New species of beetles-pilosov was named in honor of Yegor Letov
New species of beetles from the family pilosov, discovered in Northern Vietnam by Russian entomologists, was named in honor of the leader of group “Civil defence” Egor Letov. Article about the new species published in the journal Zootaxa.
Upstairs
Pelosi (Heteroceridae), aquatic insects of the order Coleoptera, inhabit all the earth except Antarctica. All entomologists know five genera and about 370 species of these insects, most species live in the tropics.
News
“Letov alive, Lenin is alive, and Lennon is alive.”
As a rule, the beetles settle on the shores of freshwater or brackish lakes, streams and rivers, digging tunnels in wet sand or soil. As Pelosi lead a similar lifestyle, they are also very similar: they have a flattened body, painted in black or brown, often with yellow or orange pattern. Therefore, when defining a new species entomologists pay attention not only on the external morphology of these insects, but also on the structure of genitalia in males.
Russian entomologist Alex Sazhnev from the Institute of biology of inland waters imeni Papanina have described a new species pilosov, which found in 1976 in Vietnam. Bugs have a length of 3.2−3.3 mm light brown color with light yellow spots on the back. Externally, males and females are very similar to each other.
Sazhnev identified them as belonging to the new species by the shape of male genitals and the patterns on the elytra. A scientist named bug Augyles letovi in honor of the Russian poet and musician Yegor Letov, the founder and leader of the group “Civil defense”.
Scientists often name new species after famous people. Sometimes in honor of real people, as in the case of parasitic flatworms, named in honor of Barack Obama. Often species are named after music artists such as Pink Floyd, eniya or johnny cash. And sometimes they are named after sci-Fi characters.
Sergey Kuznetsov, Ekaterina Rusakova