Idris Elba: Superhero In The Fight Against Pests
Idris Elba is a famous British actor, producer, writer, singer and DJ. The famous east’s trajectory spans a long list of blockbusters, including many superhero movies. Now, what does this man have to do with the world of entomology?
Recently, the collaboration of an international research team resulted in the publication of a study on the biology of a new species of wasp, which has been christened ‘ Idris elba’ .
How is a new species designated?
It is interesting to know that species are identified with compound names, the first is a generic name followed by the name of the species. In the case of Homo sapiens , which belongs to the primate order, Homo corresponds to the genus and sapiens corresponds to the species.
Therefore, when a new species is named, it must be identified to which genus it belongs and justify why. Then the species name is chosen.
In the case of the Idris elba wasp , Idris identifies the genus to which it belongs, to which “elba” was added as the species name.
To name the wasp in honor of the famous actor (as a patronymic) it would have been necessary to use the formula of Latin grammar and, with this, the name would have been: Idris elbai . However, the scientists chose to treat the middle name as an arbitrary combination of letters, to avoid the Latin grammar.
So does Idris really correspond to a gender?
Yes, the genus Idris (belongs to the superfamily Scelionidae : order Hymenoptera ) was described in 1856 and so far contains more than 300 species of wasps, so far, they are only known to parasitize spider eggs.
In general, in the species called parasitoids, such as the Idris wasps, in the larval stage it feeds and develops on the body of another arthropod. The process is endoparasitosis if it occurs indoors, or ectoparasitosis if it occurs on the surface.
How is this new species of Idris elba wasp different?
The Idris elba wasp, unlike its relatives, was discovered parasitizing the eggs of an invasive bed bug known as bagrada ( Bagrada hilaris ). This bed bug is not typical of this area, but an invasive species native to Africa. In fact, it is considered a great pest in India, southern Europe, southern Asia, and the Middle East.
Based on the finding that the wasp was taking advantage of this new host, the scientists used advanced methods in molecular forensics to analyze the DNA.
The analysis was made on the parasitized eggs of the bedbug. In this way, the identity of the insect was molecularly verified and also that its eggs carried the DNA of an undescribed species of wasp, the Idris elba.
Why is the discovery of the Idris elba wasp relevant?
First, bagrada bugs arrived in the Western Hemisphere in 2008 and have since become a major pest of cruciferous vegetables. Thus, the bed bug affects broccoli, kale, and turnip crops throughout North and South America.
In fact, it has been reported in crops in Chile since 2016. In addition, it is known to affect more than 74 plant species in India, southern Europe, southern Asia, and the Middle East.
Furthermore, this is the first association of a species of the genus Idris with a non-arachnid host. Beyond this fact, it is extraordinary that a native parasitoid succeeds in attacking an invasive species.
It now remains to be determined whether Idris elba could make the leap to parasitize the eggs of a wide range of hosts, or whether the attack on the bed bug eggs was a fortunate confusion. This is because the wasp tends to confuse the eggs of the bed bug with those of a spider. In any case, she does a superhero job.
