Post by Oxford Brookes University

Major evolutionary discovery! Our Researchers have unveiled Aratrichous anacomosus, a new two-millimetre-long predatory insect nicknamed the “pineapple assassin.” This tiny feather-legged assassin bug is challenging long-held assumptions about its evolutionary branch. Despite extreme miniaturisation, this species retains a key pineapple-shaped gland previously thought to be lost in this group, making it a critical "transitional form" that reveals how complex traits are lost and gained over evolutionary history. A special shout-out to PhD student Daniel Bardey, the lead author who discovered the bug, and Dr Matthew Bulbert for their vital work. The discovery also raises new conservation questions, as the non-flying bug was found thousands of kilometres apart in Australia—an unusual finding for a species expected to have a limited range. Read the full paper published in the Journal of Systematics and Biodiversity: Phylogenomics shows loss of myrmecophagous traits: https://bit.ly/3Q84qYq #Science #Evolution #Entomology #Research #OxfordBrookes https://bit.ly/3QaWXYy