Posted on 03/31/2012 4:27:39 AM PDT by JoeProBono
A new species of giant, venomous wasp has been found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi (map), scientists say.
The two-inch-long (five-centimeter-long) black insects are shrouded in mystery—all of the wasp specimens caught so far have been dead.
"I'm not certain any researcher has ever seen one alive, but they are very bizarre-looking," said study co-author Lynn Kimsey, an entomologist at the University of California, Davis, who co-discovered the insect.
"It's the extreme version of the [larrine wasp] subfamily they belong to."
Larrine wasps typically dig nests for their eggs and larvae in open, sandy areas. The adults grow no longer than an inch (2.5 centimeters)—making the newly discovered Megalara garuda the "king of wasps," according to the study authors.
Wasp Males' Spiky Jaws
Female M. garuda wasps look like most other wasp species, but the males grow long, sickle-shaped jaws.
The males' flattened faces and large, spiked jaws may be clever adaptations to protect a nest that contains vulnerable larvae, she suggested.
"Other wasps of the same species often rob burrows for food, and parasites try to get in there, too," she said. "There's a serious advantage to having the nest guarded. This may be how the male helps guarantee his paternity."
(See "Pictures: Wasps Turn Ladybugs Into Flailing "Zombies.")
In general, "we don't know what this wasp does," Kimsey said. "But it probably feeds its larvae grasshoppers or katydids, like other wasps in its subfamily."
"Mythical" Wasp Under Threat
Kimsey and co-author Michael Ohl, of Berlin's Humboldt University, caught their first glimpse of the new wasp in Indonesia's Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, where the bugs had been kept in storage since 1930. Ohl also found unidentified specimens at the Humboldt Museum in Berlin.
On a 2009 expedition, the team found more wasps at a cacao plantation in the southeastern mountains of Sulawesi. In naming M. garuda, the team looked to the national symbol of Indonesia: a mythical half-human, half-bird creature in the Hindu religion called Garuda.
Although as many as a hundred thousand species of insects may live on Sulawesi, Kimsey suspects "only half have names."
But the fates of these species—including the newfound wasp—are in jeopardy. Since the 1960s forests in the region have been increasingly leveled to plant several types of crops. (Read about rain forest threats.)
"The place where we collected wasps is slated to be an open-pit nickel mine," Kimsey said.
"Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach."
Holy crap! You don’t get scarier than that even in those monster Xbox games!!
“The place where we collected wasps is slated to be an open-pit nickel mine,” Kimsey said.
“Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.”
A state university operates at the expense of the state’s citizens who provide the tax revenue to keep it operating. The same goes for the nation where one goes to find large wasps. This woman is ignorant of basic economics.
That's because as soon as they realize they might be captured they bite down on the cyanide capsule in their mandible.
...all of the wasp specimens caught so far have been dead.
Is there something I'm missing here?
They are all dead, right? No live ones?
Open the mine. There will be lots of nice, loose dirt for them to dig in if there are any live ones (and the dead ones weren't brought in to just stop the mine).
Tracker Jackers?
“all of the wasp specimens caught so far have been dead”
Why do you have to “catch” something dead? It isn’t going anywhere.
It”s a surveillance devise used by an alien intelligence. We are in danger!
devise = device
When you have wings and a flaming sword in your ass, you probably don’t need spiked mandibles to protect the nursery. More likely it’s just sexy like the intrepid, scornful jaw of a romance hero.
We have an Insect Museum attached to “Butterfly World”, a big attraction in South Florida.
The Biggest, Nastiest, most scary insects all seem to come from Indonesia.
And often, the specimen carries this note:
“LOCAL PEOPLE OFTEN CONSUME THIS INSECT AS AN ALTERNATE PROTEIN SOURCE”
Perhaps the bugs are fighting back! LOL!
Yikes! It’s like the Darth Vader of wasps!
Hey - that’s my line!
Billy The Exterminator please pick up the courtesy phone.
LOL! I had the exact same thought as I read the headline! (I’m about 2/3 of the way through the first ‘Hunger Games’ book).
Where does this idiot think they get the materials for the batteries in her Prius?
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