He goes on to become one of the evil Lord Voldemort's chief acolytes, after actively trying to remove Albus Dumbledore from his post as the headmaster of Hogwarts school. But in the final installment, Malfoy redeems himself by defecting from Voldemort's Army in order to save his own family, and is pardoned for his crimes.

With support from the Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity at the University of Auckland, Saunders wants to draw attention to species of insects that New Zealand may be slowly losing.

"There are more species of parasitoid wasps than fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals combined. They are used in New Zealand and around the world to control pests that would otherwise require far more money and pesticides to combat," he said.

"I was inspired to name this species in a way that would hopefully spark a larger conversation about the relationship that humans have with the millions of species that share the planet with us."

"The big problem is lack of data," Saunders said in a statement. "We do not know what species we have, how many there might be or what their host species are, so they can't be included in conservation planning. If we don't put more resources into their taxonomy, we could be in danger of losing wasp species without even knowing it."

Saunders said he hopes Lusius malfoyi emerges as the "poster child" for such little-known creatures.