State officials say a University of Maine student has discovered a new species of wasp.
Hillary Morin Peterson discovered the species while doing work for her thesis. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry announced the discovery on Thursday.
The Brunswick resident named the wasp Ormocerus dirigoius, in tribute to Maine’s motto, “Dirigo.” It means “I lead” in Latin.
Peterson discovered the small, non-stinging species of wasp in Harpswell while doing research about the invasive winter moths that live in Maine. Her work was in collaboration with the Maine Forest Service.
Peterson is now a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, studying entomology. Her discovery of the species is documented in a paper that appeared last month in Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington.