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At-Bristol’s gruesome twosome – the story of the wasp and the cockroach!
Think that sharing Christmas dinner with your relatives revealed some
strange eating habits? Well, wait until your hear about Wildwalk-At-Bristol’s
fascinating new feeders!
Emerald Jewel Wasps, also known as Emerald Cockroach Killers or Ampulex
compressa, are the latest addition to Wildwalk’s large family
of tropical and exotic animals. The small metallic green wasps, known for
their unique reproductive behaviour, hunt and paralyse cockroaches so that
their lavae can feed on the cockroach’s living organs.
The female wasp stings the cockroach (specifically an American cockroach,
Periplaneta Americano) twice, first into the thorax (chest area),
which paralyzes the front legs of the insect and allows the wasp time to
move in for the second sting. This sting is aimed into the cockroach’s
brain, disabling its escape reflex.
The wasp, which is too small to carry the cockroach, then pulls on the
victim’s antennae and drags it into a pre-dug burrow where it lays an egg
on the underside of the large insect’s abdomen. It then buries the
cockroach alive by blocking the entrance to the burrow with hundreds of
small stones and leaves.
The defenceless cockroach has no choice but to remain in the den as the
wasp egg hatches inside it. Once hatched, the larva chews its way into the
abdomen of the cockroach and proceeds to feed upon its living host for a
period of eight days. The wasp larva consumes the cockroach's internal
organs in an order that guarantees the cockroach will stay alive, at least
until the larva is ready to pupate into an adult. It then forms a cocoon
inside the cockroach's body and after about four weeks the new fully-grown
wasp will emerge from the cockroach, to begin its adult life.
The wasps, cockroaches and their extraordinary behaviours are on display
now in Wildwalk. For ticketing and information, please call 0845
345 1235.
For more information please contact Mavis Choong, At-Bristol Press Office
0117 915 7152 / 0796 733 4152 /
mavis.choong@at-bristol.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
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Emerald jewel wasps, also known as Emerald Cockroach
Killers and Ampulex compressa, were first introduced to Hawaii by
F.X Williams in 1941 as a form of biocontrol. These metallic green wasps
originate from Columbia, South America, and specifically hunt American
cockroaches (Periplaneta Americana), which are also common in the
UK.
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At-Bristol is a leading science centre in the UK and a
major player in the worldwide science centre movement. It aims to be a
world-class science and natural history centre that makes distinctive,
valued and recognised contributions to formal science learning and public
engagement with science across the UK and internationally.
A registered charity, At-Bristol has reached out to more than half of the
schools in the South West alone and has received more than 3 million
visits to-date. The award-winning organisation continually strives towards
making science accessible to all.
www.at-bristol.org.uk
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