New wasp in Ghats

A team of researchers headed by Lambert Kishore, Associate Professor, Malabar Christian College, Kozhikode, has spotted a new species of Paper wasp in the Sulthan Bathery region of the Western Ghats in Wayanad district.

The new species was collected and identified by K.P Mohammed Shareef, a research fellow of the project. Girish Kumar of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, is also part of the team. Dr. Kishore and his team have been studying different varieties of wasps in the Western Ghats as part of a research project funded by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for some time now.

The new find is a small, stinging wasp, 8.6 mm in size. It is black in colour with reddish brown and yellow marks on its body.

The species is named

Ropalidia narendrani (Narendran’s paper wasp) in memory of taxonomist T.C. Narendran. His contribution to the taxonomical study of the Indian insect fauna was significant, Dr. Kishore said.

The paper has been published in the January issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa , an international journal on conservation and taxonomy.