Insect expert hunts for unknown life in New York

“People like to imagine that undiscovered species are only found in remote rainforests or the great ocean depths, but they can be found everywhere. Even in areas that are well studied, we continue to discover species that are new to science,” says Emily Hartop.

She is an insect researcher at the NTNU University Museum.

Together with the American media house Vox, the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph in Canada, the Prospect Park Alliance, and the Central Park Conservancy in New York, she is now hunting for unknown life in the largest city in the United States.

She feels confident that they will find something.

“It’s highly likely. In my field, discovering new species is the rule rather than the exception,” Hartop says.

Most animal species are unknown

“The reality is that the majority of the Earth’s animal species are still unknown to us humans. Scientists have formally named around two million species, but the actual number of species is perhaps ten times higher,” says Hartop.

You may have already guessed that that Emily isn’t looking for unknown bear or gorilla species. Researchers have a pretty good overview of those animals.

Insects, on the other hand, constitute a large blank spot on the species map. Especially ones within the category of ‘dark taxa’ – groups of organisms that contain an enormous number of species but about which we know very little.

“A lot of dark taxa are small insects, mites, and other organisms that receive little attention, compared to more charismatic groups like mammals and bees. They are often both common and ecologically important, but we simply don’t have enough specialists to get an overview of them,” says Hartop.

You may be wondering how you can even begin to find unknown insects in the middle of a city.  

Here are the four stages the researchers have to go through in their hunt:

Step 1: Collecting insects

The hunt for unknown life in New York is being carried out by setting up tent-like insect traps – called Malaise traps – two of which have now been placed in Central Park and Prospect Park. Both are very urban parks, located in Manhattan and Brooklyn, respectively.

The trap works by guiding insects into a container of ethanol, where they are killed and preserved.

Step 2: DNA sequencing

Once a month, the collected insects are sent to the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics (CBG) in Canada. There, the genetic material of the insects caught in the traps is analysed using a method called DNA barcoding.

The method works by using a short, defined part of the genetic material – the DNA – to act as a genetic barcode for each species. In the same way that an product in a store has a unique barcode, species can be identified through their DNA barcode.

The DNA barcodes of the species in the traps are then compared with a large reference library. If there are no matches in the library – in other words, if there are no registered species with the same DNA barcode – it may indicate that something new has been found.

Step 3: Send in the experts

Insects that show up with a unique DNA barcode are sent to researchers in the respective species group. They conduct further investigations to find out if it is a new species.

One of these researchers is Emily Hartop at the NTNU University Museum. She is a global expert on humpbacked flies, which are a very species-rich family of small flies.

Step 4: The new species gets a name

If something new is found, the species will be described scientifically and given a name – a rather laborious process that can often take a couple of years.

You could have unknown life in your garden

“One of the most exciting things about this project is that it challenges the idea that new discoveries only happen in remote wilderness areas. The truth is that unknown species can be discovered in parks and gardens too,” says Hartop.

She says it’s very likely that we would find something new if we followed the same procedures in almost any other city.

Flies are amazing

This enormous number of unknown insects actually keeps the ecological balance on the planet from collapsing. It might be worth reminding yourself of this, even if you never quite experience Hartop’s love for flies.

“People often ask me why I study small flies. The truth is, flies are amazing. They are among the most diverse organisms on the planet, they’ve evolved an incredible variety of lifestyles, and a lot of them are genuinely beautiful,” Hartop says. “Every time we look closely, flies remind us that the living world is far more diverse, fascinating, and mysterious than we imagine it.”

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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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