Saprosites raoulensis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Saprosites raoulensis |
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| Saprosites raoulensis (Broun, 1910) holotype specimen held at Auckland Museum licensed under CC BY 4.0. | |
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Aphodiinae
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Eupariini
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Saprosites
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S. raoulensis
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| Saprosites raoulensis (Broun, 1910)
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The Saprosites raoulensis is a special kind of dung beetle. It lives only on the Kermadec Islands in New Zealand. When an animal or plant lives only in one place, it is called endemic.
Scientists first found this beetle during a trip to the Kermadec Islands in 1908. A person named W. L. Wallace discovered it. He found the beetle hiding under old, rotten logs on Raoul Island. The very first beetle specimen collected, called a holotype, helps scientists study the species.
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Discovering the Saprosites raoulensis Beetle
A New Zealand insect expert, Thomas Broun, was the first to describe this beetle in 1910. He named it Aphodius raoulensis. He got the beetle specimen from W. L. Wallace, who collected it.
This original beetle specimen is now kept at the Auckland Museum. Later, in 1959, another scientist named Aola M. Richards moved the beetle to a different group, or genus, called Saprosites. She also wrote a new description of the beetle because Broun's first description had some differences from the actual specimen.
What Does the Name Saprosites raoulensis Mean?
The second part of the beetle's scientific name, raoulensis, comes from the island where it was found. Raoul Island is its home! The ending -ensis is a Latin word part. It means "originated in" or "from that place." So, raoulensis means "from Raoul Island."
What Does This Beetle Look Like?
The Saprosites raoulensis beetle is about 5.5 millimeters long. That's about the size of a small pea! It is also about 2.5 millimeters wide.
This beetle is mostly shiny black. The front part of its body, called the prothorax, has a dull brick-red color. Its legs are a reddish-brown color.
Where Does This Beetle Live?
This beetle seems to be quite rare. So far, scientists have only found specimens of Saprosites raoulensis on Raoul Island. This means it is very special to that one island.
Threats to the Saprosites raoulensis Beetle
When the first beetle specimen was collected, there were many rats on Raoul Island. Thomas Broun, the scientist, thought that these rats might be a problem for the beetle. He believed that a lot of rats could hurt the populations of different beetles living on the island.
