ScienceDaily reports that Fang-Shuo Hu and Alexey Solodovnikov established a new beetle genus, Luffy, and described two species in it: Luffy schillhammeri and Luffy nika. The work, published in ZooKeys, adds a new branch to beetle taxonomy and places the insects within the subtribe Staphylinina.
Luffy and ZooKeys
The genus name comes from One Piece, chosen because the beetles’ stretched proportions resemble the character Luffy’s abilities. Members of Luffy have exceptionally long and slender mandibles, antennae and maxillary palps, which set them apart from related groups the researchers reviewed in the Ocypus-group.
Hu, a PhD student, and Solodovnikov, at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, carried out a broad review of every known genus in the Ocypus-group. They also examined Acupronotes, Apostenolinus and Staphylinus, a comparison that helped them sort the new genus into the wider beetle family tree.
Yunnan Province and Laos
One of the two named species, Luffy schillhammeri, was discovered in broadleaf forests in Yunnan Province, China. The species honors Dr. Harald Schillhammer of the Natural History Museum Vienna for his extensive and outstanding contributions to rove beetle research.
Luffy nika was found in Louang Namtha in northern Laos. Its name refers to the Devil Fruit awakening Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Nika, and the species shows prominent white bands of hair on its elytra and across much of its body.
Eucibdelus lineage
The researchers found shared derived characteristics that define the Eucibdelus lineage, including dorsal ridge teeth found in Luffy beetles. But the genus does not have a completely sclerotized labrum, which complicates its placement and led the team to treat Luffy as probably the sister group of the entire Eucibdelus lineage.
That leaves taxonomists with a clearer framework for comparing three groups inside the Ocypus-group, while also leaving one pointed question at the center of the classification: which anatomical comparison most decisively supports Luffy as the sister group of the Eucibdelus lineage?
