Recently this past month, further exploring in China has yielded another discovery of new beetle species. In my previous blog post, I mentioned how four new species of rove beetles were discovered in the Ningxia Autonomous Region, in China, but this new species of longhorn beetle was found in the Yunnan Province of China. It is quite interesting to note how rare these kinds of beetles are that have been getting discovered in countries such as China, and the potential to research them could significantly increase our knowledge of how these insects are able to thrive in the environments that they are located in. The diversity of this species is astounding, with over 20,000 in the longhorn family of beetles. It is also very bizarre to note how these beetles have antennae that are normally longer than their entire body!
These longhorn beetles are also known to be significant pests to the ecosystem, because as larvae they can commit huge amounts of damage to trees and other wood sources. Longhorn beetles can be found in habitats where leaf litter is present, so where there are forests, these beetles will be there. I did some further research on longhorn beetles and it looks like they are notorious for the damage they can do to living trees. The finding of these new species can help researchers look deeper into why these beetles devour bark from trees and with more discoveries could potentially give us an answer as to how we can prevent these creatures from destruction. Most beetles benefit the environment and are harmless to humans, but pests such as these can impact us negatively if we do not properly manage them.
I personally love beetles very much, and I think it is worth investing time into seeing how each and every species of beetle shapes our world, because they are the most abundant of all living things as far as number of species. That is remarkable to think that there are over 300,000 different species of beetles, and to know that there are thousands more yet to be discovered. With the diversity and variety of behaviors and abilities, beetles can help us in so many different ways from modeling new technologies, to discovering new medicines contained within the mechanisms inside beetles. The possibilities are endless, since beetles account for about 22% of all living things on earth!
NOS Themes:
1.) Science is collaborative- It took a group of people to confirm and verify these beetles as new discoveries, and a team of researchers to document them.
2.) Person's view and experience can influence data- the finding of these new species gives scientists more data and information to further classify and fill in the missing pieces of this family of beetles.
3.) Role of motivation and curiosity-It took a group of people who wanted to find something new, and they ended up finding some of the most bizarre beetles in the world!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130314111847.htm
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2697&q=421754&deepNav_GID=1631
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/VIIB1bBeetles.shtml
When I looked at the link provided to http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/VIIB1bBeetles.shtml
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to find that beetles make up 22% of all species. That is a very astonishing number and kind of scary to think about as well.
Another NOS theme could be that science is tentative. Scientists are still making new dsicoveries that change what we know even after years of studying.
I was in disbelief when you said beetles can do a lot for us, but to my amazement they can help crops grow by help recycle nutrients in soil.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dungbeetlesforafrica.org/benefits.html
I learned a lot of new things from this article. I was surprised to see that there are 300,000 species of beetles in existence, and 20,000 in the longhorn family alone. I did some more research and discovered an article that does some help to explain the abundance and diversity of beetles. http://www.arn.org/blogs/index.php/literature/2008/01/07/how_beetles_have_multiplied_to_fill_the
ReplyDelete