parasitoid wasps

Inspiring a new generation of taxonomists

New species of Australian miracine wasps described with school students as part of the Insect investigators citizen science project

Guest blog post by Mollie Slater-Baker

It is estimated that only around 20% of the world’s insects are formally described. A formal description is the foundational understanding of a species, including a scientific name, information on how to identify the species, its biology, and where it can be found. With such a large proportion of our insects lacking this foundational information, we are left viewing the insect world through a very small window. This has major implications for conservation of insects and the ecosystems in which they play integral roles. It also limits our understanding of our natural resources, with the study of insects being valuable in a variety of fields, from healthcare and biochemistry, to biological pest control, to insect-inspired engineering.

Unfortunately, with a worldwide lack of taxonomic experts, limited funding, and the immense scale of describing the world’s insects, documenting our insect diversity before it’s lost to extinction is a considerable challenge. But this is where community engagement and citizen science can shine.

Experts in insect taxonomy “threatened by extinction” reveals the first European Red List of Taxonomists

The Insect Investigators citizen science project, which ran in Australia in 2022, aimed to involve schools throughout the taxonomic process, to contribute to large-scale collection and documentation of Australian insects, while fostering an appreciation for insect diversity and the role of taxonomy. Fifty rural schools from Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia participated by setting up Malaise traps (tent-like passive insect traps) to sample local invertebrates near their schools over four weeks. This project resulted in over 60 thousand insect specimens being collected from often under-sampled, more remote parts of Australia. The resulting specimens are preserved and deposited in Australian museums for future research, including taxonomic work.

Malaise traps set up at Kwoorabup Nature School (left) and Beerwah State High School (right) to sample insects as part of the Insect Investigators project.

Through this project, several schools were involved in collecting a rarely collected group of parasitoid wasps belonging to the subfamily Miracinae (aka miracine wasps). These tiny wasps (typically 1-2mm in length) are very difficult to collect using traditional methods, though they appear to be quite diverse in Australia. As parasitoids, miracine wasps require an invertebrate host to complete their lifecycle. For miracine wasps, this host is a leaf-mining caterpillar – the kind that eats small twisting tunnels on the inside of leaves. The wasps lay their eggs inside these caterpillars, and the wasp larvae hatch and eat the caterpillar from the inside out!

‘Insect soup’ – specimens collected via Malaise Trap at Kwoorabup Nature School.

Due to their caterpillar-eating biology, and the fact that they are picky eaters, usually targeting a specific species, these wasps can be used to control pests. For example, the miracine wasp species Mirax insularis in Puerto Rico, and Centistidea striata in Brazil, are known to attack coffee leaf-miners, a major pest of coffee plantations – so you may have one of these wasps to thank for your morning coffee!

As part of this project, we engaged with schools to involve them throughout the process of describing the miracine wasps they had collected. First, we ran in-person and online or hybrid workshops with the students to teach them about the new wasp they had discovered, and the taxonomic process involved in describing and naming it. The students then brainstormed a variety of creative names for the new species, which were collaboratively curated and voted upon to arrive at the final species names.

From Queensland, we have Mirax supremus, meaning ‘highest’ in Latin, named after the Pinnacle program at Beerwah State High School, which the students were a part of.

From South Australia, comes Ceduna Area School’s species, Mirax ceduna, named after the school and town the wasp was collected from (colloquially known as the ‘golden bum wasp’).

And from Kwoorabup Nature School in Western Australia (WA), Mirax kaatijan, meaning knowledge/learning in the Noongar language of the south-west region of WA, to represent the new knowledge the students had learnt about insect diversity, and the importance of knowledge about our insects.

Though the descriptions themselves are a small step towards the immense task of describing Australia’s insects, it was inspiring to see the students and their communities really engage with the process and build a connection with their local insects, and an appreciation for these tiny, often-overlooked wasps. We hope this project plays a role in inspiring the next generation of budding entomologists and taxonomists in Australia.

References

1. Stork, N.E., How Many Species of Insects and Other Terrestrial Arthropods Are There on Earth? Annual Review of Entomology, 2018. 63(1): p. 31-45.

2. Song, C., et al., Bee Sting-Inspired Inflammation-Responsive Microneedles for Periodontal Disease Treatment. Research (Wash D C), 2023. 6: p. 0119.

