3rd February, 2006
Exoparasitoid
This wasp (Ampulex compressa) is really friggin’ cool. It lays eggs inside of roaches, and the hatched larvae use the roach for food – not exactly an uncommon occurance in the animal kingdom. What makes this wasp really uncommon is how it obtains food for its larva. You see, roaches tend to be quite a bit bigger than the wasp, so getting the roach to the nesting site can be a bit of a problem. To overcome this problem, the wasp stings the roach twice; first, a sting in the back to temporarily paralyze the front legs of the roach and second, a sting in the head, at a precise place in the brain of the roach where the “escape reflex” of the roach resides. This second sting does something to the neurons in this area that makes the escape reflex “disappear”. Once the temporary leg paralysis wears off, the roach is fully capable of locomotion, yet because of the second sting, it goes no where. At this point, the wasp, using the antennae of the roach to guide it “like a dog on a leash”, leads it back to the wasp’s den where an egg will be laid and the roach will be subsequently devoured by the hatched larva. Neat. [via BoingBoing]
Posted at 6:44 am | Comment (1)
