New Species

If you had told university student Shivam Tiwari that he would become one of the foremost systematists of Indian squat lobsters, he would probably have laughed. Shivam began as an ecologist, stressed about his taxonomy exams and definitely more interested in being outdoors than looking at preserved specimens. But one day his PI said something that changed his entire outlook: “if you don’t know what it is, how are you going to conserve it?”

Now, as the mining industry becomes more active in the deep sea, Shivam’s work becomes even more important. He explains that the more scientists demonstrate the ocean contains unique and important life, the better they can defend against its exploitation. It’s that sense of urgency, combined with the joy and beauty of working with these animals, that keeps him going.

Shivam Tiwari’s paper “A new deep‐sea munidopsid squat lobster of the genus Leiogalathea Baba, 1969 (Decapoda: Anomura) from the southeastern Arabian Sea, India” is in volume 3, article number 6 of Discover Oceans

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44289-026-00117-5

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Shivam Tiwari - Transcript

New Species: Leiogalathea samudragiri

Episode image credit: Shivam Tiwari

Read Shivam’s paper from 2024 on 5 new species of squat lobsters: http://www.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5501.2.4

Check out Shivam’s personal Instagram: @wild.shivam

And his research Instagram account: @aurkitnapadhoge

You can also follow him on Twitter: @marine_shivam

And on Facebook: Shivam Tiwari

A video of squat lobsters swimming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3-9w45prfk

Check out the OBIS portal: https://obis.org/

Ocean Census: https://oceancensus.org/

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

There’s a new genus of Staphylinid beetle named after one of the most legendary Manga characters! Fang-Shuo Hu and his coauthor Alexey Solodovnikov have been working on teasing apart some complex beetle lineages, leading them to describe a new genus and two new species. The genus Luffy is named after One Piece’s infamous Monkey D. Luffy, and the species are L. nika (Luffy’s magical fruit) and L. schillhammeri in honor of Harald Schillhammer, a Staphylinologist whose mentorship helped Fang-Shuo along the way.

Also part of this conversation is Rodrigo Salvador, editor in chief of the Journal of Geek Studies which publishes peer-reviewed articles about a variety of cultural topics. Rodrigo and Fang-Shuo discuss the impact of these interdisciplinary projects, and how naming a species or writing a paper can provide a gateway into taxonomy for those who might have never considered it important before.

Fang-Shuo Hu’s paper “Luffy gen. nov., a new genus of Staphylinina (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Staphylininae), remarkable for understanding the Eucibdelus lineage” is in volume 1281 of Zookeys.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1281.198593

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Fang-Shuo Hu - Transcript

New Genus: Luffy

New Species: Luffy nika, Luffy schillhammeri

Episode image credit: Fang-Shuo Hu

Check out the Journal of Geek Studies: https://jgeekstudies.org/

Find more of Rodrigo’s work: https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/rodrigo-b-salvador/

Learn about how community science efforts help us learn more about rove beetles: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2025.e00399

Follow Fang-Shuo on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hu.fangshuo/

And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dragonbird.hu/

And X: https://x.com/fangshuohu?s=11

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

Hi everyone,

Today I’m re-releasing an old episode in honor of a friend. It was actually just under a year ago that this episode on Adelopsis Beetles with Eduardo Gomyde aired. With his passing this week, I wanted to take a moment to remember him.

Eduardo was an incredible taxonomist, so dedicated to his “little brown beetles.” He appreciated the beauty in everything. I have also rarely met a kinder person. The time he spent on this earth was not nearly enough, and I know I’m one of many who will miss him dearly. I hope you enjoy listening one more time to Eduardo talk about the work and the world he loved so much.

What kind of catfish are in your local river? In Northeastern Brazil, catfish are so diverse and specialized that sometimes each river its own species. In fact, Ananda Serejo has been studying this group of catfish for 10 years, working hard to untangle their phylogeny. “The intraspecific variation, it's very, very, very hard to find” she says. “You need to have this integrative approach, use more than one line of evidence that you could be more sure about what you are proposing”

Ananda is mainly working on the taxonomy of this group, but she found a way to engage her community of Maranhão by naming her species after two cultural icons, Catirina from the Festa de São Joã, and the incredible local artist and performer Dona Teté. Ananda believes that giving people this direct connection to the fish will help them be better conserved, appreciated, and understood.