3. Mika, N., H. Zorn, and M. Rühl, Insect-derived enzymes: a treasure for industrial biotechnology and food biotechnology. Adv Biochem Eng Biotechnol, 2013. 136: p. 1-17.

4. Galli, M., et al., Can biocontrol be the game-changer in integrated pest management? A review of definitions, methods and strategies. Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection, 2024. 131(2): p. 265-291.

5. Gorb, S.N. and E.V. Gorb, Insect-inspired architecture to build sustainable cities. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2020. 40: p. 62-70.

6. Zhang, Y., A. Reid, and J.F.C. Windmill, Insect-inspired acoustic micro-sensors. Current Opinion in Insect Science, 2018. 30: p. 33-38.

7. Suzuki, K., et al., Development of water surface mobile robot inspired by water striders. Micro & Nano Letters, 2017. 12(8): p. 575-579.

8. Engel, M.S., et al., The taxonomic impediment: a shortage of taxonomists, not the lack of technical approaches. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2021. 193(2): p. 381-387.

9. Slater‐Baker, M.R., et al., First record of miracine parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Australia: molecular phylogenetics and morphology reveal multiple new species. Austral Entomology, 2022. 61(1): p. 49-67.

10. Navarro, P. and F. Gallardo, Host instar preference of Mirax insularis (Muesebeck) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a koinobiont parasitoid of Leucoptera coffeella Guerin-Meneville (Lepidoptera: Lyonetiidae). Journal of Agriculture- University of Puerto Rico, 2009. 93: p. 139-142.

11. Penteado-Dias, A.M., New species of parasitoids on Perileucoptera coffeella ( Guérin-Menèville) (Lepidoptera, Lyonetiidae) from Brazil. Zoologische Mededelingen, 1999. 73: p. 189-197.

12. Slater-Baker M-R, Guzik M, Rodriguez J, Howe A, Woodward A, Ducker N, Fagan-Jeffries E (2025) Three new species of Australian miracine parasitoid wasps collected by regional schools as part of the Insect Investigators citizen science project (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Miracinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 98: 19-45. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.98.137806

New oviposition behaviour spotted in parasitoid wasp

A female Eupelmus messene used her ovipositor to drill through the wall of a polystyrene Petri dish and laid her egg outside the dish.

The thin, flexible, and mobile ovipositor of some female insects, perfected over thousands of years of evolution, can carry substances and drill into various substrates. Although its structure is well studied, many of its functions remain a mystery.

Researchers from Saratov State University and Moscow State University spotted interesting, unusual oviposition behaviour in the parasitoid wasp Eupelmus messene: it used its ovipositor to drill through the wall of a polystyrene Petri dish and lay an egg outside the dish.

Drilling with the ovipositor through a plastic wall of a Petri dish by Eupelmus messene (A), a newly laid egg into the external environment (B), and UV fluorescent biological substance inside the perforations (C). ov – ovipositor, per – perforation, egg – egg.

This is the first time such behaviour has been observed and recorded.

E.messene is a parasitoid of the gall wasp Aulacidea hieracii, which forms a gall on the stems of the hawkweed Hieracium×robustum. The female of E.messene then drills the walls of the gall with its ovipositor in search of a gall wasp larva and, upon finding it, lays an egg next to it.

The researchers reared 56 females from galls of H.×robustum collected near Saratov, Russia. Of them, they placed 18 in Petri dishes without host galls, and later observed five of those wasps drilling into the walls of the Petri dishes.

The team followed the behaviour of one wasp: drilling each perforation in the polystyrene wall took more than two hours, during which the insect often paused to eat, drink water, or wash. In the end, it managed to completely pierce the plastic wall and lay an egg on the outside of the Petri dish. It drilled multiple holes, even after being transferred to a different Petri dish.

Eupelmus messene drilling the wall of the polystyrene Petri dish. Video by Matvey I. Nikelshparg, Evelina I. Nikelshparg, Vasily V. Anikin, Alexey A. Polilov

“We distinguished four steps of drilling: pushing movements, rotational movements, ejection movements, as well as the cementing step. However, in natural gall, we never observed ejection movements. We suppose that such a type of movement is required to rake out plastic particles, which is unnecessary for more elastic plant gall substrate,” write the authors in their study, which was published in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

After laying the egg, the female carefully cemented the drilled perforation with an unknown biological substance, likely to keep it safe from the impacts of changing temperatures, water, and microorganisms.

