NTU entomologists collaborate with Japanese natural history museum on the taxonomy of Cantharidae (soldier beetles) Comprehensive taxonomic studies are fundamental to biology. They provide accurate identification of materials, which is directly related to the conclusions that can be drawn from results. According to the online database of the Taiwan Catalogue of Life, there are over 20,000 species of insects recorded in Taiwan. Among this large group, the members of Coleoptera, also known as beetles, are the most speciose group and comprise the largest proportion of newly described animals each year. Beetles belonging to the family Cantharidae, also known as soldier beetles, are small to middle-sized terrestrial beetles occurring on all the habitable continents, with over 5,000 named species and more new taxa waiting for description. Cantharids are characterized by elongated, soft and colorful bodies, are often found in forests and are usually observed visiting flowers. Cantharids are opportunistic predators of invertebrates and also feed on nectar or pollen. In January 2016, in collaboration with the Japanese entomologist Dr. Yûichi Okushima from the Kurashiki Museum of Natural History, Professor Chiun-Cheng Ko and colleagues from the Department of Entomology from the Department of Entomology and his colleagues published a study in the European Journal of Taxonomy. Prof. Ko supervised his undergraduate intern Yun Hsiao, working on his MOST College Student Research Project on the taxonomy of the Lycocerus hanatanii species group (Coleoptera, Cantharidae) from Taiwan. The team examined over 500 specimens from museum collections in Taiwan, Japan, UK, USA, France, Switzerland and Germany. They discovered four species new to science. One of the new species, Lycocerus evangelium, was named for the auspicious circumstances surrounding its discovery: evangelium means “good news” in Latin. The other three new soldier beetles are L. yitingi, L. kintaroi, and L. aurantiacus. L. yitingi and L. kintaroi are named after their collectors, Mr. Yi-Ting Chung and the late Dr. Kintaro Baba, respectively, and L. aurantiacus is named for its orange-fringed pronotum. Global biodiversity currently faces a variety of difficulties, and many species become extinct before they are described. The discovery of new species reminds us that there are still many unknown creatures in Taiwan waiting for discovery and that we should protect our precious homeland and environment. Ref. Yun Hsiao, Yûichi Okushima, Ping-Shih Yang, Chiun-Cheng Ko. 2016. Taxonomic revision of the Lycocerus hanatanii species group (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), with the description of new species from Taiwan. European Journal of Taxonomy 170: 1-33. DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2016.170 For further information, please contact: Yun Hsiao, Chiun-Cheng Ko Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University b01612009@ntu.edu.tw, kocc2501@ntu.edu.tw Reference Yun Hsiao, Yûichi Okushima, Ping- Shih Yang, Chiun-Cheng Ko. (2016). Taxonomic revision of the Lycocerus hanatanii species group (Coleoptera, Cantharidae), with the description of new species from Taiwan. European Journal of Taxonomy, 170, 1-33. DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2016.170. Chiun-Cheng Ko Department of Entomology kocc2501@ntu.edu.tw Yun Hsiao Department of Entomology b01612009@ntu.edu.tw