New insect species found near Singanallur Lake

COIMBATORE: Singanallur lake, which was declared an urban biodiversity conservation zone, got a feather in its cap when a new insect species was recently named after it. The newly discovered insect, Asphondylia singanallureusis, was first spotted near the lake by nature enthusiasts in 2015. Found attached to the jujube tree (Elantha maram), the insect intrigued researchers as it left galls on the tree leaves.

“I have been to many places, but I had not seen any other species causing leaf galls on the jujube tree except near Singanallur lake,” said D Vasanthakumar,  a researcher at Western Regional Centre of the ZSI in Pune. After exhaustive study over the next three years, the discovery was published in the peer-reviewed Zootaxa journal in March 2020 jointly by the Zoological Survey of India and the Centre for Urban Biodiversity Conservation and Education in Coimbatore. 

District Forest Officer D Venkatesh, along with the Director of Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding C Kunhikannan, on Sunday unveiled the characteristics of the new-found species during an event held on the occasion of World Wetlands Day.

Vasanthakumar, who was the author of the study, told TNIE that the species is host-specific as it can live only on the leaves of the jujube tree. During field studies, the researchers documented the life cycle of Asphondylia singanallureusis through its egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages.