A team of entomologists and naturalists from Northern Ireland and Germany have described a new species of beetle, previously unknown to science. The colourful insect, nicknamed the “Fence-climber Twiglet Weevil” due to its prevalence on wooden fences, was discovered in County Down by Buglife Conservation Officer Joshua Clarke, during a night-time survey in September 2022.

After the initial discovery and additional finds, Joshua partnered with Stewart Rosell, a PhD student based at Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, to intensively search other sites with similar habitats; their efforts uncovered numerous specimens of the mysterious weevil. It was then discovered leading Irish entomologist, Dr. Roy Anderson, had independently collected specimens as early as 2011 that remained undetermined, which were later confirmed to be the same species.

To formally evaluate and describe the new species, the Northern Irish team collaborated with Dr. Peter Stüben, a leading weevil researcher at the Curculio Institute in Germany. Dr Stüben described the weevil’s morphology and provided its DNA barcode, available in the journal Weevil News.