‘Metallic’ creature — with ‘panther-like’ wing pattern — is new species from Morocco

Moira Ritter
·2 min read
2

While trekking through an open grassland atop a mountain range in Morocco, researchers spotted a small, shiny creature scurrying through the soil. They collected the creature, and after analysis they realized they had found a new “overlooked” species.

Scientists were exploring the Atlas Mountains in northern Africa, searching for blister beetles, according to a study published Jan. 4 in the European Journal of Taxonomy. That’s where they found a new species: Lampromeloe pantherinus, or the panther-like blister beetle.

The species was originally thought to be another similar species of blister beetle, researchers said. It was determined as a new species through DNA testing and its physical appearance, including male genitalia, its wings and its pronotum, which is the plate-like structure covering its upper body.

The creatures are “mostly metallic green,” researchers said.
The creatures are “mostly metallic green,” researchers said.

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Experts examined eight specimens collected from Morocco and Algeria, they said.

The beetles have uniquely structured elytral, which are its front wings, the study said. Researchers described the pattern of “wide and glossy” patches on the creature’s elytral as “somewhat reminiscent of the fur pattern of a leopard.” The bugs lack functional flying wings.

Scientists said the creatures front wings are “somewhat reminiscent of the fur pattern of a leopard.”
Scientists said the creatures front wings are “somewhat reminiscent of the fur pattern of a leopard.”

Scientists said the insects are “robust,” with specimens’ bodies measuring between about 0.5 inches and 0.7 inches, and elytra measuring between about 0.2 inches and 0.4 inches. Their “relatively short” antennae measure about 0.3 inches.

Their heads are “trapezoidal,” and they have “smooth” and “curved” claws, according to researchers. Their eyes are “relatively small” and “kidney shaped.”

The “robust” beetles range in size, according to experts.
The “robust” beetles range in size, according to experts.

The new species’ body is “mostly metallic green” with some “shiny” spots ranging from “purplish” to “dark green and bluish,” experts said. Their head and pronotum are “dark purple” and green at the center, and their elytra are “very dark purple” with a “blackish” and “dark green” pattern.

Researchers said the new species is known from the Atlas Mountains and the “adjacent areas.” Specimens have been found in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Spain, but further exploration is necessary to establish a more concrete range.

The beetles inhabit “open” habitats, such as grasslands, fields and forest edges, and they typically live in medium- to high-altitude areas, experts said.

The new species was named pantherinus, meaning “panther-like,” because of it’s wing pattern, according to scientists. The name also serves to memorialize the last known wild Barbary lion which was shot in 1942 at Tizi n’Tchika, a mountain pass in Morocco where the beetles live.

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