Experts buy insect from collector — and accidentally find species not seen in 150 years

In 2022, a group of researchers purchased a collection of insects from a local Brazil collector.

After examining the approximately 10 creatures, they noticed a unique cricket — and realized it was a “fascinating species” not seen in more than 150 years.

The South American bush-cricket was last seen in 1862, when it was described by naturalist Henry Walter Bates, Klaus-Gerard Heller and Matthias Helb said in their study published March 14 in the journal Zootaxa. Following their “accidental finding,” Heller and Helb began researching the seemingly elusive species.

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Their research revealed that the species and its genus actually have a “complicated taxonomic history” because of errors made by researchers in documenting the creatures. These errors created serious confusion about the species’ name and how many specimens were found.

By discerning these issues, Heller and Helb were able to determine the species’ identification as Chlorocoelus hypericifolius — and they found more specimens of the species in museum storage. The last documented sighting and description remained 1862 despite these findings.

The crickets are distinguished by their “unusual song.” In one of his descriptions of the creatures, Bates said the species had “the loudest and most extraordinary” song he’d ever heard from an orthopterous insect — which include insects such as crickets, locusts and grasshoppers.

The recently discovered specimen was collected in 2010 in northwestern Brazil by a local collector, according to Heller and Helb. Its body measured about 0.3 inches.

Further research uncovered online videos, photos and other documentation of Chlorocoelus hypericifolius. One of these findings included a 2015 video of the creature’s song in French Guiana.

“Our accidental finding and the research thereafter showed that the (species) was never as extremely rare as described,” Heller and Helb said in their study. “ ... Indeed a large gap appeared until it was found again, first in 2015 based on eco-tourism, then by a commercial collector and by iNaturalist.”

The species is particularly important because Charles Darwin used it as an example of male sexual characters in his 1871 book “The descent of man and selection in relation to sex.”

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