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R. Pagojus, who works as a professor of biology in Vilnius, says he found out about unusual “neighbors” in the summer, when the local community started sharing photos of beetles that had never been seen on the Internet. They complained that the pests bit the thorns.
“The online community has started uploading photos of some beetles attacking them. I’m a biology teacher and I suspected that these beetles didn’t eat thuja, so I decided to take an interest in them.
I photographed the beetles and sent them to my fellow entomologists. Finally, the photos were for Kaunas, for the scientist Romas Ferencas. Looking at the photos, the suspicion arose that it is a new species of beetle that has not yet been seen or described in Lithuania, ”recalled R. Pagojus.
I picked them up, froze them, and sent them to Kaunas via colleagues. We got the reply that it is actually a new species that doesn’t even have a Lithuanian name yet.
According to him, the interested scientist then asked to send the beetles themselves so that he could examine them in more detail.
“I collected them, froze them and sent them to Kaunas through colleagues. We got the reply that it really is a new species, that it doesn’t even have a Lithuanian name yet “, 15 minutes said R. Pagojus.
Photo by R.Pagojus / A new species of beetle, the armadillo Otorhynchus, has entered Lithuania
According to the biology professor, the new “inhabitants” had a full yard in the summer; almost all of yours were planted by beetles.
“Initially, we didn’t have them in our own garden, and now he comes out in the evenings. Turns out he’s still alive,” the man added.
Investigated all summer
R. Pagojus emphasized that these beetles are sharp cutters, but in this case their type is not clear: what specific cutter it is.
15 minutes After contacting Romas Ferenca, the curator of the Entomological Collection of the Tadas Ivanauskas Museum of Zoology in Kaunas, he confirmed that he was really interested in the species of beetle that had not been seen in Lithuania so far.
According to him, the research lasted all summer, because it was not possible to learn much just from the photos of unusual beetles; you had to see them yourself.
“It is a species of invasive beetle that has been known for a long time in Europe. Recently, it was also found in the Kaliningrad region, and now it also appeared in Vilnius. The strangest thing is that these beetles Otiorhynchus armadillo they have been found in thuja, although Norwegian researchers have reported that these beetles feed on about 40 different plants, and thuja is not among them ”, the specialist is surprised.
People or companies that trade in exotic plants may or may not have transported them here.
According to entomologist R. Ferenca, these beetles do not fly, so it is difficult to answer exactly how they were found in Lithuania.
“One of the assumptions is that they came with the plants. People or companies that trade in exotic plants may or may not transport them here, ”he explains.
According to R. Ferencos, they themselves Otiorhynchus armadillo beetles are not very mobile, they live compactly. So far, according to the specialist, they are registered only in Pilaitė, but this does not necessarily mean that they are not found elsewhere.
Why in Pilaitė? This may have been determined by the specific characteristics of the district, because the vegetation in Pilaitė is quite new, so the beetles could spread with young plants, ”says a specialist from the Kaunas Museum of Zoology Tadas Ivanauskas.
He stressed that at this time Otiorhynchus armadillo he is very actively researching beetles and hopes to provide more information on them later this year.
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