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Scientists Announce Top 10 New Species for 2015

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Ameisenmauer-Wespe
Press release,

A cartwheeling spider, a bird--‐like dinosaur and a fish that wriggles around on the sea floor to create a circular nesting site are among the species identified by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) as the Top 10 New Species for 2015. Two animals - a frog that gives birth to tadpoles and a wasp that uses dead ants to protect its nest are unusual because of their parenting practices. Also on the list are an animal that might surpass the new species distinction to be an entirely new phylum, a 9--‐inch walking stick and a photogenic sea slug. Rounding out the top 10 are a coral plant described as endangered almost as soon as it was discovered and a red--‐and—green plant used during Christmas celebrations in Mexico.

Bone--house Wasp: Morbid Motherhood
Deuteragenia ossarium
Location: China
How it made the Top 10: This insect, which tops out at about a half--‐inch (15mm) in length, has a unique way to protect its offspring. The wasp constructs nests in hollow stems with several cells, each separated by soil walls. The wasp kills and deposits one spider in each cell to provide nourishment for her developing young. Once her egg is laid, she seals off the cell and hunts a spider for the next cell. Rather than provisioning the final or vestibule cell with a spider, she fills it with as many as 13 bodies of dead ants, thus creating a chemical barrier to the nest.
This is the first animal known to take this approach to securing the front door to a nest. This species, found in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve in eastern China and described by Michael Ohl (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin), has significantly lower parasitism rates than similar cavity--‐ nesting wasps. Camouflage is supplied by a veil of volatile chemicals emitted by the dead ants, thwarting enemies that hunt wasp larvae by scent.

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