Smithsonian entomologists name a new genus and family of beetles from Venezuela
By John Barrat
Smithsonian Office of Public Affairs
A tiny aquatic beetle found living among decaying leaves in a Venezuelan mountain stream by Smithsonian scientists represents not only a new species but also an entirely new taxonomic genus and family of beetles. So tiny that it can only be studied under a scanning electron microscope, the newly named Meru phyllisae, or comb-clawed cascade beetle, is the smallest member of a suborder that includes ground beetles, tiger beetles, whirligig beetles, crawling water beetles and burrowing water beetles.
Meru phyllisae was officially named in July 2005 by Paul Spangler and Warren Steiner of the Entomology Department at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Their article describing the beetle appeared in the journal Systematic Entomology, published by the Royal Entomological Society of Great Britain.
The beetle was first collected in 1985. Despite repeated collecting attempts, the scientists were unable to find any eggs, larvae or pupae of this new insect that would have aided in its scientific description. Although M. phyllisae shares a number of characteristics with beetles of other families, it is distinct enough to be declared a member of a previously unknown family.
"The discovery of M. phyllisae has caused quite a stir in the community of scientists who study water beetles," Steiner says. In the last 50 years, only about five new beetle families have been described from newly discovered species.
The new family name, Meruidae, comes from "meru," which means "waterfall" in the language of the Pemon people of Venezuela. Meru phyllisae was discovered in a cascading waterfall at a natural "water slide," El Tobogán, in the Amazonas region of Venezuela.
"With insects, the age of discovery is far from over," Steiner continues. "We are still finding higher-level taxonomic categories of insects. These forms of life are not related to groups that we already know about, yet they can help us understand the relationships among known groups."
Meru phyllisae was given the common name "comb-clawed cascade beetle" for its unusual claws. "Most terrestrial beetles have a pair of claws on the tips of their feet that they use as tiny grappling hooks," Steiner says. "It is surprising, however, to see comb-claws on a water beetle."
This article originally appeared in Inside Smithsonian Research, Summer 2005.
