Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A newly-discovered weevil named after a Swiss human rights activist who disappeared in 2000 has been found to have the ability to cross large distances to look for new habitats.
Entomologists from the Museum of Natural History Basel in Switzerland have studied the previously unknown origin of a small beetle (coleoptera) named Seticotasteromimus brunomanseri.
According to the museum, the small beetle has the ability to cover huge distances and it is believed to have travelled almost 1,700 miles from the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal to Borneo.
Seticotasteromimus brunomanseri was found, along with many other insects, by a German research team in the lowland rainforests of Borneo, a biome that supports over 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species, and several mammal species.
Additionally, the team of researchers managed to identify only 20 percent of the species after collecting them from various tree canopies over two decades.
Entomologist Christoph Germann, who identified the weevil’s origin, was astonished by its ability to cross such large geographical distances.
The 2.5-millimetre beetle was named after the famous environmental and human rights activist Bruno Manser who disappeared 16 years ago in May 2000 during his last journey to the Malaysian state of Sarawak and is presumed dead.
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