Dementor Wasp Giant Stick Insect Among New Mekong Finds

An undated handout picture released in Hanoi on May 27, 2015 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows a long-fanged bat, Hypsugo dolichodon
© WWF/AFP/File Judith L. Eger




Hanoi (AFP) - From a soul-sucking 'dementor' wasp named after a creature from the Harry Potter books to a half-metre long stick insect, scientists identified 139 new species in the Greater mekong homestay tour mango homestay mekong Region in 2014, according to a new report.

Many of the newly-described species are already under threat from new roads and dams mekong delta homestay tour and the region's rapacious demand for wildlife meat and luxury timber, the WWF said in its report.

Southeast Asia has a "treasure trove" of biodiversity with an average of three new species a week being discovered in the area between 1997 and 2014, the report said.

"We've only skimmed the surface of new discoveries in the Greater mekong homestay tour mango homestay mekong," said WWF expert Thomas Gray.

But unsustainable development and the illicit trade in wildlife is taking a terrible toll and it is possible that "many species have disappeared before they were even discovered," he said.