New species of bug discovered, named after Singapore

A new "Singapore citizen" has been discovered living on the roadside at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

- Calista Wong

Researchers at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum at NUS' Faculty of Science announced the discovery of a new species of mirid, or plant bug, Campylomma singapura, in a research paper published on March 24.

The paper, titled Two Cryptic New Species Of The Plant Bug Genus Campylomma Recently Discovered In Japan And Singapore, was published in science journal Zootaxa. The findings were also announced in a social media post by the museum on April 7.

Mirids are small terrestrial insects that typically feed on plants. However, mirids from the genus Campylomma are known to feed on both insects and plants and are sometimes employed as biological control agents against agricultural insect pests for this reason.

Campylomma singapura, for instance, has also been observed to feed on thrips — small insects commonly associated with flowers.