Over the past 12 months, Museum curators, researchers and scientific associates have described a total of 351 new species.
From research trips to remote locations, to combing through the 80 million objects held in the Museum collections, each year scientists are adding to this extensive library of life. While many of these species will already be known to those who live alongside them, by giving them scientific names we can hopefully better protect them.
As most animals on Earth are invertebrates (animals without a backbone) it is not surprising that the majority of new species described this year fall into this group.
This has included some 84 species of beetle, 34 species of moths, 23 species of moss animals (also known as bryozoans) and 13 species of trematode worms. There were also 12 new species of protists, seven species of flies, two bumblebees from Asia, two polychaete worms from the depths of the oceans and a centipede with a number of segments that has never been seen by scientists before.
But the group that gained the most new species this year is the wasps. A total of 85 new species were described! This includes some miniature individuals with the most beautiful, feather-like wings. These tiny animals belong to a group containing some of the smallest insects in the world.
Despite their diminutive size, these parasitic wasps might be important for agriculture. The insects parasitise the eggs of thrips (a type of insect that can cause crop damage) and as such the wasps may be important biological control agents.
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Posted On: 03/01/2023