Texas is a haven for bugs. The last few months, you can’t walk outside without swatting away a hundred mosquito hawks, and cicadas are rearing their heads ready to provide the constant hum of a Texas summer’s night.
Now, we have one more creature to worry about: tiger beetles.
Researchers at Rice University discovered a new species of tiger beetle, properly named the Eunota houstoniana, hiding among the Eunota circumpicta population. Eunota circumpicta is a more common type of beetle.
Apparently, the Eunota houstoniana (named after Houston) is smaller and it has more subdued metallic coloring. According to NewsRadio 1080 KRLD, the bug also has unique behavior and habitat preferences than the Eunota circumpicta, choosing to live near salt domes and oil extraction sites.
Though it was just recently discovered, the researchers believe the species could also already be threatened.
Rice University evolutionary biologist Scott Egan said, “Because of all the growth around Houston, some of these populations have likely gone extinct while others have been hiding right out our back door.”
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