Researchers from the Latin American Center for Biodiversity (CIBIO) and the University of Alicante of Spain identified 57 new species of insects living in the jungles of Costa Rica.
The study took 3 years to complete and it confirmed the existence of species that were unknown to date.
This finding was published in ZooKeys journal on October 3rd. All insect species known in the country are included.
However, the novelty is a group of beetles called Anomalini. According to the study, since the moment the research started, the number of beetles’ known species in Costa Rica increased to 49%.
This finding shows how far we are from knowing the richness of species that actually exist in the tropics and it also makes us realize about the need to support such studies that allow us to contribute to the knowledge of biodiversity and the role of species in nature,
declared the researchers.
The studied species are characterized by being associated with vegetation and plant roots. They are equipped with cryptic colors, they live in jungles and forests of Central America and they are nocturnal, so you have to put light traps to capture them.
These individuals have a different life cycle, they spend time in the woods and roots when they are larvae. However, when they become adults, they feed on leaves.
The insects were collected to be part of collections in Spain and Costa Rica.