Meet Franklin Howley-Dumit Serulle, whose online insect photo helped reveal a new hoverfly

PC: Swiss Academy of Sciences A photograph shared online has helped scientists identify a hoverfly species that had remained a mystery for years. The insect, named ‘Monoceromyia ndidiae’, was photographed in the Dominican Republic and posted on iNaturalist. Its unusual appearance caught the attention of an entomologist, who began asking whether the fly represented something unknown.The mystery was finally solved when researchers found a corresponding specimen during a field expedition to Valle Nuevo National Park. Laboratory work at the University of Lausanne confirmed that it was an undescribed species. According to the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), the discovery has earned the Swiss Systematics Society’s New Species of the Year 2026 title, highlighting how amateur observations can help reveal biodiversity.How Franklin Howley-Dumit Serulle’s photograph helped scientists discover a new hoverflyFranklin Howley-Dumit Serulle is an amateur naturalist whose interest in insects led him to photograph the unusual hoverfly in the Dominican Republic. He shared the photograph on iNaturalist, where it caught the attention of researchers because the insect could not be identified with cer...