Overview
- A team of 16 specialists on the Cassai Life Atlas survey recorded dozens of taxa potentially new to science during a February 2026 expedition to the Lisima plateau.
- Field collections singled out specific undescribed finds including eight dragonfly species, three grasshoppers, about 60 moths and butterflies, a crowned crab spider that fluoresces under ultraviolet light, an armoured predatory cricket, and a ladybird‑mimicking orb‑web spider.
- Specimens are now undergoing specialist taxonomic study and peer review, a process expedition leaders say could take months or years before formal descriptions and scientific names are published.
- The plateau is a critical headwater for the Congo, Okavango, Zambezi and Cuanza river systems and was designated a Ramsar wetland in 2025, which conservationists are using to press for stronger on‑the‑ground protections.
- Researchers warn that increased access after mine clearance and road openings, together with artisanal diamond mining, tree felling and slash‑and‑burn farming, pose immediate threats to range‑restricted species and downstream communities that rely on Lisima’s water.