Bone House: Species Of Wasps Protects Its Home Using Bodies Of Dead Ants
Thursday, July 3, 2014 - 15:10
in Biology & Nature
Want to send a message to possible invaders? Pile dead bodies high and deep. A new species of wasp does just that.This wasp with a unique nest-building strategy was discovered in the forests of southeast China. The "bone-house wasp" shuts off its nest with a chamber full of dead ants in order to protect its offspring from enemies, as shown by Michael Staab and Prof. Dr. Alexandra-Maria Klein from the Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Freiburg as well as scientists from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. No other such strategy has ever been discovered before in the animal kingdom. read more