By browsing through the image portfolios posted by Flickr users, scientists have managed to identify a new species of lacewing. They are fragile insects, with soft bodies and transparent wings, which during their larval phase greedily devour other insects.
Specifically, it was portrayed by an amateur photographer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and observed by a hermatologist. The distinctive pattern of its wings, with black markings and two white dots, aroused the suspicion of an entomologist who happened to see it. The photographer released the insect after photographing it, so researchers will have to wait to find another specimen in the area to officially announce their discovery , according to the scientific journal ZooKeys.
The discovery of the species, baptized as Semachrysa jade, has been highlighted as a representative example that collaboration between nature photographers and "laboratory" scientists is easier thanks to new technologies and social networks.