Ananda Serejo’s paper “Integrative taxonomy reveals two new species of whiptail catfishes Loricaria (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) from northeastern Brazil” is in the April 8th 2026 edition of the Journal of Fish Biology.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.70395

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ananda Serejo - Transcript

New Species: Loricaria catirina, Loricaria teteae

Episode image credit: Anada Serejo

Read more about Ananda’s work with catfishes: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4915.3.10

Follow Ananda’s adventures on instagram: @anandaserejo

Read about Ananda’s other new Loricaria species: http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4915.3.10

Learn more about Dona Teté: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dona_Tet%C3%A9

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

Lily Deeter works on scale insects, tiny creatures that many people aren’t familiar with, or only see as a pest. But once you get to know them, you’ll be hooked. Not only do they have fascinating morphology, physical characteristics that at times can seem otherworldly, but with a little practice you’ll be looking for them everywhere. “I don't think that the insect is just hanging out where entomologists tend to hang out,” Lily explains; the locations she found her new species include her neighborhood park, a brewery, at an entomology conference, and right outside her office. “You just kind of had to look somewhere just a little bit outside of the box.”

Lily’s fascination with scale insects is apparent as she shares their amazing biology, including some unexpected genetics, and lots more about these tiny creatures. And of course she introduces us to her new species “Acanthococcus orzo,” named after the pasta.

Lily Deeter’s paper “A new species of grass-infesting felt scale (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha:

Eriococcidae), with descriptions of all life stages and a key to the adult female

Acanthococcus Signoret of Florida, U.S.A.” is in volume 5717 of Zootaxa.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5717.2.3

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Lily Deeter - Transcript

New Species: Acanthococcus orzo

Episode image credit: Erin Powell

Browse ScaleNet: https://scalenet.info/

Scale insects and gecko conservation: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26198719

Beneficial scale insects: https://doi.org/10.1079/9781800620643.0001

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

If you want to be a scientist, you enroll in 4-10 years of higher education. If you want to be an artist, you go to art school and learn a classic technique. Two choices; a binary. Right?

Or, could it be that there’s an entire spectrum of choices in between? In this episode, we explore the places where art and science connect with three talented people who have a foot in both worlds. Aissa Domingo is an artist, photographer, and illustrator, Nicole Parish is an artist and naturalist, and Kathleen Baraan is a nature-based art educator. All three have unique perspectives on the shared practice of art and science, and our discussion reveals how important art is to telling scientific stories.

See more of Aissa’s work on her website: https://aissadomingo.com/wp/

And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aissa_domingo/

And more of Nicole’s work on hers: https://www.soundoftheforest.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_soundoftheforest_/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/soundoftheforest.bsky.social

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@soundoftheforest

And follow Kathleen’s work on her website: https://beacons.ai/deartoourhearts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deartoourhearts/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deartoourhearts/

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Aissa Domingo, Kathleen Baraan, and Nicole Parish - Transcript

Other resources and people mentioned in this episode:

Leonard Co: https://www.philippineplants.org/General/AboutLeonard.html

Baba Dioum: https://biographycentral.com/biography/baba_dioum

Wild Wonder Foundation’s prompts for nature journaling: https://www.wildwonder.org/store/p/nj-zine

The Philippine Taxonomic Initiative: https://phtaxa.org/

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy free bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

Crayfish, Crawfish, Crawdad; no matter what you call them, If you live in the southeastern United States, their biodiversity hotspot is in your backyard! Astacologist (crayfish biologist) Dr. Zack Graham joins us on this episode to tell us just how wild these freshwater crustaceans are. He shares just a bit of his knowledge on their biodiversity, interesting behaviors, their impact on American culture, and some of the unique threats they continue to face.

