Insects - Artensterben

Mono-Lake-Tauchkaefer / Mono Lake diving beetle (Hygrotus artus)

Until its rediscovery in 2017, the Mono Lake diving beetle was known only from the male holotype collected in June 1917 (photo), which is now housed in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (© Loggi at German Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

13. April 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Mono Lake diving beetle: missing for 100 years—and sought in the wrong place

A mistake with consequences For a long time, the case seemed clear: the Mono Lake diving beetle lived—so it was assumed—in Mono Lake in California’s Sierra Nevada. A lake that could hardly be more inhospitable: highly alkaline, extremely saline, and with conditions to which only a few specialized organisms can

Only three specimens of Morant's blue have survived — all of them males.

21. March 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Morant’s blue – What the females looked like remains uncertain

Three male specimens remain Walter Morant, probably a dedicated collector and observer of nature in what was then the British colony of Natal in southern Africa, was among the early members of the Natural History Association of Natal, founded in 1868. There he gave lectures and exhibited insects—with a particular

Tobias caddisfly – museum specimen from the Entomological Collection of ETH Zurich

A museum specimen of the extinct Tobias caddisfly, collected in 1914, in ETH Zurich’s entomological collection. (© Hydropsyche tobiasi – Foto von E. Schmitt, Entomologische Sammlung ETH Zürich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via GBIF)

23. January 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Tobias’ caddisfly: Germany’s only endemic species to have gone extinct

Inconspicuous, highly specialised insects Caddisflies are among those insects that hardly anyone notices. They are inconspicuous, quiet and do not impose themselves on people. In 2002, the Austrian entomologist Hans Malicky described them aptly as animals that “cause neither harm nor any particular benefit”, that “do not sting and do

Riesen-Heidelibelle / St.-Helena-Heidelibelle (Sympetrum dilatatum)

One of the few museum specimens of the extinct Saint Helena darter in the Natural History Museum in London—an adult male. (© BMNH(E)1241597 Sympetrum dilatatum dorsal - Sympetrum dilatatum (Calvert, 1892) by The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, CC BY 4.0, via GBIF)

20. January 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Saint Helena Darter—the only dragonfly of St Helena

A hotspot of insect endemism Many people know the remote island of St Helena primarily from history: as Napoleon’s place of exile, where he was interned in 1815 and died in 1821. Beyond this prominent episode, however, the small volcanic island in the South Atlantic—around 1,800 kilometers west of the

Female morphotype specimen of Franklin's bumblebee: collected on May 20, 1972 west of Oregon City. The specimen is preserved in the entomology collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (© USNMENT01006817 - Bombus franklini (Frison, 1921) Collected in United States of America, CC0 1.0, via GBIF)

24. October 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

Franklin’s Bumblebee—the first extinct bumblebee in North America?

Franklin’s bumblebee had the unfortunate distinction of having the smallest range of all bumblebee species in North America—and probably even worldwide. It occurred only in a narrow strip between the Pacific coast and the mountain ranges of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range to the east, in southern Oregon

Rocky-Mountain-Heuschrecke oder Felsengebirgsschrecke

Illustration from 1902. Rocky Mountain locusts belong to the suborder of short-horned grasshoppers (Caelifera). (© Julius Bien (1826-1909) biography, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

20. September 2024 Doreen Fräßdorf

Rocky Mountain Locust

Record: A swarm of 12.5 trillion locusts The correct biological term for animals that form large groups is “swarm,” but when it comes to large assemblies of migratory locusts, the term “plague” is used because they not only migrate but also devastate entire regions. Migratory locusts differ from ordinary grasshoppers

Mecodema oconnori, verwandter des stephens-island-laufkäfer

Images of the Stephens Island Weevil are rare; the picture shows the ground beetle Mecodema oconnori, which belongs to the same genus. (© S.E. Thorpe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

9. September 2024 Doreen Fräßdorf

Stephens Island Weevil

From isolated paradise to endangered habitat Stephens Island, a small rocky island in the Cook Strait, is renowned for its unique wildlife. Despite covering only 1.5 square kilometers, the island boasts a remarkable ecosystem that was once home to numerous endemic species, including many land and seabirds. Among its notable

For a beetle from the rove beetle family (Staphylinidae), Darwin's rove beetle is large at around two centimeters in body length. Its head and pronotum shine metallic blue-green. The wing covers, mouthparts, legs and abdomen of Darwin's rove beetle are brown. (© Natural History Museum: Coleoptera Section from South Kensingon, London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

19. November 2022 Doreen Fräßdorf

Darwin’s Rove Beetle

A chance find gave it its own name On August 24, 1832, the HMS Beagle anchored in Bahía Blanca Province in eastern Argentina. On board the ship: the then 23-year-old British naturalist Charles Darwin. During the voyage he collected rock samples, plants, marine animals and a great many beetles. He

The back of the scarab beetle E. giganteus was completely black, red-brown at the sides, with yellow hairs and brownish mouthparts, feet and antennae. (© Rossini M, Vaz-de-Mello FZ, Montreuil O, Porch N, Tarasov S (2021) <a href="https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1061.70130" target="blank"Extinct before discovered? Epactoides giganteus sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae), the first native dung beetle to Réunion island. ZooKeys 1061: 75-86.)

1. July 2022 Doreen Fräßdorf

Epactoides giganteus (scarab beetle)

First extinct, then discovered: the scarab beetle Epactoides giganteus In 1817, the French botanist Nicolas Bréon found himself on Réunion, part of the Mascarene island group, which he would not leave again until 1833 due to health problems. During his time there he was director of the botanical garden Jardin

The only known specimen of Ridley's stick insect is now housed in the Natural History Museum in London. (© Paul Brock's photos, copyright Natural History Museum, London., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

30. May 2022 Doreen Fräßdorf

Ridley’s Stick Insect

About walking leaves and walking sticks Insects that strongly resemble leaves or twigs in appearance are called walking leaves or walking sticks, stick insects, ghost insects or phasmids. Stick insects are considered the longest insects on Earth. The body length of some Southeast Asian species can exceed half a meter