Pune scientist discovers beetle species, helps detect time of death

The beetle has been named Moreshwar as it was found near Moreshwar Temple (or Shri Mayureshwar), located in Morgaon village, Pune district, an Ashtavinayak pilgrimage. The beetles of this group are sometimes called ‘hide beetles’ as they tend to cover their body under the soil and hide. Moreshwar beetles are usually black or grey and encrusted in dirt. Their bumpy appearance is distinct, with short, dense setae all over the body.

The beetle was found in the collections of WRC, according to the authors. The new species belongs to the Trogidae family. There are total 9 species from the subgenus Afromorgus Scholtz, 1986, and with the addition of this new species now the diversity stands at 10 from India. The beetles from the family trogidae are necrophagous and is, therefore, also called keratin beetle. The newly discovered beetle is from the family trogidae. After the death of an organism, during the decomposition of a body, blowflies are amongst the first ones to arrive in the early stages. Meanwhile, the final successional stage is with the arrival of the keratin feeders, thus their importance in forensic science is immense.

“In the same paper we have given an illustrated catalogue of all 22 valid species with their available synonyms of the subgenus Afromorgus known from the Oriental and Palaearctic Regions with some taxonomic changes,” said Dr. Aparna Kalawate of ZSI, Pune. Dr. Aparna informed that the new species is morphologically most similar to Omorgus (Afromorgus) desertorum (Harold, 1872). Omorgus (Afromorgus) desertorum (Harold, 1872), has been redescribed and raised from a subspecies of Omorgus (Afromorgus) niloticus (Harold, 1872) to a species level in the same paper. It has been illustrated also to enable accurate recognition of both species in the same paper.

“The keratin beetles are less studied in the Oriental region generally and India particularly as compared to the other part of the world,” said Dr. Aparna. She is the first Indian scientist who is working on trogidae beetles and has described 2 new species. “Till date, only foreign scientists were describing the Indian trogidae fauna. These tiny creatures are helping mankind in cleaning the ecosystem by devouring and feasting on the carcass of the dead organism. My aim is to document more species from this less studied group from India as our country is biodiversity rich and many more species are yet to be uncovered/described,” said Dr. Aparna.