The new species Atree rajathae. Credit: ATREE
Entomologists have discovered a new parasitic wasp in a tiger reserve in the Western Ghats1. The researchers say the wasps could be used for biological control of crop pests, as they are natural predators of other insects.
Scientists at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in Bangalore collected insect specimens using specific traps in the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
The researchers, led by Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan and A. P. Ranjith, carefully analysed the morphological features of each insect they trapped. They found a distinct type of insect with a mostly brownish-black body, except for its antenna, mandible, fore and mid legs.
After comparing the insect with other wasps worldwide, they put it in a new genus, Atree, named after ATREE. They called the species Atree rajathae and, after considering their morphological affinities, transferred two known species of wasps to the new genus.
Atree belongs to the tribe Diospilini, a taxonomic rank above genus, but below family and subfamily. Diospilini consists of 13 genera and 125 species, most of which are distributed in Europe, Northern Africa and parts of Asia. Atree rajathae is the first report of the tribe Diosplini from India.
The tiger reserve is in the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats. The biosphere has rich plant diversity but its insect diversity is largely unexplored.
“A thorough exploration of the insect diversity can reveal the biogeography of the region and the importance of insects in sustaining life on earth,” says Rajan.
