A new group of beetles that really do wear their hearts on their sleeves, have been discovered in a rainforest in Belize.

The 'enigmatic and poorly understood' genus, Ivierhipidius, has a heart-shaped leg joint and a one-track mind.

The randy beetles' only raison d'être is to mate – but it is not thought to be a romantic creature, being closely related to parasites.

The 'enigmatic and poorly understood' genus, Ivierhipidius, has a heart-shaped leg joint and a one-track mind. The new genus was been discovered from specimens collected in a rainforest in Belize

Natural History Museum beetle collections manager, Max Barclay has described Ivierhipidius for the first time after spotting two winged male specimens among a sample of several thousand mixed insects collected on a field trip in Central America.

They have a prominent heart shaped trochanter, which connects the upper leg to the abdomen and is different from any other beetle.

Dr Barclay found more specimens by searching in collections of the famous London museum.

Natural History Museum beetle collections manager, Max Barclay has described Ivierhipidius for the first time after spotting two winged male specimens among a sample of several thousand mixed insects collected on a field trip in Central America. Ivierhipidius paradoxus is pictured top and Ivierhipidius youngi, bottom

The beetles have a prominent heart shaped trochanter (pictured left), which connects the upper leg to the abdomen and is different from any other beetle. Ivierhipidius paradoxus, was found in Honduras, Belize. A stock image of a track running through the rainforest is pictured right

The beetle collection includes more than half of the 400,000 known beetle species making it the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world.

The four new species are: Ivierhipidius paradoxus, found in Honduras, Belize, Ivierhipidius monneorum of Brazil, Ivierhipidius Youngi of Ecuador and Ivierhipidius cechorum, collected in Argentina.

LOVE ME DO: BIZARRE AND MATING RITUALS OF BEETLES Death-watch beetles bang their heads against the walls of their wooden homes to entice female into their tunnels. Stag beetles wrestle with other males to compete for females, using their large mandibles. Some male flour beetles mate with other males half of the time and female seed beetles mount other females. Female seed beetles have to endure rough sex, as males hard a spiky penis. They kick males during mating to keep the frenzied trysts as short as possible. Advertisement

'All of the specimens so far have been male – we have yet to see a female,' he said.

'Its closest relatives are parasites developing inside other insects.

'We don't yet know what its heart-shaped joint is used for, but we do know that the males don't even have a functional mouth to eat, so their only purpose is to search for mates.

'They certainly have a one-track mind.'

The study says: 'Adult males of the new genus are amongst the least modified of all Ripiphoridae [a family of beetles containing 450 species].'

Beetles are the largest group of organisms on the planet, playing a critical role in ecosystems.

'One in five of living creatures is a beetle, and we are still uncovering new species today, even some with new modifications of body parts that disclose more about their evolution and way of life,' Dr Barclay said.

The beetle collection at Natural History Museum includes more than half of the known beetle species on Earth, making it the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world.