(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – Dr. Paul De Luca, an Assistant Professor of Biology with the University of the Bahamas (UB), who has conducted research at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, over several years, gave a lecture about one of his significant insect species findings during the course of that research at the Preserve on Monday evening, November 7th, 2016. He described coming upon a species of katydid (grasshopper/cricket family) in 2013 which had not been previously recorded (undescribed to science – with no designated scientific name).
He illustrated the process of collecting specimens for verification of the undescribed species, and explained how the new scientific name was chosen, by identifying the most closely related genus it might belong to (Erechthis), and honed in on the differences that separated it as a new species at the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences. It was named after Leon Levy to commemorate where it was found and the contributions made to Eleuthera by the unique Preserve (E. levyi). Dr. De Luca’s findings are expected to be published in the December 2016 issue of the Journal of Orthoptera Research, which will be made available in pdf form on the Levy Preserve website for interested readers (www.levypreserve.org). E. levyi or the ‘blue faced katydid’ is classified in the insect order – Orthoptera. Research will now continue into Dr. De Luca’s working theory of the newly identified species being endemic to the Bahamas and its distribution throughout the Bahama islands. To date, Dr. De Luca revealed, 307 resident species have been identified at the diverse Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve site, a number which is expected to quadruple as work continues.
