Australia may be home to the world’s fluffiest beetles

An entomologist camping with his partner in Queensland, Australia, has discovered what could be a candidate for Australia’s, and perhaps the world’s, fluffiest beetle.

This discovery was made by James Tweed Held at the University of Queensland at Binna Burra Lodge in Queensland’s Gold Coast hinterland during the 2021 Christmas period.

Tweed, who usually studies insects on Norfolk Island in the South Pacific, was emerging from his tent when he noticed what he thought was droppings on a common flax-like shrub. Romandra. However, upon closer inspection, it turns out that it is actually a spectacular beetle, 10 millimeters long and covered in magnificent red and black hairs, with the fur on the upper half of its body being particularly dense.

He quickly realized that it was a type of longhorn beetle (a family of about 36,000 described species), but no other comparable species was known. It has been designated as a new genus and species. Excustra arbopilosa, This means “white and hairy, from the camp.”

“There are quite a few hairy beetles out there,” Tweed said. “But this one is really unique in the length and pattern of the hairs. It’s not unusual for beetles to be hairy, but it’s unusual for them to be this hairy.”

It’s unclear why the beetle is so hairy, but one possible explanation is that its hair looks like it’s infected with a fungus, making it unpalatable to predators, Tweed said.

The specimen he collected is now kept as a model specimen in the Australian National Insect Collection, and is the only one found despite numerous searches around the campsite since its discovery.

Tweed said this is likely to be a relatively rare species. “But while it may be common, we haven’t found out where it lives yet. As far as we know, it’s on trees that we haven’t surveyed. It may be living in.”