'Euderus Set Wasp' Kills 'Crypt Wasp Galls' By Eating Their Organs
If a horror movie is being taped in the animal kingdom, this turquoise-green insect known as "crypt-keeper wasp" will get the starring role. There was a new study which was recently released stating that this kind of crafty, parasitic wasp can manipulate other parasitic wasps to finish the assigned task and become its meal.
Gall wasps according to New Scientists, can infest oak trees for their shelter and sustenance. However, their wasp enemy has a more secret agenda. The wasp which known as a Euderus set or E.set can lay their eggs in the developing gall wasp's woody haven.
Then, the young E.set would chew its way to freedom through its host's head. According to studies, most crypt gall wasps don't make it. They eventually begin to eat their way out in a short period and stop while the exit is as big as their head. Then they will die with their head blocking the hole.
The amber-colored known as the "crypt gall wasp" (Bassettia pallida) is the victim. It nests in the tiny cavities in the tree where they can get free nutrition in their development process. And when the adult wasp is ready to leave, it chews the hole in the tree's woody tissue to make its way out. However, for some gall wasps, things sometimes do not go according to their plan.
According to Phys, the parasite will hijack its host which is the Bassettia pallid that usually mature inside the crypt. The female E.set lay its egg to the crypt where it manipulates the growing gall wasp which eventually makes its emergence hole too small.
And when the wasp tries to escape, its head will lodge in the hole. The E.set then will consume the gall wasp's internal organs and emerge in an "alien" like form.
"It could be the parasitoid cues hosts to excavate early, but makes them do it less well than usual. They only go part way and then they get stuck," said Weinersmith.
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