"Punk beetle": a new species of beetle found in Australia. Photo
A new species of weevil beetle has been discovered in Australia. It has long white spiny hairs, which is why it was nicknamed the "punk beetle".
The researcher who found this beetle initially confused it with bird droppings, BBC reports. Thus, a scientist from the University of Queensland, James Tweed, came across an insect less than a centimeter long while hiking in Leamington National Park.
"I saw this white thing on a leaf and walked by, thinking it might be bird droppings. But something in my brain told me to turn around. And there was this rather spectacular beetle – it was sitting right next to my tent," said the entomologist.
The insect's body was black and orange, but it was the white hairs that made it stand out.
"Many of the hairs stuck out almost vertically, which gave them a mohawk appearance," Tweed added.
Identifying the beetle was not easy for the scientist, as he had "never seen anything like it."
It turned out that Tweed had discovered not only a new species of weevil but also a new genus or group of insects.
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 had not found any similar specimens.
He noted that, like punk rockers of the 1970s, this species of beetle is most active at night, so the hairs may be a form of camouflage.
The new beetle species was given the scientific name Excastra albopilosa. "Excastra" means "from the camp" in Latin, and "albopilosa" means "white and hairy".
As TravelWise reported, tourists vacationing in unusual and remote places are advised to be vigilant. After all, there is a risk of bringing bedbugs home from vacation.
