 Wasp. It's a word that induces a unique brand of panic among young and older like. It is clear that wasps have an image problem because most species are completely different to the aggressive cousins that sting us. These other wasps actually help humans by controlling pests in agricultural systems, but chances are you've never seen one. I'm talking about the parasitoid wasps. They're harmless, seldom seen, and they lead solitary lives, but they do inspire terror among certain sections of the bug community, and for good reason. This is because females inject an egg into the juvenile stages of other insects. The wasp larva hatches and feeds selectively inside the host to keep it alive for as long as possible. It then forms its own pupa from which an adult wasp will eventually emerge. Creepy? Yes, but successful and important too. There are over 110,000 species of parasitoid wasps currently described worldwide, making them more diverse than us vertebrates. They're often classified as keystone species because they have a disproportionately large impact on the ecosystems and their removal causes flow-on effects to other species. 80% of the estimated 3,000 species in New Zealand are endemic. They're found nowhere else in the world, but few of these are known, and ecological data on them is even scarcer. I'm investigating how to catch parasitoid wasps more efficiently, because in order to understand them, we have to first catch them. I caught 950 specimens from 85 species at two Auckland sites over the summer. I'm now using my data to design optimal sampling strategies that seek to catch as many species as quickly as possible with the fewest number of traps. This information helps us in three main ways. First, it shows us how best to use our sampling resources. Second, it provides a more standardised comparison of wasp diversity between different sites. And third, it may also offer clues as to which species and habitats deserve higher conservation priority. I'm also describing a native species of parasitoid wasp, pictured top-right. We know almost nothing about its behaviour, and only 80 specimens have been collected. But species descriptions form the foundation of all biology. We can't communicate about species. We can't use them or conserve them if we don't know what they are. My research addresses this issue by ensuring that studied parasitoid wasps is economical for the future. In doing so, we get one step closer to uncovering the aliens all around us. Thank you very much.