Studies are ongoing on a new beetle species found in Lishui's Jiulong National Wetland Park. [Photo/Tide News]

A new species of beetle has been named after Jiulong National Wetland Park – in Lishui city, East China's Zhejiang province – where it was discovered by scientists.

The beetle, dubbed Physomerinus jiulongensis, belongs to a diverse group of the insect that preys on small arthropods such as springtails and fly larvae. It has a yellow appearance and six legs and prefers to live in relatively humid environments.

The new species was found by a biodiversity survey team from the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, during their research expedition to Jiulong National Wetland Park last year.

After rigorous and detailed research and analysis, as well as molecular phylogenetic analysis, the team identified it as a new species of the Physomerinus genus.

A paper on it was published in Zookeys, an international journal featuring comprehensive research on animal biology, in January this year.

Liang Hongbin, an associate researcher at the Institute of Zoology, said that Jiulong National Wetland Park has an excellent environment and insects are an important link in the ecosystem. Liang said it was hoped that more new species would be found there in the future.

Jiulong National Wetland Park covers an area of 1,816 hectares and is part of the Oujiang River system. As the largest contiguous river wetland in Zhejiang, the park currently has 452 plant species, 289 insect species and 399 vertebrate species.