“We think that’s more of a physical defence, you know, makes them harder to eat, sharp and unpleasant to handle and all that kind of stuff.”
Only the males of this species had the tusks, he said, and it was as yet unconfirmed what they were for, but he had a pretty good idea.
Dr Nik Tatarnic, Doc Reynolds and Dr Gerry Cassis examine their discovery. Credit: University of New South Wales and Western Australian Museum
Generally speaking, male and female stink bugs looked the same, and their sexual selection was usually done through some sort of chemical communication.
“But in this case, we have males that have these really long tusks sticking out the front that aren’t present in the females. So when you see something like that, it really suggests that there’s something interesting going on in their mating behaviour.
“They could be for courtship, or they could be used to lever other males off the plant as they compete for females.
“If you think of animals like deer, or basically any antlered animals or animals that have tusks or horns, usually that means that the males fight. So we suspect that these guys, the males, probably joust with each other.
“That’s just speculation, but now that we know where they live, we can actually go and look for these things in the following spring and see what they’re actually doing.
“Maybe the male with the biggest tusks gets the girl.”
Although the scientists had found eight new bug species on this trip, Tatarnic said this was the most interesting of all.
Co-discoverer Dr Cassis said this find highlighted how little was known of insects in Australia – only an estimated 30 per cent of species were known – and its restriction to the Esperance region also demonstrated the hyper-diversity of insects in Western Australia.
The Kepa Kurl-Tjaltjraak Boodja (Esperance) WA Bush Blitz, essentially a species discovery program, is their 48th expedition and involved Parks Australia staff and 15 scientists, including botanists from WA Herbarium, zoologists from the Western Australian Museum, Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery, Griffith University, University of New South Wales and the Australian Museum.
The little bug has major charisma.Credit: University of New South Wales and Western Australian Museum
Five science teachers tagged along, each selected as part of the Bush Blitz TeachLive program. They were able to show their students how scientific discoveries were made in real time via weblink.
“This Bush Blitz has been a fantastic opportunity for Western science to work alongside cultural science for a common goal,” said Doc Reynolds, the team’s senior cultural advisor, from the Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation.
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“It’s been wonderful to share each other’s knowledge for the preservation and protection of the biodiversity of the region.”
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