My friend Michelle, a producer @SciNC, brought me a parasitized tobacco hornworm caterpillar. We set out to capture the moment that the parasitic wasps emerge from their host!
he neglected to mention the part where his office is now filled with dozens of wasps.
@UnrelatedAntonym
I'm just a layman, but wow, that catapillar looks remarkably healthy for having all those parasites.
@Shinyflubba
"Next episode, we'll figure out how to rid of dozens of wasp nests from the nooks and crannies of my lab"
@LJG_582
Man This world is savage asf but my brain also thinks it’s the most beautiful thing ever. The drive for things to evolve and survive in horrific ways but awesome all the same. it has always intrigued me
@Draconlykos
For anyone asking: no, the caterpillar does not survive. The wasp injects its toxin into it to make it survive and protect the larvae eating it until they emerge as wasps, and afterwards the caterpillar dies. I just hope bugs cant feel pain because its awful. We get tarantula hawks(wasp) that do the same thing to tarantulas here in the summer.
@csours
This is body horror
@saw-blade4194
Imagine how painful and itchy that would have been for the caterpillar
@raymondraptorclaw2901
I give humanity the next 50 years to turn wasp silk into a luxury fabric.
@floruhls9418
Me, to the caterpillar, right before I set it on fire: “Sorry buddy, collateral damage.”
@charitabletrader1581
As someone who grows my own produce, these wasps are a Godsend!! Caterpillars of all kinds are highly destructive to produce, and when you grow organically especially, you need beneficial insects like these wasps to curb destructive pests like this caterpillar.
@mightymousejesse8647
As a child I was lucky to have an empty lot across the street from where I lived... I use to love going out into the field and sit stills for hours just watching all the insects just existing in their own universe's.
@samuelcrow4701
These kind of wasps made darwin agnostic
@tazsb129
This is crazy but it's nothing compared to looking under a light and seeing 40 wasp larvae wiggling inside the caterpillar. This type of wasp was inside the caterpillar of the cabbage white butterfly. What I thought was a coll sighting turned into something horrific.....I did started craving pasta randomly tho..
@tannerfrancisco8759
Over the past 7 years, I've encouraged parasitoid wasps and other pollinating wasp species in my gardens so much that I have zero pest issues without use of any chemicals or pesticides.
@pearlymilk2115
Instructions unclear, now horde of wasps are in my lab
@iainwalker8615
Parasitoid wasps play a huge role in ecology but they’re very understudied compared to other insects
@NotATurnip
These guys are an example why I don't spray pesticides in my garden. I'll get a few horn worms every year but they do minimal damage because these wasps are abundant.
@morgue83
so cool. as much as it hurts me inside to see squishy fellows like that hornworm parasitized, nature is so so fascinating i love it. i love bugs. bugs need love
@thatssomething1
Caterpillars gotta start chargin' rent mayne 😮😆
@LJG_582
Is it possible for the caterpillar to recover from this after all the eggs hatch or do the newborn wasp feed on its host after they emerge from the egg?
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