We think we just discovered some new species living in New York City
We think we just discovered some new species living in New York City
Earlier this summer, Vox set up two big bug traps in New York City — like, literal traps that catch bugs. Our goal was to try to discover a new insect species right in the middle of the city because the bulk of them are still unknown to science.
We now have some exciting, albeit preliminary, results to share.
During the month of June — the only month we’ve analyzed so far — our traps captured an estimated 12,000 insect specimens, which we sent to a lab at the University of Guelph in Canada for analysis. The lab, known as the Center for Biodiversity Genomics, pulled out specimens across three groups: scuttle flies and two kinds of wasps known as parasitoids, which lay their eggs in other insects. We’re focusing on these groups, because they’re considered “dark taxa,” meaning that most species within them are likely still undiscovered.
That left us with just under 1,000 specimens from June to investigate further.
From there, the lab extracted a short DNA sequence from each specimen, known as a barcode. Those DNA barcodes are unique identifiers for individual organisms, and scientists use them to sort specimens. When individuals have very similar barcodes, that often means they are the same species.
The vanishing bug trap, and other challenges
In late July, the insect trap we set up in Central Park — which is about 5 feet long and 4 feet tall — suddenly disappeared. We have no idea where it went. Luckily, we had a spare trap.
Such are the challenges of sampling in a big city.
The other major hurdle was figuring out how to ship boxes full of bugs to Canada, where the DNA barcoding lab is based. I have unfortunately become an expert in international shipping laws; a frequent visitor of a Brooklyn UPS Store (a nightmare); and friendly with an inspection agent at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees animal exports.
Science!
Most of the barcodes from our specimens were similar to barcodes of insects that scientists have already collected and sequenced. There’s a slim chance that these are members of undiscovered species.
But there were striking exceptions: Our wasps and flies yielded more than two dozen barcode groups that appear to be quite different. They are unlike anything that exists in the big genetic database, known as BOLD, which is essentially a massive library of biodiversity. That means that they may represent new species.
And now, following further analysis by taxonomists, we have a strong indication that at least a few of those barcode groups may, indeed, be new species. And this was after just one month of looking!
Before we know if we have a true discovery to announce, we want to be certain that these species are actually new. That takes hard work, for which we are leaning on Emily Hartop, an entomologist at Norway’s NTNU University Museum, and University of Guelph researchers Ranjith AP and Paul Hebert. They will verify that no one has already described the organisms matching these specimens and then publish a formal description, along with a name, in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. At that point, we’ll be able to say with more certainty that the bugs we caught here in New York City are, in fact, new to science.
In the meantime, the traps remain open, and the freezer in my apartment will continue — to my husband’s disgust — filling up with ethanol-soaked bugs.
You can find more information about Vox’s quest to discover a new species here.
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