PUBLICATION ALERT
06 Nov 2023 | AdMU Department of Biology
The first new species of Leptimis Sharp, 1888 (Coleoptera, Elmidae) from the Philippines in the last 50 years
The recent paper by the #SalaguGang of the Ateneo Biodiversity Research Laboratory details the discovery of the first Leptelmis beetle species from the Philippines in half a century. As part of their undergraduate thesis, Gavin De Vera and Isaac Sia (BS Bio 2023), under the supervision of Dr. Emmanuel Delocado and Prof. Hendrik Freitag, discovered the species Leptelmis kodadai, which was named after Dr. Ján Kodada, a renowned entomologist who has extensive work on beetle family Elmidae. The study employed integrative taxonomy, which combined morphological examination and DNA barcoding to support the erection of L. kodadai. Thus, the paper generated the first barcodes of Philippine Leptelmis and provided an updated checklist for Southeast Asian species.
The study was funded by the AdMU University Research Council, the SC Johnson Student Research and Development Fund for Environmental Leadership, and SOSE Industry 4.0 Research Fund.