Stalk-eyed flies have eyestalks on which their eyes are mounted. These projections stick out from the sides of the head. Both males and females have eyestalks, but hey are much longer in males. Species are growing up to a cm in length and are known to feed on both decaying plants and animals.Todays new species was found around Kandy, a major city in Sri Lanka. It is considered the sister species of Teleopsis ferruginea, hence the name…

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Lucifuga is a genus of cusk-eels that give birth to young that developed within their mothers body.  Most of the species are native to caves and sinkholes in Cuba and the Bahamas. There is one exception, a species that was found in deep waters off the Galapagos Islands.The new species was found in an isolated karst patch of marine caves in Eastern Cuba. It was named after the village of Gibara, where the three caves inhabited…

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Carpenter bees got their name from their nesting behavior. Most of them burrow into hard plant material such as dead wood or bamboo and lay their eggs into the chamber. These bees are important pollinators for open-faced or shallow flowers. In fact for some species they are the only pollinators, e.g. for maypop (Passiflora incarnata) and Orphium. No other insect visits those.Todays two new species were found in the Risaralda and the Valle del Cauca Departments…

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You might have seen this group of fishes in pictures and videos from coral reefs and sometimes in a reef aquarium although this would be a rather rare sight. They are called stripey for obvious reasons and are also known as footballer or convict fish. This species is re-described as the taxonomy of the genus Microcanthus has been debated for a long time. The original description is from 1931 and the name was chosen to honour…

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A couple of months ago I posted about Litter frogs (Family Megophryidae) which live in South East Asia. They are mostly famous for their camouflage which makes many of them look like dead leaves. A widely known species is the long nosed horned frog. There is another new species from China this time found in the Chishui National Nature Reserve, Guizhou province. The species name refers to the location this species was found.For the experts: A new…

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The grass ferns (Schizaeaceae) are a family of ferns mainly found in the tropics. Most of them are rather small plants and the new species is a so-called epiphyte which means it grows on the trunk of a tree fern. It was found on Mindanao Island, Philippines. The species name refers to is small size even compared to other members of the genus. For the experts: Actinostachys minuta Amoroso & Coritico (Schizaeaceae), from Mindanao, Philippines, is described herein…

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Thelcticopis is a genus of huntsman spiders (family Sparassidae) that occurs almost exclusively in the Australasian region. Huntsman spiders are also known as giant crab spiders. Some of them can indeed grow quite large (up to 30 cm). The new species are not that large though and not known to be venomous (in contrast to some other huntsman spiders). Both were found in Taiwan.One of the new species was named after the type locality and…

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Termites are insects that live in colonies and divide labor among castes, produce overlapping generations, and take care of their young collectively. Although this way of live is very similar to some species of hymenoptera, termites are at best distant cousins, closer related to roaches. There are more than 3,100 living termite species worldwide.The species name is derived from the latin word spinatus which means spine. This refers to some spines on the body of the…

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Leaf insects (family Phyliidae) literally look like leaves. The resemblance is so perfect (including structures that mimic bite marks in some species) that predators can't distinguish them from real leaves. These animals have a very particular walk. They rock back and forth, thereby mimicking a leaf moved by the wind. This behaviour has given them the name dancing leaf insects.The new species was found on Papua New Guinea and these animals are so rarely found the…

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This fly belongs to a family called the flesh-fly group and as the name implies, larvae feed on decaying meat astray need protein to develop. That's why eggs are laid on carrion, dung or sweet plant foods such a fruits or nuts. Many species are considered nuisance pests, but there are some that are vectors of pathogens and bacteria. Likely not our new one though. By the way, its species name refers to the Mersin Province…

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