four species of Euwallacea
The four newly delineated species of the Euwallacea fornicatus species complex are, from left to right, E. fornicatior, E. fornicatus, E. whitfordiodendrus, and E. kuroshio. The wood-boring beetles known as various kinds of “shot hole borers” are so similar in morphological characteristics while also variable in body dimensions that their appearance can’t be reliably used for differentiating specimens. (The four shown here vary in size but some of their cousins within each species can all range from 1.8 to 2.9 millimeters long.) New research has used molecular genetic techniques to identify the different species within the complex. (Photo credit: Demian Gomez)