Museum Names Wasp Genus After Attenborough's 100th Birthday

Scientists at London's Natural History Museum have named a newly discovered genus and species of parasitic wasp, Attenboroughnculus tau, after broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough to mark his 100th birthday on May 8. The 3.5-millimeter-long insect, collected in Chile's Valdivia province in 1983, had remained unclassified in the museum's collections for over four decades until recent analysis revealed its unique traits.

Principal curator of insects Gavin Broad led the study, published Thursday in the Journal of Natural History, with volunteer researcher Augustijn De Ketelaere spotting the wasp during a review of ichneumonid specimens. The insect's slender, curved abdomen, T-shaped marking earning it the species name "tau," toothlike projections on its ovipositor, and distinct wing and leg features set it apart, requiring a new genus in the subfamily Pedunculinae. "We realized it's got a combination of characters that meant it wouldn't fit anywhere," Broad said.

This wasp belongs to a group with a fragmented distribution across southern South America, Australia, and New Guinea, remnants of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana, which began breaking apart 180 million...