Unlike galls, which usually have an opaque and dense structure, the transparent Petri dish provided a clear view of the whole drilling and oviposition process, allowing the researchers to study it closely.

It is still unknown why the wasp behaved this way, but the scientists believe we can learn a lot from this observation: “Studying in detail the drilling behavior of parasitic mycrohymenopterans can be useful in medicine for the creation of minimally invasive guided probes in neurosurgery, the development of orthopedic surgical instruments, needle biopsies using functionally graded tools,” they write in their paper.

Research article:

Nikelshparg MI, Nikelshparg EI, Anikin VV, Polilov AA (2023) Extraordinary drilling capabilities of the tiny parasitoid Eupelmus messene Walker (Hymenoptera, Eupelmidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 96: 715-722. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.96.107786

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New wasp species discovered by researchers on Rice campus

“You don’t have to travel to a distant rainforest to find new and beautiful things — you just have to step outside and look.”

A newly identified wasp species, Chrysonotomyia susbelli, has been discovered in Houston, Texas, marking the 18th new species identified by Rice University’s Scott Egan and his research team since 2014. The discovery, the fourth wasp species found on the university grounds in seven years, reveals the hidden world of parasitoid wasps and the intricate ecosystems that thrive outside our doors.

*Chrysonotomyia susbell*i. Photo credit: Rice University

Chrysonotomyia susbelli is a parasitoid wasp, about 1 millimeter long, that emerges from galls, or tumorlike growths created by the gall wasp Neuroterus bussae found on southern live oak leaves. The galls serve as microhabitats within which larvae feed, develop and pupate. The research team’s study was published in the journal ZooKeys on Sept. 18.

Scott Egan, left, and Brendan O’Loughlin, right. Photo of Egan by Brandon Martin/Rice University. Photo of O’Loughlin courtesy of Rice University.

“Chrysonotomyia susbelli represents the sixth species of its genus described from North America and the first globally known to parasitize cynipid gall wasps,” said Egan, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

The wasp was discovered and named by Brendan O’Loughlin, a Rice senior and the study’s first author. “The wasp’s goldenrod color is almost identical to the official colors of Wiess College, my residential college,” O’Loughlin said.

To confirm the uniqueness of the species, the research team conducted a genetic analysis and a detailed study of the wasp’s physical features under a microscope. Its investigation also included a review of the historical literature to ensure that the species had not been previously described.

This research was complemented by DNA barcode data and observations of the wasp’s natural history, including host associations and a unique leaf-scanning behavior exhibited by female wasps. The researchers also modified the identification key of New World members, groups of species found exclusively in the Americas, to incorporate this new species.

Egan emphasized the importance of studying local biodiversity. “You don’t have to travel to a distant rainforest to find new and beautiful things — you just have to step outside and look,” he said.

The discovery hints at a previously unexplored ecological niche involving Chrysonotomyia parasitoids, cynipid gall wasps, and oaks, suggesting that there may be many more undiscovered species within this system.

“Generations of Chrysonotomyia susbelli have likely lived
unnoticed on the oaks of Rice University since its founding,” Egan said.

Co-authors of the study include Pedro FP Brandão-Dias, Ph.D. graduate of ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice and current postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington, and Michael Gates, parasitoid wasp specialist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Systematic Entomology Laboratory at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Originally published by Rice University. Republished with permission.

Research article:

O’Loughlin B, Brandão-Dias PFP, Gates MW, Egan SP (2024) Description of a new species of Chrysonotomyia Ashmead from Houston, Texas, USA (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Eulophidae). ZooKeys 1212: 241-254. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1212.127537

Alternative host-searching strategy reported for the ant parasitoid wasp Ghilaromma orientalis

“In our ten years of frantic observation, we were fortunate enough to observe the parasitic behavior of G. orientalis a single time.”

Guest blog post by Yu Hisasue, Kazuhiko Konishi, and Kenji Takashino

Parasitoid wasps have developed behaviors to adapt to the ecology of various hosts and overcome their means of avoiding parasitism. Host searching behavior is a crucial stage for parasitoids, not only for efficient host search, but also for competing with other parasitoids that exploit the same host as a resource. A variety of such behaviors has been reported, including utilizing chemical or sonic cues. Parasitoid wasps select their strategies based on their own morphology, their host, and the host’s habitat.

