Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Wasp Deposits Parasitic Larvae Deep Inside Tree Trunk

SHARE

The giant ichneumon wasp,  megarhyssa rixator, has an unusual method for laying eggs. Using her overly-long ovipositor to drill deep into a tree trunk, she deposits a single egg on to the surface of an immobilized wood wasp larva. Her egg turns into a larva, that will eat the paralyzed host…bit by bit.