Cool Things About The Eucharitid Wasp
- The Euchartitid Wasp is of the parasitic variety and is known for constantly having a bad hair day
- These particular wasps can be found in tropical regions throughout the world, which means we probably won’t have much luck finding any of them here in Canada
- Each species of Eucharitid Wasp will prey on one particular genus of ants, and they never try parasitizing (is that really a word?) a different type of ant. They really should consider getting out of their comfort zone and trying a termite or maybe a beetle
Hitching a Ride
If you are an ant and you are reading this…well, congratulations for being the first ever ant to read Wild Facts (or anything for that matter) but you had better take notice because these tough, mohawk-wearing wasps are not your friends. Normally the female wasp will deposit her eggs on a nice branch or leaf, away from any ant colonies. These eggs will hatch and a tiny larvae will emerge ready to take on the world, or at least an ant colony. At this point it is up to the wasp larvae somehow attach themselves to a traveling ant, which isn’t too difficult since ants are always out and about looking for tasty food.
Lending a Helping Hand
If they aren’t able t find an ant, the Eucharited Wasp has been known to catch a ride with other insects in order to get close to a nice ant colony. Regardless of how they get there, once inside the unsuspecting ant colony the wasp larvae will head to the brood chamber and attach themselves to the ant larvae. Now this is where they begin feeding, however, it is very limited as they want the ant to pupate and turn into an adult. Once this occurs, the parasitic wasp will stop toying with their prey and consume the entire body. The ant never stood a chance. Astonishingly the worker ants will never show aggression towards the wasps and have even known to help them emerge from their consumed host. Why would they do this? These sneaky wasps take on the same odour as the ants so in their eyes…or nose, these parasitic wasps are actually part of the colony. Now that s a good camouflage!
