Eucharitid waspimage credit: Noel Young

Eucharitid waspimage credit: synapz557, via flickr

Eucharitid waspimage credit: Rundstedt B. Rovillos
Habitat: Philippines

If you think this Eucharitid wasp looks like a major punk – you’d be right.

These nasty fellas are specialized parasitoids (Any organism that is parasitic during part of its life cycle, especially one that eventually kills its host) of ants. What this means is, larvae of the Eucharitid wasp will latch onto passing ants or ant prey items in order to be secretly carried inside the ant’s chambers. Once inside, larvae develop inside ant nests feeding on ant brood.

I always knew mohawks indicated a bad seed.