Scientists unveil unique ‘fluffy’ new discovery made in Gold Coast hinterland
A man camping first thought he was looking at bird poop – but it turned out to be a world-first discovery.
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A completely new species of beetle has been discovered by accident in the Gold Coast hinterland.
University of Queensland researcher James Tweed said he stumbled across the fluffy critter while camping in the rainforests of Binna Burra.
“I was walking through the campsite at Binna Burra Lodge one morning and something on a Lomandra leaf caught my eye,” Mr Tweed said.
“And initially I thought it was bird droppings but a little voice in the back of my mind said maybe I should take another look. And to my amazement, I saw the most extraordinary and fluffiest longhorn beetle I had ever seen.”
“Not exactly what I was expecting to see on my morning walk to brush my teeth.”
The beetle measures 9.7 millimetres with striking red and black colouration – and more uniquely – is covered with long, white, fluffy hairs.
“I’m originally from New Zealand but I also study Australian beetles, so at first I took a couple of photos thinking maybe this is just a really rare beetle I hadn’t come across in my research,” Mr Tweed added.
But it wasn’t until Mr Tweed visited ANIC to compare his discovery to their extensive collection that he realised the beetle wasn’t only a new species – but a completely new genus of Australian longhorn beetle.
“I contacted Adam Slipinski – he literally wrote the book on beetles. He’s written three extensive books on the Australian longhorn beetle so he would have examined thousands of them and even he said he had never come across this species.”
Mr Tweed said following his discover, the team of entomologists decided to name the beetle Excastra for the genus, which is Latin for ‘from the camp’, and species albopilosa which translates to ‘white and hairy’.
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Since his discovery in December 2021, Mr Tweed said he had revisited Binna Burra on multiple occasion in an attempt to find more specimens with no luck.
With his initial discovery the only specimen so far, research into the beetle has been slow-going.
“The long white hairs are quite unique, we’ve never seen that characteristic in any other Australian longhorn beetle so the question is what is their function?,” Mr Tweed said.
“So far we think it’s there to make the beetle look like it’s been infected with a parasitic fungus to deter predators like birds. But it could also be for temperature regulation, or for camouflage – we just don’t know.”
Mr Tweed said the most “puzzling” aspect of his discovery is how the beetle managed to remain undiscovered for so long.
“Lamington National Park and Binna Burra have been popular with entomologists for more than 100 years so it’s puzzling that it hasn’t been found until now,” he said.
“So who knows what else is out there just waiting to be discovered.”
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Originally published as Scientists unveil unique ‘fluffy’ new discovery made in Gold Coast hinterland
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