– Corentin Jouault, Di-Ying Huang and Celso O. Azevedo studied a 98 million-year-old fossil from the Cretaceous period discovered in Myanmar. The work provided them with insights into the evolution of the species and the morphological similarities to other wasp species.
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The prehistoric wasp is enclosed in a rectangular amber piece measuring 10x8x2 millimeters, which is kept at the Institute of Geology and Paleontology in Nanjing (China). The study was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal specializing in paleontology.
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Interestingly, Jouault, one of the authors and a research associate at the University of Oxford, named the new wasp species Gwesped piastrii after the McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri.
“The specific epithet honors Mr. Oscar Piastri for his achievements in Formula 1, and because the color of the amber piece reminded the lead author of the iconic McLaren orange. It is to be treated as a noun in the genitive,” the paper states, which was published in the June issue of the journal Palaeoworld.
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Hobby entomologists will be interested to learn that Gwesped piastrii is the second species of the genus Gwesped from the subfamily Lancepyrinae. “This species can be easily distinguished from the previously known Gwesped species by a higher number of antennal segments and a characteristic venation of the forewings,” the researchers explained in detail.
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Piastri currently ranks sixth in the World Championship after a turbulent start to the 2026 season. The Australian was unable to start the first two Grands Prix in Melbourne and Shanghai before finishing second in Japan.
The 25-year-old is currently attending the notorious Isle of Man TT before the entire field moves to the streets of Monte Carlo next week for the Monaco Grand Prix.
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