The world's largest campodeid dipluran named after the mythological giant Daidarabotchi

Two new to science dipluran species were discovered in touristic caves in the southern Japanese islands. Amongst them is the largest member of the campodeid family, aptly named after the giant Japanese creature Daidarabotchi. They belong to a genus so far known exclusively from a few caves scattered across the easternmost continental parts of Asia.Amongst the fauna thriving in the subterranean spaces below the surface of the earth's crust, the insect-like diplurans and, precisely, those in the campodeid family are one of the best-known groups, currently comprising almost 150 species. However, not a single subterranean member of the family had been known from Japan until very recently. 

Another remarkable finding from the same study is that the genus, where both new species were assigned -- Pacificampa -- serves as yet another example of the former physical connection between Asia and America some millennia ago. In their paper, the scientists note that the genus demonstrates close affinities with a genus known from North America.We hope that this discovery could stop the destruction of the land nearby and preserve for the future the subterranean habitat of these remarkable gigantic species.