Parasitic wasps dive-bomb ants, injecting their eggs into ant bodies. Soon the ant dies, its body converted into an egg-producing factory.
Four wasp species performed the aerial trick on camera for José María Gómez Durán of Madrid. Two are new to science and were described Aug. 26 in ZooKeys by Kees van Achterberg, a naturalist from the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity.
Some of the wasps deposit their eggs into adult ants, others into ant larvae. Ants are well-equipped to defend their nests, however, so biologists still aren't sure how young wasps survive inside the nests. It's possible that dead ants are carried outside, allowing the hatching wasps to escape.
Video: Parasitoid wasp (Kollasmosoma sentum) ovipositing in ants (Cataglyphis ibericus)/José María Gómez Durán.
Other videos:
Parasitoid wasp (Hybrizon buccatus) ovipositing in ants (Lasius grandis)
Parasitoid wasp (Elasmosoma luxemburgense) ovipositing in ants (Formica rufibarbis)
Parasitoid wasp (Neoneurus vesculus) ovipositing in ants (Formica cunicularia)
See Also:
- Parasite-Busting Bugs Throw Fruit Fly Evolution Into Overdrive
- Amazing World of Insect-Wing Color Discovered
- Butterfly and Wasp: A Devious, Deceitful Cycle of Life
- Amazing Parasites Turn Ants Into Berries
Citation: "Oviposition behaviour of four ant parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae, Neoneurini and Ichneumonidae, Hybrizontinae), with the description of three new European species." By José María Gómez Durán and Kees van Achterberg. ZooKeys, August 26, 2011.
