New Jewel Beetle Species Expands the Region’s Biodiversity Record

Every newly described species expands our knowledge of a region’s biodiversity and helps us better understand the ecosystems it inhabits. In Central America, where major gaps remain in the insect inventory, discoveries like this are especially valuable.

An international team of researchers, including Dr. Eric van den Berghe, professor in Zamorano’s Department of Environment and Development Engineering, and Demzel Caballero, a student in the same department, described a new species of jewel beetle (family Buprestidae) found in Nicaragua and also observed in Honduras, in the Uyuca area near the university campus. Dr. van den Berghe collected the specimen on which the scientific description was based, published in the German journal Entomologische Zeitschrift.

Although modest in appearance, taxonomic discoveries like this one are the fundamental basis for conservation: we cannot protect what we do not know. Zamorano’s participation in this finding reflects the value of field observation and international collaboration in documenting the region’s biodiversity.