New insect species discoveries in Dutch Limburg

In the Sint-Pietersberg mountain in Maastricht in Limburg province in the Netherlands there used to be a quarry. Many mosasaurs and other animals from the age of dinosaurs have been found there.

Now, much smaller, still living, animals have been discovered.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Phorid flies, Limoniinae crane flies, lance flies …. In the ENCI quarry at Sint-Pietersberg, 30 insect species were found that were not yet known in the Netherlands. Two appear to be completely new to science, a dance fly and a fungus gnat, researcher Paul Beuk announced in Vroege Vogels on NPO Radio 1.

The Natural History Museum in Maastricht placed an insect trap half a year ago on a slope of the Sint-Pietersberg. It was excavated for centuries to get marl, but since that stopped in July this year, it became a nature reserve.

According to Beuk, the trap produced more animals than expected: he has already identified more than 200 species. Beuk thinks that the great diversity comes from the different biotopes in the area and the favorable approach path on the slope.