Nature: You are one cruel bitch.
Lawsamercy! Did I ever see a grasshopper having the worst day in a long time. I saw a strangely large bug outside my office building and when it landed on a branch at eye-level, I took a minute to look it over. It was a wasp, a dark little bugger with a grasshopper between its legs. It was actually carrying the damned thing as it flew, the prey every bit as large as the wasp, and it looked to me as if the grasshopper was not yet completely dead or paralyzed or whatever. The wasp could only fly a few feet before stopping, so I got a good look at the macabre scene. The wasp had the grasshopper at the neck, it looked like. I kind of thought it might bite the head off the grasshopper, but it didn't. It has other plans...
My best guess is that it was a Prionyx atratus, which I presume means "bad motherfucker" in wasp. It was an impressive feat. If I am reading the websites right, there is a very good chance that the grasshopper was going to end up with an egg on it. And then be devoured by the larva. The websites call the grasshopper a "host" so that suggests to me that it is just paralyzed and is probably sweating it out right now.
HJ
Seed Newsvine
2 comments:
A parasitic wasp does unspeakable things to to other critters as a natural part of its life cycle. they are the vicious little pricks of the hymenoptera, sadistic buggers that never learned to socialize properly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs&feature=channel
As a father of four grown childred I find this description "...end up with an egg on it. And then be devoured by the larva." apt. The terminology is different, but the description is more or less accurate for homo sapiens as well.
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