New species of parasitic wasp discovered in Mayo

A nasty new species of insect has been discovered by a researcher based in Co Mayo.

The discovery was made in Ardkill by a researcher studying the life-cycle of tiny marsh flies in Irish fields.

He was waiting for flies to hatch in jam jars on his desk when a new species of parasitic wasp crawled out.

It is the first parasitic wasp species to be discovered in Ireland and has been named mesoleptus hibernica after the Latin name for Ireland.