The Ultimate Wal-Mart Find For an Entomologist

​It was a rare moment for bug lovers, where media outlets all over the US were talking about insects. In case you missed it, what was with all the metaphorical buzz? Well, TL;DR: a rare Jurassic-era insect was quietly discovered at a Wal-mart in Fayetteville, Arkansas over ten years ago. This went unnoticed until 2020, and, even stranger, no one really talked about it until 2023. So, if you STILL somehow haven’t heard the news, read on to read the bizarre story of a diagnostician’s rare and exciting discovery that truly is one for the history books!

Jurassic Park…. ish

Even experienced diagnosticians and entomologists are known to make an oversight or two! Dr. Michael Skvarla, who is the director of Penn State University’s Insect ID Lab, snagged an (unbeknownst to him) incredibly rare specimen back in 2012 while doing routine shopping at his local Walmart. He recounted to many news outlets that he was walking into the store to simply grab some milk when on the way inside, he saw a huge insect that caught his eye.
 
As entomologists are apt to do, he performed a quick collection on the spot and gently plucked the sizeable bug from its resting place. He described spending the rest of his shopping trip with the specimen in hand. After getting it home, he mounted it, and told reporters that he forgot to do anything with it until 2020. Thinking it was an antlion, he was describing the Jurassic-era specimen to students in his online course when, in real time, he realized he had misidentified the insect. Even more notably, he and his students all got to come to the same conclusion together while they watched the situation unfold online during a lab course.

This is the photo that was shared like crazy by media outlets and entomologists across the US. The photo represents the species Polystoechotes punctata, or, the giant lacewing. Photo credit belongs to Michael Skvarla at Penn State—the discoverer of this Jurassic-era relic.

A Specimen From Another Era

​Rather than an antlion, according to molecular tests, the specimen was actually a giant lacewing species that predates the dinosaurs. These insects were once common here in the US (even after the extinction of dinosaurs), but they basically disappeared by 1950. No one really knows why, but some cite light pollution and urbanization as probable causes. The discovery is a very rare find given that these insects have been absent from the US for decades. In addition, this recent sighting was the first report of this species in the state of Arkansas, ever. The next closest sighting of another one of these creatures is reported to be over 1,200 miles away. That makes this finding this lacewing in Arkansas rare enough, but even more spectacular—it is the first sighting from the whole of Eastern North America in over 50 years.
 
How did this rare find end up on the side of a Walmart? Perhaps it was attracted to the lights and flew from a more wooded area, “like a moth to a flame”, if we’re being cliché? Or, maybe it hitchhiked in from a western Walmart truck? Either way, researchers are emphasizing this moment as a time to reflect on and further study the biodiversity found in the Ozarks, an area (clearly) teeming with life, but understudied compared to the Southern Appalachian Mountain region.
 
The specimen can now be found in the Frost Entomological Museum at Penn State University. A publication also resulted from the find and can be accessed using this link. Insects rarely make headlines, but this is a great example of the wonderment that can ensue when insects are given a just a bit of the limelight!

Please Note...

This week’s post was developed from a press release sent out by Penn State that can be found here: https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/rare-insect-found-arkansas-walmart-sets-historic-record-prompts-mystery/