Shiny purple creature with ‘remarkably big body’ found at palace. It’s a new species

Aspen Pflughoeft

A shiny purple creature crawled around the inside of a tree near a palace in Bhutan. Perhaps the “stout” insect’s tree-dwelling lifestyle helped it go unnoticed. Or maybe the nearby palace simply distracted most people.

Not so much for a group of visiting scientists. They spotted the colorful animal — and discovered a new species.

Researchers visited the Lingkana palace in Punakha in 2018 looking for insects, according to a study published March 18 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.

During their visit, researchers found dozens of shiny purple beetles living in the tree bark, the study said. They took a closer look at the insects and realized they’d discovered a new species: Phloeosinus corneyanus, or the Corneyanus bark beetle.

Corneyanus bark beetles have a “stout” and “remarkably big body,” reaching about 0.2 inches in length, researchers said. They have “relatively large” eyes, antennae with “club”-like ends and dense hair scattered across their bodies.

A Phloeosinus corneyanus, or Corneyanus bark beetle. Photos from Knížek and Tshering (2024) ©Magnolia Press, reproduced with permission from the copyright holder
A Phloeosinus corneyanus, or Corneyanus bark beetle. Photos from Knížek and Tshering (2024) ©Magnolia Press, reproduced with permission from the copyright holder

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Photos show the shiny, almost metallic purple coloring of the new species.

Researchers said they named the new species after its preferred tree: Cupressus corneyana. These cyprus trees are known only from Bhutan.

Corneyanus bark beetles live in the bark of weak or dying trees, researchers said. A photo shows the bark “gallery” where the new species lives.

The bark of a Cupressus corneyana tree where the Corneyanus bark beetle lives. Photo from Knížek and Tshering (2024) ©Magnolia Press, reproduced with permission from the copyright holder
The bark of a Cupressus corneyana tree where the Corneyanus bark beetle lives. Photo from Knížek and Tshering (2024) ©Magnolia Press, reproduced with permission from the copyright holder

So far, the new species has only been found in Bhutan. Bhutan is a landlocked country in the Himalayan mountains bordering China and India.

The new species was identified by its teeth, body shape and other subtle physical features, the study said. Researchers did not provide a DNA analysis of the new species.

The research team included Miloš Knížek and Kaka Tshering.

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