Natural History Museum experts baffled by new bug found in their own back garden
15th July 2008
Daily Mail
The new species of insect was discovered scuttling around the grounds of the Natural History Museum
Experts at the Natural History Museum pride themselves on being able to classify and display millions of species but they are baffled about the identity of a tiny red-and-black bug that has appeared in the London museum's own gardens.
The almond-shaped insect is about the size of a grain of rice.
Bug's life: The red-and-black insect thought to be a new species that was discovered in London
The museum's collections manager, Max Barclay, said that it was first seen in March 2007 on some of the plane trees that grow on the grounds of the 19th-century museum.
He said that within three months, it had become the most common insect in the garden, and had also been spotted in other central London parks.
The museum has more than 28million insect species in its collection, but none is an exact match for this insect.
'I don't expect to find a new species in the gardens of a museum," Mr Barclay said.
'Deep inside a tropical rainforest yes, but not in central London.'
The bug resembles the Arocatus roeselii, which is usually found in central Europe but is a brighter red and lives on alder trees.
Entomologists suspect the new bug could be a version of the roeselii that has adapted to live on plane trees, but acknowledged it could be an entirely new species.
Either way, it appears the museum's tiny visitor, which appears harmless, is here to stay.
'We waited to see if the insect would survive the British winter,' Barclay said.
'It did and it's thriving, so now we had better figure out what it is.'
dailymail.co.uk
Now another new species of bug has been discovered in Britain - an insect caught scuttling around London's grand Natural History Museum.
By the looks of things, if you wish to discover a new species of creepy-crawly, Britain is the place to be...
Natural History Museum experts baffled by new bug found in their own back garden
15th July 2008
Daily Mail
The new species of insect was discovered scuttling around the grounds of the Natural History Museum
Experts at the Natural History Museum pride themselves on being able to classify and display millions of species but they are baffled about the identity of a tiny red-and-black bug that has appeared in the London museum's own gardens.
The almond-shaped insect is about the size of a grain of rice.
Bug's life: The red-and-black insect thought to be a new species that was discovered in London
The museum's collections manager, Max Barclay, said that it was first seen in March 2007 on some of the plane trees that grow on the grounds of the 19th-century museum.
He said that within three months, it had become the most common insect in the garden, and had also been spotted in other central London parks.
The museum has more than 28million insect species in its collection, but none is an exact match for this insect.
'I don't expect to find a new species in the gardens of a museum," Mr Barclay said.
'Deep inside a tropical rainforest yes, but not in central London.'
The bug resembles the Arocatus roeselii, which is usually found in central Europe but is a brighter red and lives on alder trees.
Entomologists suspect the new bug could be a version of the roeselii that has adapted to live on plane trees, but acknowledged it could be an entirely new species.
Either way, it appears the museum's tiny visitor, which appears harmless, is here to stay.
'We waited to see if the insect would survive the British winter,' Barclay said.
'It did and it's thriving, so now we had better figure out what it is.'
dailymail.co.uk
