Rove Beetle

Rove beetles are the world's largest group of animals that you've never heard of. There are over 57,000 species—and more are being discovered every day! As their name suggests, these wandering predators patrol their environment looking for insects or other creatures to eat. The beetles explore their world with their palps (fingerlike feelers near the mouth). When they find food, they subdue it with a chomp. Then they spit on it. And as the enzymes in their saliva dissolve the insect, the beetles slurp up a savory bug soup.

In 1977, a Field Museum scientist collected this tiny rove beetle specimen in the leaf litter of a Malaysian rainforest. It's barely larger than the head of a pin, so just imagine how little its prey must be! The beetle's identity remained a mystery until 1995, when Museum researchers were able to analyze and compare the specimen to others in the collection. As it turns out, Protopselaphus watrousi represented not just a new species, but also a new group that forms a missing link between two beetle families.