Four New Species of Water-Gliding Rove Beetles Found in China
Posted on February 25, 2013
Four new species of water-gliding rove beetles have been discovered in the Ningxia Autonomous Region, China. The rove beetles produce special gland secretions that reduce surface tension, enabling them to glide on the surface of the water. The beetles are from the Steninae subfamily of rove beetles. The beetles were discovered during an exploration of the insect fauna of the Liupan Shan Natural Reserve. One of the discovered beetles, Dianous ningxiaensis, is pictured above.
The researchers say the Steninae beetles prey on small insects, called collembola, which can be found in leaf litter. They have an unusual hunting technique, which involves ejecting some of their mouth parts using blood pressure. The labium (mouth parts) of the beetle have a pair of pads at the end of them that contain bristly hairs and hooks. The pads also emit a glue-like substance that sticks fast to prey and prevents them from escaping.
Dr. Liang Tang from the Department of Biology, Shanghai Normal University, said in a statement, "As far as the Steninae are concerned, Ningxia Autonomous Region is one of the most poorly explored regions, with merely two species being recorded until 2008. In the summer of 2008, a team surveyed the insect fauna of the Liupan Shan in southern Ningxia and collected a large number of Steninae. In this paper, we report the results of the study, which includes two new Stenus and two new Dianous species, and new province records for eleven Stenus species."
The study was published in the journal Zookeys.