At the end of the day, why do crayfish matter? Zack says, “I think at a basic level, humans are just generally curious about what's going on out in nature. And that's what really fuels a lot of my work, just trying to understand what has happened in the past, what's going to happen in the future to these animals that have been living on earth for over 300 million years. They've been here for a very long time. So I think, you know, they kind of have a right to be here and to be protected and to be studied and understood.”

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Zack Graham - Transcript

Episode image credit: Zack Graham

Learn more about Zack’s lab: https://crayfish.westliberty.edu/

You can also follow them on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wlucrayfish

And on Instagram: @wlucrayfishlab

You can order Zack’s book here: https://uncpress.org/9781469685731/crayfish-crawfish-crawdad/

Learn more about the International Association of Astacology: https://www.astacology.org/default.asp?uid=Guest

Peruse the American Crayfish Atlas: https://americancrayfishatlas.web.illinois.edu/

And check out some beautiful crayfish photos from Zack’s adventures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/196391561@N03/

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

While giving a tour in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Alex Bently identified a clump on a leaf as a dead spider parasitized by a Cordyceps fungus. When it moved under his touch, he realized that it was actually a unique case of mimicry, and worked with David Ricardo Díaz Guevara and Nadine Dupérré to describe it as a new species. In this episode, Alex shares the unique nature of this spider, as well as what we can learn from it about the complex relationships that can occur between fungi and other organisms.

Alex Bently’s paper “The Cordyceps spider”: Taczanowskia waska sp. nov. (Araneae: Araneidae), a new spider species and a novel case of mimicry of an araneopathogenic fungus (Cordycipitaceae: Gibellula)” is in volume 5760 of Zootaxa.

It can be found here: http://www.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5760.5.4

Photo Credit: David Ricardo Díaz Guevara

Listen to an interview with Alex’s coauthor David in spanish on New Species Español - https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YZuyGcLva6hK752ueXOtZ?si=6qj-Ru2hTwSpMnVLsTpGwA

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Alex Bently - Transcript

New Species: Taczanowskia waska

Follow Waska Amazonia on instagram: @ waska.amazonia

And on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaskaAmazonia

Some neat press coverage of this new species:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/spider-mimicing-cordyceps-9.7141687

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/science/spider-cordyceps-fungus-zombies.html

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

Freshwater shrimps are difficult to study. They’re nocturnal, they live in leaf litter, and yet they are involved in both commercial fishing and the pet trade, making research on their diversity critical. Dr. Prakash Sanjeevi and Maclean Santos have a new strategy for adapting to these challenges: harnessing the power of community. Through educational videos, social media, workshops, and more they provide training to already-interested hobbyists, who in turn help them find rare specimens for papers like this one, in which they redescribe a species that hadn’t been seen in Indian waters for 72 years.

“I truly feel that it is not the talent which survives the long term in this research game, It is more of the hard work and it is more about how much you like the species because if you love a species, you will work really hard for the species” says Maclean. Listen in as we discuss the fascinating morphology, biology, and joy provided by these freshwater shrimps.

Maclean Santos and Prakash Sanjeevi’s paper “Rediscovery of the genus Atyopsis Chace, 1983 (Decapoda: Atyidae) in mainland India following a 72-year gap” is in volume 5722 of Zootaxa.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5722.4.7

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Maclean Santos and Prakash Sanjeevi - Transcript

Episode image credit: Maclean Santos

Read their recent paper describing a new species from the same region: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5194.3.5

Follow Maclean and Prakash on Instagram:

Prakash: @sanjeeviprakash

Maclean: @homeaquat

More pictures and information on GBIF: https://www.gbif.org/species/7839136

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

“I hope that individual taxonomists take a step back and really think about the choices they make when it comes to collaboration…I want taxonomists to consider equity in their work, and not just consider that but actively support actions that are making a difference in the way we do science.” Cláudia Xavier’s words here address the issue that is the focus of her new paper; who actually gets the opportunity to be a taxonomist?

