Pretty Death Fungus & Ovipositing Wasps

Poor Ants...

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LINK: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110829114554.htm

Only a few Parasites manage to break through the ant's very dominant well equipped defenses.

We read this week about the Ant-decapitating Fly [the Conopidae fly or a new family of Phoridae fly] and the ant-narcotic excreting Assasin Bug [Ptilocerus ochraceus] and here are two more: Videos of some Wasps ovipositing [laying eggs inside of] Ants, and a video of some beautiful fungus called Cordycps, which infects ants along with a variety of other insects.

The eggs of one kind of wasp develop inside adult ants. The eggs of the another kind of wasp develop in the larvae of ants. How the newly developed young wasps manage to survive inside the ant nest is still unknown. One possible explanation is that the dead ants may be deposited outside the entrance of the ant nest, giving the young wasps a chance to be born and avoid ant attacks.

Below is an AWESOME video of the fungus that infects insects. In the Ant example, we see non-infected ants carrying off infected ants. This might be how the young wasps live when hatching from the ant.




More ovipositing:







RMP