Legenary Beetle 02 – Nalanda komiyai

There are many Nalanda species in Taiwan. Our book “Jewel Beetles of Taiwan vol.1″ includes 10 among the 13 Nalanda species found in Taiwan. There 3 species that we do not cover. They are Nalanda takashii, Nalanda lagerstraemiae, and Nalanda komiyai. Today we are going to talk about the last one, Nalanda komiyai.

Nalanda komiyai was described by Japanese Buprestid beetle experts, Sadahiro Ohmomo and Koyo Akiyama in 1989. The beetle was discovered by Japanese Leaf-beetle scholar Yoshiaki Komiya at Da Yang mountain in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. At that time, there was only one single male specimen indicated as the holotype of the species. To memorize the collector Mr. Yoshiaki his name was assigned in the epithet. From what we learned from literature, Nalanda komiyai was very similar to Nalanda hideoi, another species that was commonly seen in southern Taiwan. Because there were too few samples, we once questioned that Nalanda komiyai was a variant species of Nalanda hideoi. However, a hand-drawn illustration of Nalanda komiyai’s genital serves as evidence of their existence. We decided to check out the specimen before making any judgment.

In order to see the only holotype, we visited the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tsukuba, Japan. Unfortunately, all we found was an empty box labeled with “Nalanda komiyai”. Perhaps someone just borrowed the specimen or it was stored in a wrong place. If the holotype was missing, then the existence of Nalanda komiyai would remain a legend forever. 

We thought this was the end of the story until we found a female beetle in Chiayi county, Taiwan. The beetle looked very much like the Nalanda komiyai described in the literature. This beetle is definitely not a Nalanda hideoi. It’s a pity that we only found one female beetle, and had no clues about its habits. In short, we found it by purely chance. 

It seems like the mystery of Nalanda komiyai will only be revealed, only iif someone ever discovers a male beetle again. 

The picture here is the likely-to-be female Nalanda komiyai. It has a unique indigo colour as if there is a whole milky way on its tiny body. If you like to know more about the Nalanda species found in Taiwan, please check out our new book, Jewel Beetles of Taiwan vol.1.

Reference:
Ohmomo, S. & K. Akiyama 1989. Notes on the Taiwanese Buprestidae (II). A revision of the genus Nalanda Thery, 1904 from Taiwan (Coleoptera, Buprestidae). Ent. Rev. Japan 44: 1-20.