Parasitoid wasps that challenge the ant society are known to have highly specialized morphologies and behaviors.

Female of Ghilaromma orientalis hanging from the grass above the ant trail with her head facing the trail.

All members of the subfamily Hybrizontinae are ant parasitoids, and specialize to the ant society, representing the third most diverse group of ant parasitoid wasps after Eucharitidae and Neoneurini. The oviposition behavior has been reported for three species belonging to three different genera in Hybrizontinae: Ogkosoma cremieri, Neohybrizon mutus, and Hybrizon buccatus. In these species, the females hover over an ant trail, and when they come across ant larvae carried by workers, they attack and lay eggs on the ant larvae.

No reports have been made for oviposition behavior in the genus Ghilaromma. G. orientalis was suggested to be a specialist of Lasius nipponensis, but its oviposition behavior was unknown.

Female *Ghilaromma orientalis* using her front legs to contact an ant larva and directing her abdomen towards it, while maintaining a firm grip on the grass with her hind legs.

In our ten years of frantic observation, we were fortunate enough to observe the parasitic behavior of G. orientalis a single time. On 20 October 2015, Kenji Takashino observed the oviposition and took pictures of it on his phone.

He noticed that the female, hung on the grass growing along the ants’ trail on its hind legs with its head down, and when workers with larvae pass by, stretched its abdomen toward the larvae with its hind legs remaining on the grass.

We published these first observations of the oviposition behavior of G. orientalis in a research article in the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

Female Ghilaromma orientalis maintaining a firm grip on the grass with her hind legs while adjusting her body position to oviposition onto a larva being carried away by an ant.

There are different merits and demerits of the two strategies in Hybrizontinae. The active type has the advantage of covering a wider search area and enabling the movement of the parasitoid to areas where the ants carrying larvae are located. However, this strategy has the drawback that hovering of parasitoid wasps over an ant trail alerts the ants and prevents larva-carrying ants from exiting the nest entrance or covered area. In addition, ants have been observed to open their mandibles to threaten hovering wasps, which then occasionally fail to fly or get captured by worker ants.

Workers of *Lasius nipponensis* with their mandibles open, alerted to the hovering *Ogkosoma cremieri*.

The ambush type has the limitation of a narrow search area. As ant larvae are not always conveniently transported by workers close to the wasp, narrowing the search area directly leads to a decrease in parasitic opportunities. However, the ambush type strategy affords G. orientalis the advantage of laying eggs without being noticed by ants and in a narrow environment where wasps cannot fly in active type.

In addition, we report a new host ant (Lasius cf. fuliginosus) for G. orientalis. Some members of this species group are known to transport their larvae outside the nest. Therefore, it is plausible that G. orientalis may use not only a single ant species, but multiple L. fuliginosus-group species that have a habit of transporting larvae outside the nest.

Although we made only one observation of the wasp, we compared and discussed the other ecological information and parasitic behavior of closely related species using observations, literature, and studies on the parasitic behavior of other well-studied parasitoid wasps.

Research article:

Hisasue Y, Konishi K, Takashino K (2023) An alternative host searching strategy found in the subfamily Hybrizontinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 96: 629-639. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.96.106836

Death from below: the first video of a parasitic wasp attacking caterpillar underwater

Named after fictional monster Godzilla, a parasitic wasp becomes the first observed and filmed to dive underwater for several seconds, in order to attack and pull out caterpillar hosts, so that it can lay its eggs inside them before releasing them back in the water.

A very few species of parasitoid wasps can be considered aquatic. Less than 0.1% of the species we know today have been found to enter the water, while searching for potential hosts or living as endoparasitoids inside of aquatic hosts during their larval stage.

Within the subfamily Microgastrinae (family Braconidae), only two species have previously been recorded to be aquatic, based on their parasitism of aquatic caterpillars of moths. However, none has been known to actually dive in the water.

Recently, during their research work in Japan, Dr. Jose Fernandez-Triana of the Canadian National Collection of Insects and his team found and recorded on camera the first microgastrine parasitoid wasp that dives underwater for several seconds, in order to attack and pull out caterpillar hosts, so that it can lay its eggs inside them before releasing them back in the water.

