MEXICO: A UC Riverside undergraduate student has discovered a new species of firefly in an area of Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles County.
Joshua Oliva was collecting insects for a semester project. He thought one of his specimens was a firefly but showed it to Doug Yanega, head of the entomology museum on campus.
“He ID’d it on the spot,” Oliva said.
Yanega told Oliva that it was a new species of firefly. That assessment was confirmed by experts at the University of Florida.
Identifying new species of insects at UCR is not unusual, Yanega said. He estimated that it happens about once a week and that many of the species are from the Inland Empire.
He identified a new beetle that came from Lytle Creek a few weeks ago.“I’ve been told by other people a number of times, ‘Hey, you discovered a new species,’ ” Yanega said.
“This was the first time I’ve given the news to someone else who’s discovered one. It was very gratifying.”
Sometimes, new insects in the museum’s collection of about 4 million specimens won’t be identified as new species for 10 to 15 years, Yanega said.
What was unusual in this case was that the firefly was instantly recognizable as unique.
Oliva was required to capture 300 insects for his entomology class. Each one had to be mounted and identified, including the firefly.
