Tiny parasitic wasp helps save one of world’s rarest birds from extinction

Microterys nietneri. The wasps travelled for almost a month to reach Nightingale Island, part of the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago. Photograph: Chris Malumphy

A tiny parasitic wasp has given a lifeline to one of the world’s rarest bird species by killing off an invasive insect that was threatening its survival.

The Wilkins’ bunting lives on Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan da Cunha group; the world’s most remote inhabited archipelago. It eats the fruit of the Phylica arborea, the island’s only native tree.