The discovery was made by a team of “citizen scientists” who visited the 438sq km conservation area, which is about twice the size of Penang island, as part of the inaugural Taxon Expedition recently. Three of the newly discovered insects, all tiny beetles living in rainforest leaf litter, were published in the Biodiversity Data Journal on Thursday. Members of the inaugural expedition used the “Winkler extraction method” in which dead leaves collected from the rainforest floor are sifted, revealing tiny soil-dwelling insects. Joint expedition leader Prof Menno Schilthuizen recognised three of the insects as new species. Under his guidance, the participants studied, photographed and drew the specimens in the expedition’s field laboratory, extracted the insects’ DNA and prepared a draft for publication.

Source: The Star December 07, 2017 21:00 UTC