Six New Scarab Beetles Discovered in India

In a major boost to India’s biodiversity documentation, scientists have discovered six new species of scarab beetles (Subfamily: Sericinae) in Northeast India and the Western Ghats, as published in Zootaxa. Species like Maladera champhaiensis (Mizoram), Maladera onam (Kerala), and Serica subansiriensis (Arunachal Pradesh) reflect the rich endemism of the Eastern Himalayas and Western Ghats, both key biodiversity hotspots. The research, led by Dr. Devanshu Gupta, Dr. Debika Bhunia, Dr. Dirk Ahrens, and Dr. Kailash Chandra, was based on specimens from the Zoological Survey of India and supported by Germany’s Museum A. Koenig, also contributing 28 new state records.