Eighty-five new types of wasp among more than 351 species identified in 2022

Eighty-five new types of wasps are among 351 new species discovered by scientists from the Natural History Museum in the past year.

As most animals on Earth are invertebrates - animals without a backbone - the researchers said it was not surprising that the majority of new species identified this year fall into the wasp category.

The discoveries 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 several segments that has never been seen by scientists before.  

The Natural History Museum stated its discovery of new parasitic wasp species 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. 

Dr Gavin Broad, the Principal Curator in Charge of Insects at the museum and an expert in hymenoptera, the group that contains wasps, said: “It's no surprise that new wasp species came out on top, it's just a surprise that wasps don't come top every year.

“The abundance of parasitoid wasps makes the order hymenoptera the most species-rich order of insects, but it is way behind some other groups in terms of actual species descriptions. Watch out for lots more wasps next year.”

Some 19 new species of stick insects from the tropics of Australia were also discovered.

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Researchers had to use newly collected insects, museum specimens and genetic analysis to reveal that what was originally thought to be 11 species were in fact 30.

A handful of vertebrates have also been identified by museum scientists, including a new species of gecko from the Seychelles, three species of fish and seven species of frogs.

Six of the frogs are some of the smallest known vertebrates. Found living in the leaf litter of Mexico, the frogs grow to just eight millimetres in length, which is smaller than a 1p coin. Why these frogs have evolved to be so small is not yet understood.