![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/16e9c94f-7281-42cd-afad-20a4b8df61f6.jpg\")
<\/p>\nScientists from London\u2019s Natural History Museum have described a new genus and species of parasitic wasp found within the museum\u2019s collections and named it as a birthday present for the famous broadcaster and natural historian, set to celebrate the milestone birthday today.<\/p>\n
While wasps may not be as universally beloved as Attenborough, there\u2019s no doubt that the natural historian would appreciate Attenboroughnculus tau, named as a tribute to him.<\/p>\n
Previously, Attenborough has spotlighted parasitoid wasps in his documentaries, describing them as \u201cbody-snatcher wasps\u201d in The Trials of Life.<\/p>\n
Measuring 3.5mm in body length, this wasp was originally collected in 1983 in the Valdivia province of Chile; only recently did volunteer Augustijn De Ketelaere spot the wasp\u2019s unusual characteristics while undertaking a detailed examination of the ichneumonid collections.<\/p>\n
The newly described insect is both a new species and genus because it is so distinct from its closest relatives that it can\u2019t logically fit into any other established genus.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The parasitic Chilean wasp. Photo: PA<\/p>\n
The species name tau refers to a striking \u2018T\u2019-shaped marking on the insect\u2019s abdomen; this insect is believed to be one of the least understood groups of wasps, according to Dr Gavin R Broad, principal curator for insects at Britain\u2019s Natural History Museum.<\/p>\n
Many other species have been named after the natural historian, from Euptychia attenboroughi, a rare Amazonian butterfly, to Attenborosaurus conybeari \u2013 a dinosaur that roamed Europe during the Sinemurian stage of the early Jurassic period.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the BBC is celebrating Attenborough\u2019s 100th birthday today with a live event at the Royal Albert Hall \u2013 however, his colleague and friend has revealed that the TV presenter would rather be anywhere else.<\/p>\n
Attenborough worked with documentary producer Alastair Fothergill on a number of nature documentaries, including 2001\u2019s The Blue Planet, 2006\u2019s Planet Earth and more recently, David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet.<\/p>\n
Speaking about Attenborough ahead of him turning 100, Mr Fothergill told BBC Breakfast that the presenter \u201chates celebrity\u201d \u2013 and would prefer to spend his birthday at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hates celebrity. He doesn\u2019t like that at all and he\u2019s realised that the has to do it,\u201d Mr Fothergill said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would like to be at home all day, nice glass of wine in the evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, he recognises that the British public want to say happy birthday to him and I think he\u2019ll go home happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The almost-centenarian\u2019s life and career will be celebrated today with a special 90-minute live event hosted by Kirsty Young.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists from London\u2019s Natural History Museum have described a new genus and species of parasitic wasp found within…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1578,246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-440696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-bbc","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}