New wasp species discovered in Norway
A brand new species of parasitic cuckoo wasp was discovered based on its clever use of pheromones

Date:
April 6, 2021
Source:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Summary:
Cuckoo wasps are notoriously difficult to tell apart. Now an
extremely rare species has been discovered based on the chemical
language it adopts from its host as part of its parasitism.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Cuckoo wasps -- also called emerald wasps -- are some of the most
beautiful insects we have, with colourful exteriors that shine like
jewels. However, these beauties have also created a lot of headaches.


========================================================================== "Normally we distinguish insects from each other by their appearance,
but cuckoo wasps are so similar to each other that it makes it difficult,"
says Frode O/degaard.

O/degaard is an insect researcher at the NTNU (Norwegian University of
Science and Technology) University Museum and belongs to the European
research group that has now described thia recent contribution to species diversity. The new species is very rare, and is only a single specimen
has been found on the Lista peninsula in Agder county in Norway.

For more than 200 years, insect researchers have struggled to
sort cuckoo wasps into the right "species boxes," and to determine
which characteristics are variations within a species and which are species-specific differences.

In the last 10 years, DNA barcoding has brought about a major breakthrough
by making it possible to distinguish different species of cuckoo wasps
from each other by looking at the differences in their genetic material.

"But it's not always that easy, either. In this case, we had two
cuckoo wasps with microscopic differences in appearance and very small differences in DNA," O/degaard says.



==========================================================================
"The next step was to look at the language of each of the wasps to find
out if they belonged to different species," he says.

Insects communicate with each other through pheromones -- in other words,
they have a chemical language. Very closely related species often have completely different languages to prevent them from interbreeding.

The cuckoo wasp is an insect with above-average linguistic abilities. They
are parasites, which means that they behave like cuckoos and lay their
eggs in the nests of other bees and wasps. The larvae grow quickly and
hatch before the host's eggs. Then they eat the eggs, the larvae and
the food supply that the host has arranged in the nest.

"When you live as a parasite, it's important not to be discovered, and therefore the cuckoo wasp has also learned the language of its host,"
says O/ degaard.

By conducting an ever-so-small language study, the researchers were able
to discover that the two almost identical cuckoo wasps did indeed belong
to different species. They use different hosts -- and that means that
they also speak completely different languages.



==========================================================================
"The evolutionary development associated with sponging off another
species happens very fast. That's why you can have two species that
are really similar genetically but still belong to different species,"
says O/degaard.

When a new species is described it has to be given a name, and Frode
O/degaard had the good fortune to receive the honour of naming the
newcomer.

"A naming competition was announced among researchers in Europe who work
with cuckoo wasps, and then the proposals that came in were voted on. It
turned out my proposal actually got the most votes!" O/degaard says.

"As mentioned, the new wasp is very similar to another species called
Chrysis brevitarsis, so the new species was named Chrysis parabrevitarsis, which means 'the one standing next to brevitarsis'." O/degaard was also responsible for giving the species its slightly simpler Norwegian name
of sporegullveps. He makes no secret of the fact that he found it great
to be able to name a new species.

"In a way, you place yourself in the perspective of eternity, because
that species will always have that name. There's something very
fundamental about it." The only known specimen of this cuckoo wasp has
been captured and pinned in an insect collection. So it may seem both
morally reprehensible and unnecessary that this one lone individual was
stuck onto a needle.

"Even with today's advanced methods, using live animals for studies like
this isn't possible, but collecting individual specimens fortunately
has no impact on the population," O/degaard says.

"The insects have enormous reproductive potential, and the size
and quality of the habitats are what determine the viability of the
population, not whether any specimens are eaten by birds or collected by
an insect researcher." He adds that the collected insects are absolutely crucial for researchers to be able to map and describe their diversity
and thus take care of viable populations for posterity.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Norwegian_University_of_Science_and_Technology. Original written by Frid Kvalpskarmo Hansen. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Villu Soon, Ruth F Castillo-Cajas, Niklas Johansson, Juho Paukkunen,
Paolo Rosa, Frode O/degaard, Thomas Schmitt, Oliver
Niehuis. Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profile Analyses Help Clarify
the Species Identity of Dry- Mounted Cuckoo Wasps (Hymenoptera:
Chrysididae), Including Type Material, and Reveal Evidence for
a Cryptic Species. Insect Systematics and Diversity, 2021; 5 (1)
DOI: 10.1093/isd/ixab002 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210406120720.htm

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