A new species of firefly described from Finca Las Piedras

Fireflies, which are actually beetles, are one of the few groups of organisms that produce their own light via a chemical reaction known as "bioluminescence". Fireflies use the light produced either as an aposematic signal—a warning to potential predators that they pack a toxic or distasteful punch—or as a means of attracting a mate. A new study by Jéssica Herzog Viana and colleagues has just described a new group of fireflies, the genus Saguassu, including a previously undescribed species from Finca Las Piedras. The new species is called Saguassu acutum, which comes from the Latin word for sharp, a reference to the species' reproductive morphology; naming new species after such characters is common practice among taxonomists. So far this new species is only known from two locations, Finca Las Piedras and a neighboring concession for the harvest of Brazil nuts. This study is significant as it highlights how much is unknown about even very charismatic groups of insects such as fireflies, and is an important contribution to our knowledge of biodiversity in the Amazon. Congratulations Jéssica et al.!

You can read our paper for more Information about Saguassu acutum, as well as the six other newly-described species

Herzog Viana et al. 2025 A new firefly genus from South America, with seven new species, a

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