In this episode, I talk to Katherine and Cláudia about their experiences writing this paper, but also being taxonomists in a field that wasn’t built with everyone in mind. They tell me the stories of two marginalized taxonomists who made outsized impacts on their field, and how they hope their research lays the foundation for a more equitable and just arachnology in the future.

Katherine Montana and Cláudia Xavier’s paper “If history is written by the victors, who describes the spiders? Species author trends reflect gender and geopolitical disparities in biodiversity science” is in volume 146, issue 1 of the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaf067

A transcript of this episode can be found here:

Cláudia and Katherine

A spanish transcript of this episode can be found here:

Cláudia and Katherine en español

Follow Cláudia on Bluesky: @claudiaxavier.bsky.social

And learn from her on Instagram: @geaaoficial

Check out more from the Esposito lab:

https://www.arachnerds.info/

And follow them on Instagram: @arachnerds

Dr. Esposito is also the founder of the 500 Queer Scientists project:

https://500queerscientists.com/

World Spider Catalog: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/

Untold Stories from the Academy:

https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/library/untold-stories

Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Millerhttps://pushkinpress.com/book/why-fish-dont-exist/

Additional reading:

Developing scientific equity for biodiversity research: a thematic analysis of ecological change impacts on ranchers in Baja California Sur, Mexico: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170525100100

Science in Indigenous homelands: addressing power and justice in sustainability science from/with/in the Penobscot River

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00904-3

Promoting equity between the Global North and Global South in entomological research

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2025.101357

Anti-racist interventions to transform ecology, evolution and conservation biology departments

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01522-z

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

New Species en Español will be a Spanish-language version of the New Species Podcast, hosted by Ivonne Garzón.

Subscribe to it here: https://open.spotify.com/user/31jdpbfn26x3w7sa2b76db3z2vxa?si=160a1a8eac644f00Or wherever you get your podcasts.

Sometimes, a collection of new species turns out to be… no new species!

Takahiro Sugiyama, Ryutaro Goto, and Chloé Fourreau began studying the unique ectoparasitic scale worm Gastrolepidia clavigera in part because of its fascinating diversity of color, likely contributing to its ability to camouflage on sea cucumbers. After some genetic work, they found that this entire rainbow of scale worms all actually seem to belong to the same species!

Takahiro Sugiyama, Ryutaro Goto, and Chloé Fourreau’s paper “Host specific camouflage in a holothurian-ectoparasitic scale worm: testing the host-race hypothesis using COI and genome-wide SNP data” is in volume 173 of Marine Biology

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-025-04744-y

Episode image credit: Takahiro Sugiyama and Ryutaro Goto

A New Species episode with Chloé on Polychaete worms: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0aH2bPNb4u3wOrONIYfZkp?si=7i0lzzSlSjWfsXce436-3g

Follow Chloé on instagram and Bluesky: @chaoticchloeia

Follow the MISE lab on instagram: @mise_lab

Read Takahiro’s recent paper about the scale worms that live on sea stars: http://doi.org/10.3800/pbr.15.289

Original description of G. clavigera: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/50342#page/8/mode/1up

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

Donard Geci fell into studying spiders by accident, but now he can’t imagine his life without them. He’s one of the only arachnologists in the Balkans, a hotspot for spiders as well as plenty of other flora and fauna. It’s difficult, he says, “but you have many things to do here because many groups are unexplored.”

Trapdoor spiders are masterful architects, and there is so much work to do in order to better understand their relationships to one another. Fortunately, Donard isn’t deterred at all and wants to encourage even more scientists to study the amazing quantity of life found in the Balkans.

Donard Geci’s paper “Trapdoor spiders of the family Nemesiidae Simon, 1889 (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) from Kosovo” is in volume 20, issue 2 of Arachnology.

