SINGAPORE - A new “Singapore citizen” has been discovered living on the roadside at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Researchers at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum at NUS’ Faculty of Science announced the discovery of a new species of mirid plant bug, Campylomma singapura, in a research paper published on March 24.

The paper, titled Two Cryptic New Species Of The Plant Bug Genus Campylomma Recently Discovered In Japan And Singapore, was published in science journal Zootaxa. The findings were also announced in a social media post by the museum on April 7.

Mirids, also known as plant bugs, are small terrestrial insects that typically feed on plants. However, mirids from the genus Campylomma are known to feed on both insects and plants and are sometimes employed as biological control agents against agricultural insect pests for this reason.

Campylomma singapura, for instance, has also been observed to feed on thrips - a small insect commonly associated with flowers.

The new species was co-discovered by Dr Hwang Wei Song, Senior Curator of Insecta at the museum, Dr Tomohide Yasunaga, a world expert on mirid plant bugs, and self-taught local naturalist Yap Ee Hean.

In 2024, two other samples were also collected from sea hibiscus plants across the island, and after all were examined closely in the lab, it was determined that they were a new species.

Dr Hwang said the discovery was based on the study of all 14 specimens collected. He explained that the specimens, measuring around 2mm in length, had to be delicately dissected and meticulously compared with other known species before determining its identity.