Date: March 27, 2017
Source: Pensoft
Publishers
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. LubomÃr 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.
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