LONDON: Researchers from the National History Museum (NHM) of L.A., who are working for the BioSCAN project, have discovered 30 new species of insects, all belonging to a single genus called Megaselia. The finding has baffled the scientists as so many new species have been found at once and at one place, that too in an urban location like Los Angeles. Dr. Brian Brown, the curator of Entomology at NHM and also the principal investigator of BioSCAN said “I always thought we had the potential to discover new species wherever we sample – urban, tropical, anywhere. But 30 new species from a heavily urbanized area is really astounding.”
In the biodiversity survey, numerous insect traps were set up in various locations of L.A. Once a week the traps were examined and the trapped insects were collected for observation at the museum. Dr. Brain Brown and Emily Hartop, scientists of the BioSCAN project, revealed that they were mainly focusing on identifying phorids, a group of flies having small size and great diversity. Researchers also compared the collected samples with the details of every phorids known to man and recorded. During the study, the scientists identified 30 new species. The new species will be named in the honor of people who helped the researchers with the project at their sites.
