‘Graceful’ creatures — named after stilettos — discovered as new species in Madagascar

On the island nation of Madagascar, a group of researchers set up a series of tent-like traps in the hope of catching insects as they flew through the rainforest.

Called Malaise traps, the mesh material is able to stop even the smallest critters and collect them for the researchers to study.

The traps were placed around the country, from the eastern coast on the Indian Ocean to the western coast on the Mozambique Channel, separating the island from the African mainland.

For years the traps were emptied every 10 days, allowing the researchers to take a closer look at the tiny fauna of Madagascar.

Caught in their nets was not just one new species, but three — an entirely new genus.

In a study published in the European Journal of Taxonomy on April 19, the researchers describe three new species of stiletto flies.

The “relatively small” insects have an elongated body, much like the shape of the heel of a stiletto shoe, according to Biodiversity Works.

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The species are now part of the genus Rinhatiana, a name chosen to honor two “key personnel” who worked on the insect collection project, according to the study.

The flies have yellowish-brown bodies, small heads, long legs and iridescent wings that catch the light, photos show.

All three new species included in the genus — Rinhatiana arctifestuca, Rinhatiana cracentis and Rinhatiana latifestuca — are only a few millimeters long, and live in thick forest habitats, the researchers said.

Their names mean “slender” and “graceful,” according to the study, one with a “narrow” stalk and another with a “broad” stalk.

They have flat faces, with compound eyes, and can be differentiated from other stiletto fly genera from the “setulae,” or bristles along the back side of their wings.

Stiletto flies are a generally unknown group of flies, according to the Illinois Natural History Survey, because the adult flies are “usually secretive” and rarely go in places where collectors could catch them.

The larvae of stiletto flies are predatory, the survey says, and can be used as control agents in agricultural settings, meaning they would prey on potential pests.

Madagascar is an island nation off the coast of Mozambique in southeastern Africa.

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