Sleepy Hollow has its headless horseman and now Montana has a headless ladybug. The newly discovered insect tucks its head into its throat – making it not only a new species but an entirely new genus, or larger classification of plants and animals. Ross Winton captured the insect in 2009 in traps he set in a sand dune while an entomology graduate student at Montana State University. Winton, now a wildlife technician in Idaho, at first thought he had parts of an ant but then discovered the bug can hide its head, much like a turtle ducking into its shell. Winton sent his discovery to scientists in Australia working on this group of insects and the headless ladybug was formally described in a recent issue of the peer-reviewed journal Systemic Entomology. However, the new species – Allenius iviei – was named after his former professor and Montana State University entomologist Michael Ivie. “It’s a whole new kind of ladybug.
Rare ‘headless’ ladybug discovered in Montana
