Thread-legged assassin bug Myiophanes kempi rediscovered in Andaman limestone caves after 100 years

Key facts

• The thread-legged assassin bug Myiophanes kempi was rediscovered in limestone caves in the Andaman Islands by scientists in 2019.
• The species was first described by British entomologist William Edward China in 1924 from Siju Cave in Meghalaya.
• The rediscovery was published in the journal Subterranean Biology.
• The specimens were matched with a syntype female preserved in the Natural History Museum, London.
• The bug belongs to the subfamily Reduviidae and is a specialised predator of the subterranean ecosystem.
• The study was led by Manchi Shirish S., Principal Scientist at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON).
• Co-authors included Dhanusha Kawalkar and Pooja Patil from SACON, and Hemant V. Ghate from Modern College, Pune.
• The research was funded by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and The Habitats Trust.