A specimen of a new and bizarre insect has been sent to Brigham Young University for a DNA workup.
As Science Specialist Ed Yeates explains, the discovery --
the first of its kind in almost a century --
has bug experts "hopping" with excitement.
In your worst nightmare, imagine a bug with the head of a praying mantis, the body of a walking stick and an attitude sort of like a cross between a grasshopper and a cockroach.
Fortunately this creature - though real - is only about the size of a paper clip.
Dr. Michael Whiting / BYU Entomologist: "IF WE WERE TO SEE THIS BLOWN UP AS ENTOMOLOGISTS, A FEW WEEKS AGO IF WE WERE TO SEE IT - WE WOULD HAVE SAID THIS IS JUST A HOLLYWOOD CONFIGURATION, THAT SUCH A BEAST COULD NOT EXIST."
ED YEATES, SCIENCE SPECIALIST: "THIS NEW FIND CAME HERE TO BYU BECAUSE IT HAS ONE OF THE LARGEST INVENTORIES OF DNA SAMPLES FOR INSECTS."
The new bug's scientific name is manto-fazmo-towdia - though it's picked up the nickname "Gladiator" because the body is covered with spikes, supposedly similar to a Gladiator's armor.
The creature was originally found preserved as a fossil in prehistoric amber, but researchers had no idea it was alive in a remote area of West Africa.
WHITING: "THESE VERY DISTINCT GROUPS SORT OF ALL COMING TOGETHER IN ONE INSECT IS QUITE A SHOCK TO ENTOMOLOGISTS."
BYU's challenge through DNA analysis is to find out if the bug is related to any of the 1.7 million species of insects already on the books. So far it appears to be in a class all its own.
Matthew Terry / BYU Graduate Researcher: "JUST SORT OF GLANCING AT THE DNA WE'VE SEQUENCED SO FAR, IT LOOKS QUITE DIFFERENT. AND SO PROBABLY MY GUESS IS WHAT HAS HAPPENED IS THAT THIS IS A VERY ANCIENT SPLIT OFF FROM OTHER INSECTS."
Gladiator is a carnivore with what appears to be a voracious appetite.
WHITING: "EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT IT SEEMS TO SUGGEST THAT THESE ARE VERY HUNGRY, HUNGRY CREATURES."
Ed Yeates, Eyewitness News, BYU.
The first live specimen of the new bug was discovered in Namibia, which has been fairly unexplored by entomologists.
April 19, 2002
