Xenos vesparum
Encyclopedia
Xenos vesparum is an insect
species, whose females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes
paper wasps. They dwell their whole life in the abdomen
of the wasp
.
According to Fabio Manfredini of Pennsylvania State University, co-author of an Animal Behaviour study of this insect's odd life cycle, published on 8 October 2011, the parasite infects a European worker wasp and completely alters its worker caste behaviour. The infected wasp begins to suffer nutritionally, then flies to meet with other infected wasps. The male parasite exits the wasps abdomen and mates with the female parasites which stay inside their host. Wasps infected with the male parasite die. Wasps infected with the female parasite then fatten themselves up much like queen wasps do. They then fly to meet with other uninfected queen wasps. Then when the parasite is mature, the infected wasp flies to mingle with other uninfected wasps, thereby spreading brood and larvae into new environments.
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
species, whose females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes
Polistes
Wasps of the cosmopolitan genus Polistes are the most familiar of the polistine wasps, and are the most common type of paper wasp. It is also the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 300 recognized species and subspecies...
paper wasps. They dwell their whole life in the abdomen
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
of the wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
.
According to Fabio Manfredini of Pennsylvania State University, co-author of an Animal Behaviour study of this insect's odd life cycle, published on 8 October 2011, the parasite infects a European worker wasp and completely alters its worker caste behaviour. The infected wasp begins to suffer nutritionally, then flies to meet with other infected wasps. The male parasite exits the wasps abdomen and mates with the female parasites which stay inside their host. Wasps infected with the male parasite die. Wasps infected with the female parasite then fatten themselves up much like queen wasps do. They then fly to meet with other uninfected queen wasps. Then when the parasite is mature, the infected wasp flies to mingle with other uninfected wasps, thereby spreading brood and larvae into new environments.
