One of the world's most biodiverse locations, the Peruvian jungle, is home
to a new genus of large, alien-looking parasitic wasps that have been found
by researchers.
A giant-headed, brilliant yellow wasp that stabs its hosts and drains their
bloodlike fluid before devouring them from the inside out has been found by
scientists in the Amazon.
The recently discovered species is called Capitojoppa amazonica. It was
discovered in the Allpahuayo-Mishana
National Reserve
in Peru. The name of its genus, Joppa, is a combination of the words
"capito," which refers to its huge, bulbous head, and "joppa," since the
newly discovered wasp resembles members of the Joppa genus.
The unusual wasp species was found by Utah State University PhD
candidate in biology
Brandon Claridge
and colleagues during a lengthy surveying procedure in which they set up
malaise traps—big, tent-like structures designed to catch flying insects in
the rainforest's understory. With a maximum length of 0.7 inches (1.7 cm),
the new wasp is classified as a "solitary endoparasitoid," meaning that it
deposits a single egg inside the body of its host. This ravenous parasite
may feed on spiders, beetles, and caterpillars.
"The female will frantically stroke it with her antennae once the host is
located and mounted," Claridge said to Live Science via email. "If
acceptable, the female will deposit a single egg inside the host by piercing
it with her ovipositor (a tube-like, egg-laying organ)."
The eggs will hatch in a few days, and the freshly formed larvae will
consume the host from the inside out. After developing further inside a
tough protective shell, or pupae inside their host's corpse, these larvae
eventually emerge as adult wasps.
It's unlikely that C. amazonica engages in other gruesome behaviors besides
feeding on its deceased host. Similar wasps would drain hemolymph—an insect
fluid that resembles blood—from the weeping wound after stabbing their
victims, according to Claridge.
In certain species, "females will even stab the host with the ovipositor
and feed without laying an egg as it helps with gaining nutrients for egg
maturation," Claridge stated.
