A new species of beetle has been named in New Guinea, and it’s out of this world. Possibly even a force to be reckoned with.
In the scientific journal ZooKeys, a team of entomologists, Matthew Van Dam, Alexander Riedel, and Raymond Laufa, describe four newly identified beetles from “the hyperdiverse genus Trigonopterus” found on the Bismarck Archipelago.
Three of these new beetles have traditional sciencey-sounding names, though the last one has a hint of mirth buried deep: T. Obsidianus, T. Puncticollis, and T. Silaliensis.
And then there’s T. Chewbacca.
The description by Van Dam and Riedel is highly technical but gives one hint why they called it that. The bug’s long “legs and antenna,” the scientists say, are “ferruginous.”
Technically that means “rust-colored” or “reddish-brown” but it also brings to mind fur, specifically the coat of fur sported by the famous alien Wookiee Chewbacca, co-pilot of Han Solo in the Star Wars movies.
As Live Science reports, “Though the insect is significantly smaller and much less hairy than everyone’s favorite ‘walking carpet,’ dense scales on the weevil’s legs and head reminded the scientists of Chewbacca’s fur, prompting their name choice.”
