The beetle family Ptiliidae is a marvel of evolutionary miniaturization. Adults are less than 2 mm long and distinguished by the reduced hind wings, a narrow blade fringed with long hairs. These unusual hind wings are still capable of directed flight, like their larger beetle relatives, but detailed morphological study may reveal many other details of miniaturization. The combination of few world experts and their small size means they are easily overlooked. Nevertheless, everything we know so far suggests they have really cool biology to go with their cool morphology. Some live with ants and termites, others with mammals, many are from rotted seaweed or leaves. There are about 600 species known in the world, but my findings in Peru strongly suggests there may be many, many more species awaiting discovery. Our initial review (Darby & Chaboo 2015) reported 2 species in two genera for Peru. Now we are up to 10 species in four genera, Acrotrichis, Discheramocephalus, Limulopteryx, and Phytotelmatrichis. My students and I founds individuals abundant in the watery film between leaf layers of Zingiberales plants; others we caught in Flight Interception traps. Turning upside down my initial notion about relative diversity of the 100 beetle families in Peru in fun! Creating wonderful new names for these new species is a pleasure. We named one species after that famous Peruvian immigrant, Paddington Bear, to raise awareness of the vulnerable status of the Andean Spectacled Bear and its forest companions like these tiny beetles. Darby now names a Malala beetle after the Nobel Laureate, Malala Yousafzai, as young as the students collecting the animals with me and all of them inspiring to me. Perhaps these tiny beetles can strengthen conservation and healthy management of their habitats.
Further reading:
Darby M., & C.S. Chaboo. 2015. Phytotelmatrichis, a new genus of Acrotrichinae (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) associated with the phytotelmata of Zingiberales plants in Peru. ZooKeys 4052(1): 096–106.
Darby, M, & C.S. Chaboo. 2015. Beetles (Coleoptera) of Peru: A survey of the Families. Ptiliidae Heer. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 88(02): 182–183.
Darby, M. 2016. Studies of Peruvian Ptiliidae (Coleoptera) 3: the genus Discheramocephalus
Learn more about author Michael Bond: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/paddington-bear-creator-michael-bond-i-could-have-pasted-my-room/