Enormous Wasp Species Discovered in Southeast Asia

A new species of enormous wasps was discovered on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Interestingly, as this was happening, scientists were also rediscovering it in a collection stored at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany.

The specimen on record was trapped in the 1930s, and had been stored with the museum's collection without arousing any type of interest. The open-access journal ZooKeys published a detailed account of how the species was identified.

Experts say that the insect belongs to the digger wasp family, which contains thousands of species. The creature itself is black, and males of this species can grow to about 2.5 inches (6.35 centimeters) in length. Their enormous jaws won them the creation of a new genus, called Megalara, just for them.

The species was discovered by experts Lynn Kimsey (University of California in Davis) and Michael Ohl (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin), Science Blog reports.