Angola expedition finds dozens of potential new insect species

A remote plateau in eastern Angola has produced a haul of insects that scientists say could redraw parts of the country’s biodiversity map, from eight potential new dragonflies to about 60 butterflies and moths that may not yet have names. The February expedition to the Lisima plateau in Moxico Province brought together 16 African and international specialists for the Cassai Life Atlas survey, with support from Fundação Lisima and The HALO Trust.

The numbers point to a landscape that has been badly undercounted rather than biologically ordinary. The team recorded 103 dragonfly and damselfly species in the Lisima region, lifting the known total there to 163. Of those, 34 had not previously been recorded from Lisima, and six were added to Angola’s national list. Eight undescribed dragonfly species first detected in 2019 are now being formally described, a reminder that discovery in this corner of Angola often begins years before a species can be named.

The insect tally widened beyond dragonflies. The survey logged more than 1,000 butterflies and moths, including eight moths that appear to be undescribed, and preliminary estimates suggest as many as 6% of all recorded moth species could be new to science. It also documented 47 grasshopper, katydid and cricket taxa, three of which were new to science. Among the more striking finds were a crowned crab spider that glows blue under ultraviolet light and an undescribed copper caterpillar and its adult copper butterfly. Other samples, from frogs and reptiles to bats, plants, beetles and scorpions, still need laboratory study.

What makes Lisima more than a collector’s prize is its position in the Angolan Highlands Water Tower, a source zone that feeds the Congo, Okavango, Zambezi and Cuanza river systems. Water from the plateau sustains ecosystems and communities thousands of kilometres downstream, including the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Okavango Delta. National Geographic sources have said the delta receives 95% of its inflow from the southeast part of the highlands, and a 2023 paper identified the Angolan Highlands Water Tower as its primary source. National Geographic has also reported that 11 major rivers in southern Africa trace their headwaters to Angola.

The expedition also exposed why so much remains undiscovered. Decades of civil war, persistent landmines and extreme remoteness left the region almost entirely uncharted by scientists. Rob Taylor said the survey was extremely difficult but worth it, and that publishing all the findings could take months or even years. Laurinda Mandela de Fraga said the work offers an opportunity to deepen knowledge of Angola’s biological heritage for future generations. The discoveries at Lisima are not just a list of unusual insects; they are evidence of how incomplete the biodiversity record still is, and of how much could be lost before it is ever properly known.