Interestingly, the wasp, which was described as a new to science species in the open-access, peer-reviewed scientific Journal of Hymenoptera Research, was given the awe-striking name Microgaster godzilla, because its emergence out of the water reminded the scientists of the Japanese iconic fictional monster Godzilla.

In the video, the female wasp can be seen walking over floating plants as it searches for hosts, specifically larvae of the moth species Elophila turbata, which constructs a portable case from fragments of aquatic plants and lives inside it near the water surface. Once the wasp finds one of those cases, it first probes it repeatedly with its antennae, while moving around. Eventually, it forces the larvae to come out of the case and parasitizes it by quickly inserting its ovipositor. In some cases, the wasp has to submerge completely underwater for several seconds, in order to find and pull the caterpillar out of its case. To do this, the species has evolved enlarged and strongly curved tarsal claws, which are thought to be used to grip the substrate as it enters the water and looks for hosts.

A female wasp Microgaster godzilla seeks out a moth caterpillar, dives in the water and pulls it out of its case, in order to parasitize it by quickly inserting its ovipositor.
Video by Dr. Jose Fernandez-Triana

As for the curious choice of name for the new species, Dr. Jose Fernandez-Triana explains:

“The reasons why we decided to use the name of Godzilla for the wasp species are interesting. First, being a Japanese species, it respectfully honours Godzilla (Japanese: ゴジラ, Hepburn: Gōjira), a fictional monster (kaiju) that became an icon after the 1954 Japanese film of the same name and many remakes afterwards. It has become one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide. Second, the wasp’s parasitization behaviour bears some loose resemblance to the kaiju character, in the sense that the wasp suddenly emerges from the water to parasitize the host, similar to how Godzilla suddenly emerges from the water in the movies. Third, Godzilla has sometimes been associated, albeit in different ways, with Mothra (Japanese: モスラ, Hepburn: Mosura), another kaiju that is typically portrayed as a larva (caterpillar) or an adult moth. As you can see, we had biological, behavioural and cultural reasons to justify our choice of a name. Of course, that and having a bit of fun, because that is also an important part of life and science!”

Beyond unusual behaviours and funny names, Dr. Fernandez-Triana wants to emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary work and collaboration. The team that published this paper got to know each other at an international meeting devoted to biological control (The 5th International Entomophagous Insects Conference in Kyoto, Japan, 2017).

“I was very impressed by several presentations by Japanese grad students, which included video recordings of parasitoid wasp biology. As a taxonomist, I am always impressed with the quality of research done by colleagues in other fields. In this case, we saw an opportunity to combine our efforts to study the wasp in detail and, when we found that it was a new species, we described it together, including adding the filmed behaviour to the original description. Usually, taxonomic descriptions of parasitoid wasps are based on dead specimens, with very few details–often none–on its biology. Thanks to my biocontrol colleagues, we could add more information to what is known about the new species being described. Hopefully we can continue this collaboration and combined approach for future studies”.

Original source:

Fernandez-Triana J, Kamino T, Maeto K, Yoshiyasu Y, Hirai N (2020) Microgaster godzilla (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), an unusual new species from Japan which dives underwater to parasitize its caterpillar host (Lepidoptera, Crambidae, Acentropinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 79: 15-26. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.79.56162

Total of 21 new parasitoid wasps following the first ever revision of their genus

As many as twenty-one species of parasitoid wasps are described as new to science, following the first ever revision of their genus since its establishment back in 1893.

The study simultaneously updates the count of species within the genus (Chromoteleia) to 27 in total, produces a systematic revision of the world’s representatives of this group of wasps, expands their biogeographic knowledge, and clarifies their generic concept.

The monograph is published in the open access journal ZooKeys by a team of US and Canadian scientists, led by Hua-yan Chen, graduate student at the Ohio State University.

The wasps in the genus Chromoteleia are easily distinguished thanks to their large size in combination with their vivid colouration. Compared to other species in the family of platygastrid wasps, which normally measure merely 1 – 2 mm in length, the species in the studied genus range between 3 and 9 mm. Their uncommonly large, robust and elongated bodies is why the scientists assume that these wasps likely parasitise the eggs of orthopterans, such as grasshoppers, crickets and katydids.

A focal point in the study is the intriguing distribution of the wasps. While the genus is widespread throughout continental Mesoamerica, Central America and South America, and its distribution ranges from the Mexican state of Jalisco in the north all the way to Itapúa Department in Paraguay and Paraná in southern Brazil, the species C. congoana is a lone representative of the genus in Africa.

