Ptomaphagus thebeatles n. sp., a previously unrecognized beetle from Europe, with remarks on urban taxonomy and recent range expansion (Coleoptera: Leiodidae)

What is it about?

It seems unlikely that new animal species can still be discovered in the busiest park of the capital city of one of the best studied countries in the world. Yet, with the help of citizen scientists (partly from the park's neighbourhood) we here name and describe a new beetle species from the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. The species was named P. thebeatles, after the band The Beatles, who, surprisingly, do not yet have a beetle named after them. We place this discovery in the context of an analysis of the group of species to which the new species belongs, and report that at least two of them, including P. thebeatles itself, have recently undergone range expansions: P. medius has moved east in Europe and has also crossed the Atlantic into Canada, possibly because it has been accidentally carried there by people. P. thebeatles has, in recent decades, moved from France into the Netherlands, which may be the result of climate change.

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