Biology students discover rare beetle in UofL’s own backyard

Stumbling upon a creature not witnessed in almost a century, University of Louisville graduate student Kane Lawhorn, undergraduate students Ignatius Wirasakti and Emma Jones and biology professor Steve Yanoviak rediscovered the beetle Limulodes paradoxus as part of an ecological survey at the UofL-owned Horner Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary.

In a study examining how insects respond to gaps in the forest canopy, Lawhorn collected ant nests and brought them into the lab. He soon noticed tiny specs crawling around on the ants. Once placed under a microscope, he and his colleagues realized they had just rediscovered an extremely rare beetle, one that has not been observed alive since 1933. The beetles are only one millimeter in length. Arizona and the border of Ohio and Kentucky are the only two places these beetles are known to live. Lawhorn and his fellow students now get to be one of the first teams to study this beetle in multitudes while in its natural environment.

These small but mighty beetles appear to have a mutually beneficial relationship with the ants whose nests they also call their home: while the ants provide a virtual “taxi” service letting the beetles ride them for transportation within the nest, the beetles clean the ant brood (the immature larvae and pupae of the ants) of potentially deadly fungi.

From a research perspective, this study perfectly demonstrates the ability to test ecological hypotheses by controlling an ecosystem in a lab. Beyond research, it is a reminder of how much there is still to discover. The most biodiverse animal group in the world, there are around 400,000 currently described beetle species—meaning one in every four described species is a beetle. The patch of land that UofL has preserved reveals the importance of conserving remaining habitats.

“When we preserve and manage forests, species that we don’t even know exist or haven’t seen in a while will inhabit that land, and it’s important to protect them” said Lawhorn.

The team’s findings are published in The Coleopterists Bulletin. “Not many undergraduate students get to author a paper,” Lawhorn remarked, “and without UofL’s programming and funding, this work would not be possible.”