*The ‘lone’ African representative of the genus, Chromoteleia congoana.*

While dispersal from South America to Africa has been observed in the past in another genus of parasitoid wasps (Kapala), the scientists are not willing to reject the possibility of Chromoteleia wasps having been widely distributed across the Old World during a previous geological epoch. Such phenomenon, also known as a relict population, would not mean that the wasp group has subsequently ‘conquered’ the Neotropics and current species inhabiting the New World are rather remainders of once widespread insects.

To conclude their findings, the scientists examined specimens hosted in collections at twenty natural history institutions from around the globe, including the American Entomological Institute; American Museum of Natural History; Bernice P. Bishop Museum; California Academy of Sciences; Canadian National Collection of Insects; California State Collection of Arthropods; Florida State Collection of Arthropods; Instituto Alexander von Humboldt; Illinois Natural History Survey; Kansas University’s Natural History Museum; Museo del Instituto de Museo del Instituto de Zoologia Agricola; Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle; Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi; Lund Museum of Zoology at Lund University; Triplehorn Insect Collection at the Ohio State University; South African Museum; Texas A&M University’s Insect Collection; Bohart Museum of Entomology; University of Colorado; and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

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Original source:

Chen H-y, Talamas EJ, Valerio AA, Masner L, Johnson NF (2018) Revision of the World species of the genus Chromoteleia Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Scelioninae). ZooKeys 778: 1-95. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.778.25775

New parasitoid wasp likely uses unique saw-like spines to break out of its host body

About the size of a sesame seed, a new species of wasp from Costa Rica, named Dendrocerus scutellaris, has elaborate branched antennae that could be used for finding mates. Or hosts.

The new insect is described by PhD candidate Carolyn Trietsch, Dr. István Mikó and Dr. Andrew Deans of the Frost Entomological Museum at Penn State, USA, together with Dr. David Notton of the Natural History Museum in London, UK. Their study is published in the open access Biodiversity Data Journal.

The wasp is a parasitoid, meaning that its larvae feed on a live host insect. There are two types of parasitoids: ectoparasitoids, which lay their eggs on or near the host, so that the hatchling larvae can attach to and feed on the insect from the outside; and endoparasitoids, which lay their eggs directly inside the host, so that the larvae can eat them from the inside out.

Unfortunately, to puzzle out the new wasp’s lifestyle, the researchers could only rely on specimens collected back in 1985, which had spent the past few decades stored in the collections of the Natural History Museum of London before being loaned to the Frost Museum at Penn State for research.

What can you learn about a wasp’s lifestyle from specimens that are over 30 years old? Even though the new species has never been observed in the wild, researchers managed to learn a lot by looking at the wasps’ morphology, concluding that the species is likely an endoparasitoid.

The larva of an endoparasitoid wasp needs a safe place to develop and mature, so when it is done feeding on its host, it may stay inside the host’s body where it can develop undisturbed. Once it is fully grown, the adult wasp either chews or pushes its way out, killing the host if it isn’t already dead.

Unlike its close relatives, the new species does not have pointed mandibles for chewing. Instead, it has a series of spines along its back. While the wasp is emerging, it may rub these spines against the host and use them like a saw to cut open the body. Once emerged, it flies off to mate and continue the cycle.

“While their lives may sound gruesome, parasitoid wasps are harmless to humans and can even be helpful,” explain the scientists. “Depending on the host they parasitize, parasitoids can benefit agriculture by controlling pest insects like aphids that damage crops.”

It is currently unknown what the new species feeds upon, but naming the species and bringing it to attention is the first step in learning more about it.

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Original source:

Trietsch C, Mikó I, Notton D, Deans A (2018) Unique extrication structure in a new megaspilid, Dendrocerus scutellaris Trietsch & Mikó (Hymenoptera: Megaspilidae). Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e22676. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e22676

Of Star Trek, Mark Twain and helmets: 15 new species of wasps with curious names

A total of fifteen new species of parasitic wasps have been described from across the Neotropical region. Apart from belonging to a peculiar group of wasps distinct with large and elongated bodies, the new insects also draw attention with the curious names they have been formally assigned with.

