New group of wasp species discovered in India

A team of Indian researchers has discovered a unique group of five new wasp species from different parts of the country.

The new species belong to the large worldwide genus of wasps called Idris Forster, comprising species that exclusively parasitise the eggs of spiders dwelling in vegetation and leaf litter.

Because of their uniqueness and their strong resemblance to each other, the new wasp species from India have been considered as constituting a group of their own.

Among the unique features that bring together the new five species, discovered by Veenakumari Kamalanathan from National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bangalore, and her team are the long hair-like structures along the margins of both of their wings.

Because of their uniqueness, "a new species group 'the adikeshavus-group' from India is proposed", the researchers wrote.

The proposed name of the group adikeshavus, means 'first one to have long hairs' in Sanskrit.

The tribe to which the new five wasp species belong is characterised by its exclusive preference for spider eggs.

Furthermore, all these species have a uniform length of one to two mm as a result of their getting used to parasitising relatively medium-sized spider eggs.

The discovery was reported in the journal Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift.