JUNE 10,
2019
A team of
zoologists from the University Otago has discovered a new species of insect—the
Maungatua stonefly—from the slopes of the Maungatua Range, on the doorstep of
Dunedin.
The unique
stonefly, just under 2cm in length, has so far been found living in only a few
hundred metres of subalpine stream habitat, just below the summit of Maungatua,
overlooking Dunedin Airport.
The team
used DNA evidence to show that the species has
likely been isolated in the region for around 2 million years.
"It's
remarkable to find such a distinctive, relict species so close to home,"
says Zoology Ph.D. student Brodie Foster, an entomologist who led the
description of the new
species.
Stoneflies
have life cycles similar
to those of mayflies, where nymphs spend their early lives under stones in the rapids
of fast-flowing streams. As their name implies, most stoneflies can fly,
developing large wings once they emerge from streams as adults.
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