Among them, there are species named after characters from the television series Star Trek and Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper, and five wasps bearing species names all translating to ‘helmet’. The study, conducted by graduate student Katherine C. Nesheim and Dr. Norman F. Johnson, both affiliated with the Ohio State University, USA, and Dr. Lubomír Masner, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, is published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The larvae of the studied wasps parasitise the eggs of lanternflies and planthoppers. These species inhabit exclusively the Neotropical region, with their range stretching from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the north to Misiones in southern Paraguay. Despite being quite abundant in the region, these insects have remained under-researched until recently.

One of the newly discovered wasp is named Phanuromyia odo, where the species name odo refers to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fictional character of the same name. In the popular sci-fi television series, Odo belongs to a species of shapeshifters called Changelings. The reason for the scientists to associate the parasitoid with the character is the spectacular variability observed within the insect species. In fact, it was this peculiarity that, at some point, led the entomologists believe they were dealing with two separate species.

The authors do not make a clear statement that the new species P. pauper has a name inspired by the famous novel The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. Instead, they justify their choice with the fact that the species lacks a specific morphological feature – thus making it ‘poor’. On the other hand, the authors confirm that the new species called P. princeps is of ‘blue blood’ indeed, having its name derive from the other main character of the same book. Furthermore, both species are reported to look a lot like each other.

Among the curious names in the list of new species, there are also five wasps whose scientific names all translate to ‘helmet’ in three different languages – Greek, Latin and Old Norse. The reason behind is that they have unusually large heads, which reminded the scientists of a “knight wearing a helmet”. Likewise, a related species received a name that in Latin means ‘wearing a hood’.

There is also a species, whose name means ‘having long hair’, and another called ‘constellation’ in Latin.

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Original source:

Nesheim KC, Masner L, Johnson NF (2017) The Phanuromyia galeata species group (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Telenominae): shining a lantern into an unexplored corner of Neotropical diversity. ZooKeys 663: 71-105. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.663.11554

Ottawa confirmed as the biodiversity hotspot for a subfamily of wasps in North America

What usually comes to mind when speaking about biodiversity hotspots are tropical regions, pristine areas and magnificent forests. Meanwhile, it is quite rare that a city in a temperate zone is considered significant in terms of biodiversity, much less mentioned as a hotspot. Yet, the city of Ottawa together with its surroundings, despite having population surpassing 1 million people, is now confirmed to be the locality in North America with the most recorded species of braconid wasps in the subfamily Microgastrinae, a group of parasitic insects that attack caterpillars and play an important role in the natural biocontrol of agriculture and forestry pests.

A study published in ZooKeys reports 158 species within 21 different genera of Microgastrinae for Ottawa. “To put this into perspective,” says Dr. Jose Fernandez-Triana, affiliated with the Canadian National Collection of Insects and lead author of the paper, “if Ottawa (a relatively small area of less than 7,800 km2) would be considered as a country itself, its species total would rank 17th among all countries in the world.”

There are close to 200 species of microgastrine wasps known from Canada and around 350 – from North America. Thus, the fauna in Ottawa equals to three quarters of the total recorded for the entire country, and almost half of all species in the Nearctic region. In fact, the diversity in the Canadian capital represents by far the highest number of species ever recorded for a locality in North America, a consequence of the city being a transition from an eastern deciduous forest biome to a boreal biome, with small areas of unusual habitats like dunes, alvars, floodplains and bogs.

Based on the analysis of almost 2,000 specimens, collected between 1894 and 2010, and housed in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, the paper also reports two new species for North America and two additional species records for Canada and Ontario, as well as dozens of new additions to the regional fauna. Seasonal distribution showed several peaks of activity, in spring, summer, and early fall.

The study highlights the incredible diversity of parasitoid wasps and how much remains to be discovered, even in temperate areas and/or city environments. “It is possible that southern localities in North America are eventually found to be more diverse than Ottawa,” notes Dr. Fernandez-Triana. “But for that to happen one would need to find an area that has a variety of habitats and has also been thoroughly sampled over the years, with thousands of specimens available for study.”

“In the meantime,” jokes the scientist, “the citizens of the Canadian capital will have the bragging rights in North America, at least for microgastrine wasp diversity.”

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Original source:

Fernandez-Triana J, Boudreault C, Buffam J, Mclean R (2016) A biodiversity hotspot for Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) in North America: annotated species checklist for Ottawa, Canada. ZooKeys 633: 1-93. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.633.10480