Brazilian researchers boost conservation with new insect find and blue macaw rescue

A scientific expedition in the Serra do Divisor National Park, Acre, Brazil, led by researchers from the State University of São Paulo, documented a previously unknown Reduviidae insect. The specimen was described as Bagriella meneguettii, marking the first record of its genus in more than a century. The discovery, published in the Journal of the International Heteropterists’ Society, highlights the region’s biodiversity and underscores concerns about habitat loss and deforestation in the Amazon frontier.

Separately, the Brazilian Institute Chico Mendes (ICMBio) transferred 69 ararinhas‑azuis (blue macaws) that tested negative for circovirus, along with two araras‑maracanãs, to the Cemafauna centre at the Federal University of the São Francisco Valley in Petrolina, Pernambuco. The move follows a judicial order after hygiene violations were found at the original breeding facility. Of 103 birds, 34 were positive for the virus; the 69 healthy individuals will remain in quarantine and receive further health monitoring as part of the program to re‑introduce the critically endangered species, which is extinct in the wild.