Analyn Cabras is finding more than she bargained for in her search for beetles in the Philippines.

By Brenna Maloney

Before you read

Wildlife and Wild Places

Life Science

As you read, think about how one scientist’s research can impact a field of study.

07/07/2024 00:49:42

Analyn Cabras is a biologist. She studies living things. She’s also a taxonomist. She puts living things into categories. Cabras is a conservationist who works to protect living things. And she’s a coleopterist. That means, she studies beetles.

Studying beetles is a big field. Earth is home to more than 400,000 species of beetles. They can be found on every continent but Antarctica. They can live where it’s hot or cold. They can live where it’s wet or dry. Some can barely be seen. Others are almost too big to hold in one hand.

Cabras does her research in mountainous regions on the Philippine island Mindanao.

This beetle is about the size of Cabras' thumbnail.

Cabras looks for beetles on Mindanao. It is an island in the Philippines. In the rainforests, she sneaks up on small shiny beetles from the weevil family.

“You have to be very, very careful,” Cabras says. “If they sense you coming, they fall to the ground.” Then, they’re difficult to find.

Philippines

ASIA

Cabras uses a magnifying glass to get a closer look at a beetle.

Island Surprises

The island keeps her busy. Little is known about what lives there. “Here in Mindanao, we have so many mountains which are still unexplored,” she says. Cabras sees her job as recording what is there. She looks at how the beetles relate to each other and the world.

So far, her work has been full of surprises. “It feels like every time we go into the field, we discover at least one new species,” she says. Cabras and her team found four new species in one small stretch.

It sounds simple, but you have to know what to look for. And you have to be patient. At first, Cabras didn’t find much. But, the more she went into the field, the more she found.

Know Your Scientist

In her work studying beetles, Analyn Cabras plays many roles:

Biologist:

an expert on living organisms

Coleopterist:

a person who studies or collects beetles

Conservationist:

a person who acts for the protection of the environment and wildlife

Ecologist:

an expert in the relations of organisms to one another and to their natural surroundings

Taxonomist:

a biologist that names and groups organisms into categories

07/06/2024 08:17:40

Finding Something New

Cabras takes great care when she thinks she’s found something new. She signals to her teammates to stop moving. She doesn’t want any sudden movements to scare off a beetle. Then she tries to take a photograph of the scene. “I usually take photos of their food plant and habitat,” she says. This gives information to taxonomists as well as ecologists and conservationists.

When the beetles feel vibrations on tree leaves, they fall to the ground. They are very hard to find in dead leaves.

teammates working in a forest

Many jewel weevils, for example, have ranges as tiny as one patch of forest. They eat only certain plants. It is vital, then, to conserve the plant if you hope to conserve the beetle.

A Fuller Picture

There’s another reason why Cabras tries to record the scene: “For some of my colleagues, this is the first time they are seeing the species alive,” she says. If possible, Cabras collects a beetle as a sample. Then it can be looked at in the lab.

This beetle would become important to Cabras’ research. She discovered a new species that looked similar.

Cabras uses a microscope to look closely at beetles.

This work requires special skills. “You have to train your eyes to look into the microscope. But you also have to train your hands,” Cabras says. Beetles must be cut apart to see what is inside them. That means good eyes and steady hands. But, Cabras can’t always trust what she sees.

Weevil Wonders

Jewel weevils, for example, sparkle like gems. Their elytra, or wing covers, shimmer with colors from turquoise and gold to orange and pink. This makes them easy targets for predators. But weevils want to be seen. Color is a warning: Don’t eat me. I taste bad.

This is called aposematism. The animal lets its predator know that it is not worth eating. Bright colors, sounds, and odors can warn predators. Cabras didn’t realize how much this was going to affect her research.

This leaf beetle looks like some jewel weevils.

07/07/2024 18:39:53

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