Entomologist Shaun Winterton discovered a new species of green lacewing in a very unusual place: on his computer screen. Thanks to one man’s love of nature photography and Winterton’s love of looking at pictures of bugs, this guy has been added to the catalogue of known species.

1. www.worldweatheronline.com
New insect discovered thanks to an amatuer photographer
and Flickr

2. www.worldweatheronline.com
Entomologist Shaun Winterton discovered a new species of
green lacewing in a very unusual place: on his computer
screen. Thanks to one man’s love of nature photography and
Winterton’s love of looking at pictures of bugs, this guy has
been added to the catalogue of known species.
What’s this about?

3. www.worldweatheronline.com
First discovery
When Winterton saw the photo taken by Guek Hock
Ping in Malaysia, he knew that the lacewing was
different than any he had ever studied. He contacted
Guek to see if he had captured the insect, but he
hadn’t, since to him it was just a nice looking bug he
saw whilst on a hike. But Gruek travelled back to
same spot a year later and was able to capture one
of the insects and get it to Winterton for
examination.

4. www.worldweatheronline.com
Classified species
Guek documents what happened on his blog: “I first saw
and photographed this species in the wild in its natural
habitat on May 10, 2011. A few lacewing experts informed
me that this could be a new species. Luckily, I came across
this beautiful species again on January 27, 2012. Specimen
was captured and sent to Mr. Winterton.”
Winterton then sent it to Steve Brooks at the Natural
History Museum of London who not only confirmed that it
was a new species, but found a matching specimen on file
at the museum that no one had ever classified.

5. www.worldweatheronline.com
The lacewing’s discovery
Guek, Winterton and Brooks worked together to write a
paper on the lacewing’s discovery, naming it Semachrysa
jade, taking its name from Winterton’s daughter.
This incident points to the power of image hosting services
as image crowdsourcing. Winterton now believes that this
technique of discovering new species will become more
common: “There are thousands of images a minute
uploaded on Flickr. I think there are many more discoveries
forthcoming, particularly as more people are getting out
into the field.”
Perhaps the next time scientists are looking for new life,
they might want to first check their social media accounts.

6. www.worldweatheronline.com
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article, click the link below:
New insect discovered thanks to an
amateur photographer and Flickr