Two New Species of Creeping Water Bugs Discovered
Posted on April 28, 2015
Scientists have discovered two new species of creeping water bugs. Ambrysus cayo (pictured above) was discovered in streams in western Belize. Procryphocricos pilcopata (pictured below) was found in streams in southeastern Peru. The insects are sometimes called saucer bugs because of their flat round shape. The Ambrysus cayo water bug looks quite camouflaged.
The insects were discovered by Dr. Robert W. Sites of the University of Missouri's Enns Entomology Museum, Dr. William Shepard of the University of California-Berkeley's Essig Museum of Entomology, and Dr. Shepard's wife, Cheryl Barr. The scientists turn over rocks and leaves in the water and have a net ready to capture the insects.
Dr. Shepard says in a statement, "We know how to collect in areas where fauna was never checked before for aquatic insects. Dr. Sites and I have long experience netting and turning over rocks and leaves."
The scientists are concerned that not enough is being done to record all the insects in time before the Amazon forests are destroyed. Shepard says, "Habitat is being destroyed by mining and clear-cutting. We have to try and get as many insects as possible so we can at least save records that these things existed. Insects get studied last, since they're less charismatic."
A research paper on the newly discovered water bugs was published here in the journal, Annals of the Entomological Society of America.