It can be found here: http://www.doi.org/10.13156/arac.2025.20.2.281

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Donard Geci - Transcript

New Species: Brachythele kosovarica, Nemesia dukagjinica

Episode image credit: Donard Geci

A New Trapdoor Spider with Christian Pertegal: available in english and in spanish

An episode with Alireza Zamani: https://www.newspeciespodcast.net/all-episodes/e28-a-new-species-named-because-of-this-podcast-and-another-after-the-father-of-modern-medicine

First DNA Barcoding of Dysderidae: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5653.4.2

New Eratigena from the Balkans based on an integrative approach: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5636.1.6

Find Donard on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donardgecii

And on X: https://x.com/donard_geci

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

There are plenty of taxonomists who use museum collections as a resource, but not everyone makes collections the basis of their work. Rodrigo Dios studies Tachinid flies, a group that displays some of the most diverse parasitism behavior of all animals. By reorganizing and rediscribing museum specimens, he finds that we have a lot to learn from both flies and museum collections. “It's crazy,” says Rodrigo, about working in collections. “You can actually assess all this knowledge, all this variation between time and between space as well. It's like infinite knowledge.”

Rodrigo Dios’ paper “Taxonomic update on Cordyligasterini, new generic synonyms and new species of Neosophia Guimarães” is in volume 29 of Entomological Science.

It can be found here: http://www.doi.org/10.1111/ens.70003

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Rodrigo Dios - English Transcript

This transcript translated into portuguese: Rodrigo Dios - Portuguese Transcript

New Species: Neosophia argentifasciata, Neosophia pakitza

Episode image credit: Rodrigo Dios

Follow Rodrigo on Instagram: @rodrigodios

Rodrigo’s paper about the fly that lays eggs on plants: http://www.doi.org/10.6620/ZS.2024.63-54Connect with Rodrigo on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/rodrigodios

Don’t be shy! Contact Rodrigo about flies: rodrigodios@gmail.com

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

If you would like to make a one-time contribution to this podcast, you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

“The queen especially was not like, like totally not like mad mad, but like mad at him…”

That analysis is from Charleigh (age 6 ), who I talked to along with her dad Jesse (older than 6) about the 1998 classic A Bug’s Life! We discussed serious matters such as the number of legs ants have, if insects have blood, and if the movie missed an opportunity by not including a dung beetle (I think they did).

Charleigh and Jesse co-host the amazing podcast arthropod adventures, which teaches listeners about arthropods they might see in their backyard. Stay inquisitive and never stop learning with me as I talk to them in this very silly bonus episode!

Our ratings:

Scientific accuracy 🐜 🐜 🐜

Enjoyability 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜

Bonus episodes are typically reviews of creature-feature horror movies by me and a scientist with expertise relevant to the film. If you enjoyed this episode, you can listen to more of them for free on http://patreon.com/newspeciespod

Check out arthropod adventures wherever you get your podcasts

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Hi everyone, incredibly it's time for the third biennial New Species Census! Every two years I ask listeners to answer a few questions about who they are, how they listen, and what they would like from the podcast in the future.

Take the survey: https://forms.gle/V8G9VSKxfvaxhxdx5

The survey will be open until February 13th 2026, after which time I'll post a summary of the feedback on instagram.* Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts! I'm so grateful to everyone who listens to this little hobby podcast, and your feedback really helps it to grow.

If you have general feedback or have missed the window, you can always email me at newspeciespodcast@gmail.com. Thank you as always for listening!

*Please note there are a few people confused - the New Species Podcast instagram is @newspeciespodcast! There is another account called New Species which is not me.

Do you ever wonder if your pet could be a new species? Paleontologist Benedikt Kästle took a closer look at his, and it led to a brand new genus and species! Also known as woodlice, these popular pets are easy to keep and easier to enjoy for the way they skitter and roll up. Benedikt explains that his scientific background can help members of the isopod community connect the valuable experience they have from rearing isopods to the broader research community, where much about isopods is still unknown.

Benedikt does this both through his instagram account and in his conversations with hobbyists from around the world, and it makes an impact. This new species is one of many that went undescribed for many years. Now its name is known from Martinique to Germany and beyond. Listen to this episode for a story that celebrates the humble roly poly in all its diversity and mystery.

