This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Scientists have described five new species of parasitoid wasps from Cyprus, more than doubling the number of chalcid wasps known to be found nowhere else on the island. The wasps, all belonging to the family Pteromalidae, are small insects that play an important role as natural pest controllers, yet remain poorly studied across much of southeastern Europe and the Middle East.
The study is published in the journal ZooKeys. "Before the start of this study, our knowledge regarding the chalcid wasp fauna of the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area (SBA) and the rest of the island of Cyprus was extremely limited," said Koutsoukos. "Chalcid wasps comprise a hyperdiverse group of insects that serve as biological controllers both in natural and manmade ecosystems, and as such it is crucial to enrich our knowledge toward understanding their true extent of biodiversity, ecology and role in the various trophic webs in which they participate across different ecosystems." Each of the five new species was named with a story behind it.
"Two of the species (Ablaxia makrisi and Erythromalus makrisi) were named after Christodoulos Makris, a prominent Cypriot entomologist, for his contributions to Cypriot biodiversity and for collecting the holotypes of these two species," Koutsoukos explained. Hemitrichus akrotiriensis takes its name from the Akrotiri peninsula, described by Koutsoukos as "a protected area and one of the greatest biodiversity hotspots in Cyprus, where the holotype was also collected." Another species, Ablaxia toxeftrae, was named after Toxeftra Beach on the Akamas peninsula, where its holotype was found. The final species carries perhaps the most evocative name of all.
"Janssoniella aphrodite was named after the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite, since the holotype of this species was collected in the Yeroskipou area of Paphos, where the goddess was worshipped in ancient times," said Koutsoukos. Before this study, only three chalcid wasp species were known to be unique to Cyprus. "Our collecting efforts yielded many more interesting specimens, which might represent new species as well," said Koutsoukos, "and as such it is evident that these numbers are an underestimation of the true biodiversity of the island." "The outcomes of this project will contribute toward the enrichment of our knowledge of the biodiversity, not only of the island of Cyprus and the U.K.
SBAs, but of the whole region as well," Koutsoukos said. Evangelos Koutsoukos et al, Enriching inventories of rare genera: five new species of Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) from Cyprus, ZooKeys (2026). DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1286.196157 BA art history, MA material culture.
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