Trigonopterus corona: A beetle species named after coronavirus

Beetle species named after coronavirus. Before that, insects called P. coronavirus, A. quarentnus, S. covida.

Trigonopterus corona (Source: Pensoft Publishers)

On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, museum scientists have discovered 28 new species of beetles. The species, all of which measure 2-3 mm, are described in the journal Zookeys.

One of them has been named Trigonopterus corona. This reflects the large impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on this project, Pensoft Publishers, which brings out the journal, said in a blog spot.

And it is not the only insect species to be named after the pandemic. In April, a new species of caddisfly (a moth-like insect) was collected near a stream in Kosovo by a team of scientists, and named Potamophylax coronavirus (Biodiversity Data Journal).

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The same month, out of six new species of Brazilian wasps described in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research, one was named Allorhagas quarentenus, a reference to the quarantine, which occurred while the authors were describing the species.

Clockwise from top: Stethantyx covida, Allorhogas quarentenus, and Trigonopterus corona. (Source: Pensoft Publishers)

And earlier this month, out of five new wasp species discovered in Mexico, scientists named one Stethantyx covida (Zookeys).

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