Benedikt Kästle’s paper “Description of a new genus and species of terrestrial isopod (Oniscidea, Armadillidae) endemic to Martinique” is in volume 47 issue 29 of Zoosystema.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5252/zoosystema-2025v47a29

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Benedikt Kästle - Transcript

New Species: Caribodillo martinicensis

Follow Benedikt on instagram: @sumerian.demon

Episode image credit: Benedikt Kästle

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Stoneflies, or Plecoptera, are an order of insects with around 4,000 species. But that’s about to change. In her paper “Stonefly systematics: past, present, and future,” Anna Eichert and her colleagues from around the world map out the way stoneflies have changed as a group over time, some of the factors that shape our current understanding of the stoneflies, and what can change in the future to make sure our knowledge of stonefly diversity continues to grow. Learn from Anna’s account of her experiences and her passion for stoneflies in this episode, and next time you encounter a stream, flip over a rock or two.

Anna Eichert’s paper “Stonefly systematics: past, present, and future” is in volume 9, issue 4 of Insect Systematics and Diversity.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaf026

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Anna Eichert - Transcript

Episode image credit: Anna Eichert

Email Anna: aeichert@amnh.org

Follow Anna on Instagram: @annaeichert, @bugtimez

And Bluesky: @annaeichert.bsky.social‬

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

The genus Adelopsis is one of the many groups of LBB’s, ‘little brown beetles’ that often get left behind or unidentified by researchers. Eduardo Gomyde is a scientist giving them a closer look. “We're not just identifying species,” he explains, “but we are also analyzing and understanding the finer scale of the [features] that help us to differentiate them.”

Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Eduardo and his coauthor carefully examined the tiniest of details. To find these specimens they had to sort through countless vials of “bycatch”, material leftover from other research that gets deposited in museum collections. Listen in as Eduardo describes his work, and learn about the great joy he takes in giving the LBB’s the attention and care they deserve.

Eduardo Gomyde’s paper “Revisiting the concept of ‘ultra evolved’ aedeagi of Adelopsis Portevin, 1907 (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Ptomaphagini) using scanning electron

microscopy, with description and redescription of species” is in volume 17 issue 1 of Megataxa.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.17.1.3

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Eduardo Gomyde - Transcript

New Species: Adelopsis boraceia, Adelopsis monticola, Adelopsis vanini, Adelopsis gibber, Adelopsis ilhabela, Adelopsis caeteh, Adelopsis gandarela, Adelopsis sacerdotis

Episode image credit: Eduardo Gomyde

Listen to Eduardo and I discuss the movie Mosquito Man on a free bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mosquito-man-144374393

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

How much do you know about lichens? These incredible taxa are understudied, but today’s guest is making sure they’re not undervalued. “You can’t look at lichens under a microscope and not become immediately obsessed,” says Dr. Erin Manzitto-Tripp. “It’s an endless world of magnificent, beautiful biodiversity.”

Erin works in the mountains of Colorado to describe new species of lichens along with the rest of her fantastic lab. For this paper they called not just on the power of nature, but also on the power of music. These three new species are named after the Indigo Girls, the individual members of the band and the band itself, in thanks for the many gifts Erin and others have received through their music.

Erin Manzitto-Tripp’s paper “The Thin Horizon of a Plan is Almost Clear: Towards a Lichen Biodiversity Inventory of the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA” is in volume 712 issue 3 of Phytotaxa.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.712.3.1

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Erin Manzitto-Tripp - Transcript

New Species: Lecanora indigoana, Lepraria saliersiae, Pertusaria rayana

Episode image credit: Erin Manzitto-Tripp

Listen to “The Wood Song,” whose lyrics gave this paper its title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0tUkepNqiA

Learn about the Lichens of Great Smoky Mountains National Park: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43188704

Check out Erin’s Lab and their work: https://tripp-report.com/

An article about these new species, with some beautiful photos: https://www.cpr.org/2025/07/24/cu-new-lichen-species-named-after-indigo-girls/

And the blog post from the Indigo Girls after hearing about their new species:

https://www.indigogirls.com/blog/bnjasxuusxhyfhyynob5oiko8om81a

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod