Probably the strangest insect I have ever seen.
This bizarre creature is actually a beetle and this one is a female. The males are normal, unremarkable looking beetles and as a result they remained undiscovered to science for a long time. Even these day to identify a male trilobite beetle you usually need to look at its DNA.
The females on the other hand are unmistakable because for some reason they never undergo metamorphosis and so remain in the larval form their whole lives, a condition known at neoteny.
These rare insects live in forests of South East Asia. My partner found this one and about six others on the same rotting log in a forested valley near Bandung in Java, Indonesia and are the only ones I have ever seen. I look forward to hunting for them again one day!
@timspawls
Interesting is it like a kind of trilobite?
It's called a Trilobite beetle. Should have put that in the title. Not related to trilobites though. Those poor buggers went extinct before the dinosaurs turned up.
Hmm... I am sure there are some trilobites still lurking somewhere, maybe in lake Vostok in Antarctica. =) Thanks for sharing!
Hahaha. Well, if you find them let me know! :D
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Very interesting! What's the scale on this? I can't tell how big it is
Hi @Kieranstone. I'm looking through my other pics to see if there is anything to relate to but I seem to have neglected that. Next time I will put a coin or something in the pic but I recon this one was about 1.5-2 Inches long. Loving the Hooker Valley shot by the way!