New Brazilian wasps discovered

From Science, Space & Robots:

Two New Wasp Species Discovered in Brazil

Scientists have discovered two new wasp species in Brazil. One of the newly discovered wasp species, Abernessia capixaba, (pictured) is a gorgeous black color. The large wasps are about 3 centimeters in length. They belong to the rare pompilid genus Abernessia, which now consists of four species following the discovery of two new species.

The wasps parasitize spiders. Females of the wasps sting a spider and lay one egg on its abdomen. The wasps then put the spider in a specifically built net and bury it. The scientists discovered a connection between the sizes of prey and size of the offspring of the wasps. They say the larger wasps are believed to appear from nests containing larger prey.

Dr. Waichert, Utah State University, said in a statement, “There is a positive correlation between size of the spider preyed and size of the wasp produced in the next generation.”

The research paper was published here in ZooKeys.

Posted on November 26, 2013

Related articles

• 2 new beautiful wasp species of the rare genus Abernessia (eurekalert.org)
• Two New Species of Wasps Discovered in Brazil (sci-news.com)
• Wasp Genus Abernessia Gets Two New Species (news.softpedia.com)
• New Borneo wasp discovery, named after naturalist Wallace (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Ants and bees are evolutionary ‘sisters’ (futurity.org)
• Spider captures Potter Wasp (in my lab!) (newswatch.nationalgeographic.com)
• 277 New Wasp Species Found in Costa Rica (natureworldnews.com)
• University of Illinois Credited with Discovering 227 New Wasp Species in Costa Rica (hispanicallyspeakingnews.com)