A PhD scholar from the University of Adelaide has discover a new species of parasitical white Anglo-Saxon Protestant . The louse ’s lifecycle consists of injecting a subsist cat with testis so that the baby larvae can easy eat the caterpillar from the inside out . In a sense , the larvae grow to be cat - torturing wasps . As report in theJournal of Hymenoptera Research , this new white Anglo-Saxon Protestant is one of three new species in which this particular parasitic behavior has been honour .
This predatory demeanor is similar to the foreigner in the eponymous movie franchise , so the newfangled species was calledDolichogenidea xenomorph . The white Anglo-Saxon Protestant is about 0.5 centimeters in length , which might not seem much to us but is definitely plenty for the poor caterpillars .
" Dolichogenidea xenomorphacts as a parasite in caterpillars in a exchangeable way that the fictional Alien creature does in its human master of ceremonies , " lead researcher Erinn Fagan - Jeffries , PhD scholarly person at the University ’s School of Biological Sciences , read in astatement . " The white Anglo-Saxon Protestant is also black and shiny like the alien , and has a match of weird traits for the genus – so xenomorph , meaning ' unknown form ' , fits really well . "
D. xenomorphwas discovered in Queanbeyan in the Australian province of New South Wales . The researchers trust the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant has a much wider statistical distribution , peradventure across the entire country . These type of white Anglo-Saxon Protestant roleplay an important role in regularize the population of caterpillars , and similar species have been used to control agricultural pests . These three fresh species are a great find , with many other Australian white Anglo-Saxon Protestant waiting for names and description .
" We pile up over 500 wasps from a particular subfamily , from all over Australia , and determined that there were more than 200 different metal money just in that comparatively small number of specimen , " bestow senior author Professor Andrew Austin , Fagan - Jeffries ’ supervisor .
" There are currently only 100 species described in this subfamily for Australia , so we ’ve at least doubled the number of known species . It ’s significant to document our biodiversity so that we can make informed preservation decisions about our environs . Some of these wasps may potentially be useful biologic control agents for pests , but we just do n’t know about them yet . "
This is not the only capably named wasp that has been in the news this week . A whole bunch of these winged insects withcurious nameswere harbinger a few days ago .
