Researchers have reported the discovery of a new species of fly in Western Australia, adding to the already vast number of toxic and dangerous insects found across the world.
A team from Curtin University identified the species and named it 'Lucifer', meaning ‘devil’. The lead researcher, Kit Prendergast, found the fly in 2019 during a survey of a severely threatened wildflower. Its unusual appearance caught her attention at once.
Prendergast said the female fly had remarkably small horns on its face. A fan of the Netflix series Lucifer, she added that the fly’s sinister features made the name the most suitable choice.
She said the discovery showed that much of life on Earth remained unknown. She hoped the finding would raise awareness of the number of undiscovered fly species that may exist in areas under threat from mining.
According to Prendergast, many mining companies still did not carry out surveys of local flies. As a result, numerous species risk loss, including those essential for protecting endangered plants and maintaining ecological balance.
