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In Australian rainforests, 24 new beetle species have suddenly come into focus, as the latest addition to the weevil genus Trigonopterus, according to scientists from the Zoological State Collection and the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe.

Even though Australia is well-known for its huge deserts and savannas, most of the local Australian species are known as part of the wet tropical forests in the east coast of northern Queensland. This is the site of the discovery of the beetle species.

Most of the new discoveries were gathered in the '80s and '90s by researcher Alexander Riedel, who co-authored the recent study.

"Usually, a delay of decades or even centuries occurs between the encounter of a new species in the field and its thorough scientific study and formal naming," he said in a press release. "This is due to the small number of experts who focus on species discovery. There are millions of unidentified insect specimens stored in collections around the world, but only a few people have the training necessary to identify those of special interest."

Most of the weevils were discovered in limited regions, with some found in just a single area, perhaps because of their lack of wings, which reduces their ability to spread. A number of them were discovered in leaf litter, which made the finding very difficult.

The findings were published in the Jan. 21,2016 issue of ZooKeys.