Looking at the pictures of the Ichneumon wasp below, one would tend to be intimidated, especially by their long ovipositor (sting- like thing at its backside). Indeed, when one learns about its behavior in the insect kingdom, it seems like the Ichneumon wasps is really terror among the others. Ichneumon wasps are a kind of parasitic wasp which lays their eggs in a hosts body. There are about 60,000 species worldwide, and they range from 3mm to 13cm and also differ greatly in colour, hence are difficult to identify.

What the Ichneumon wasps do can be an inspiration for the genre of horror movies. The Ichneumon wasp would look for a host body to pierce its ovipositor through and deposit its eggs in, with caterpillars being their popular choice. Not only do they require the host body to hatch their eggs, but they also require it to feed their young with their own bodies. They inject a toxin into the host body, paralyzing it but keeping it alive, so that the body would not decay, and the larvae can feed on the body fresh. The dying process of the victim is slow and painful, as the wasps go about eating the body in a systematic way, starting from the fat cells, muscles, non- vital organs, and leaving the vital organs for the last to ensure that the victim stays alive for the longest possible time. The feeding process can take up to two days, and the victims have been observed to be writhing in pain as they are slowly consumed by the wasp larvae. Such a torturous method to end its victims life, what other word can we use to describe the Ichneumon wasp other than evil.

Terror at work- Injecting eggs into a caterpillar

Other than that, the Ichneumon Wasps seem to have tricks up its sleeves in going about doing things to achieve its intentions. Take the example in the video below, where the Ichneumon Wasp used its special abilities to detect and enter an ants’ nest to lay its eggs into a Alcon Blue Butterfly larvae. The reason why the butterfly larvae is in an ant’s nest is because of an allomone(chemical to affect the behavior of another species) released by the larvae, which causes the ants to think its one of their own, and hence bringing it back to their nest.

The Ichneumon Wasp invades the ants nest by releasing a chemical which makes the ants start to fight among themselves, leaving it with the time to lay its eggs into the butterfly larvae. The ants would then care for the larvae like their own, and when the larvae hatches, the wasps would grow up and terrorise the others in the same way that their parents did. The Ichneumon wasp makes use of other living bodies to lay its eggs in, paralyzes and tortures it by inflicting a slow and painful death while its larvae feeds on it, and best of all, has the uncanny ability to cheat its enemies into taking care of its own larvae, and indeed, it is a true terror of the insect kingdom.

Sources

“Beautiful Ichneumon Wasp,” by cramsay23. Flickr. URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cramsay23/2620480488/ (accessed 4 April 2010).

“Family Ichneumonidae- Ichneumon Wasps,” by Troy Bartlett. BugGuide, 16 Feb 2004. URL: http://bugguide.net/node/view/150 (accessed on 4 April 2010).

“ichneumon wasp,” by atonal.  Flickr. URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atonal/212914746/ (accessed on 4 April 2010).

“Ichneumon Wasp Dolichomitus Irritator,” by jclucier. Flickr. URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlucier/4300356904/ (accessed on 4 April 2010).

“ichneumon wasp at work,” by estherase. Flickr. URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/estherase/2646328285/ (accessed 4 April 2010).

“Ichneumon wasp,” bitter_engineer.  Ichneumon wasp@Everything2.com, 2 May 2000. URL: http://everything2.com/title/Ichneumon+wasp (accessed on 4 April 2010).

“The amazing Ichneumon wasps,” LuisC. issuesinbiology.com, 18 January 2008. URL: http://www.issuesinbiology.com/the-amazing-ichneumon-wasps/ (accessed on 4 April 2010).

“The Ichneumon Wasp”  by BBC’s Life in the Undergrowth documentary series, globalzoo Youtube Channel. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLvuevf__Ok (accessed on 4 April 2010).