A NEW wasp species was discovered by students of a Riverland West school recently, as part of a university program to categorise native insects – and the students are currently thinking up a possible name for the new species.
University of Adelaide researcher Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries is leading a project that is focused on discovering and documenting native wasps, which the Ramco Primary School (RPS) Youth Environment Team (YET) joined earlier this year.
The students, with Dr Fagan-Jeffries’ direction, set up an insect trap on the school grounds. The trap leads the bugs to a bottle of water where they are caught, preserved and sent to Dr Fagan-Jeffries for analysis.
The new wasp species recently discovered by the students is 2mm long, and the students will choose a name, with some contenders being “Ramcona” and
“Reg-2020”.
Waikerie Primary School YET students have also joined the research project, with their trap set up at Hart Lagoon.
The RPS students were featured in a BTN segment recently, interviewed about their insect trap, research with Dr Fagan-Jeffries and what they might name the new wasp species.
The Ramco Primary School BTN segment can be watched online at (https://ab.co/2AfGn3a).