Student discovers new beetle

On Saturday, May 2nd, Jeroen Dekker, student Natuur en landschapstechniek discovered, together with Tamar Braaksma, an unusual beetle in the vicinity of Nijmegen. Jeroen had a scoop, because until then the critter had not yet been sighted in the Netherlands.

"In my spare time I conduct research into beetles. Just as a hobby," Jeroen says. On a piece of dead wood, on a forest's edge, he discovered the conspicuous, red beetle. "After some research I found out that it was the Dictyoptera aurora, a species that is nonnative to the Netherlands."

Four days later Jeroen's discovery was confirmed by Mr. Cuppen, chairman of the department specialising in beetles of the Dutch Entomological Society. He had personally come to visit Jeroen to investigate the beetle.

'Mr. Cuppen was very pleased to see that I had saved the beetle. This species will be added to the list of fauna found in the Netherlands. I have handed over the beetle, and following a short investigation it will become part of the collection of the National Museum for Natural History in Leiden."

The story appeared in various media (in Dutch):

Van Hall Larenstein

Student discovers new beetle