Latest news with #S.charybdis
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This ancient ‘Venus fly-trap' wasp used its butt to kill
Prehistoric insects encased in amber reveal a terrifying evolutionary road that dead-ended sometime after the mid-Cretaceous period. After examining multiple roughly 99-million-year-old specimens, researchers believe the extinct wasp species featured Venus flytrap-like abdomen appendages for capturing other insects. Once pinned down, the wasp then laid its eggs inside its prey. The findings are detailed in a study published March 26 in the journal BMC Biology. An estimated 10 percent of all known insects are parasitoids—species whose larvae gestate inside hosts before eventually killing them. But none alive today resemble the Cretaceous era's Sirenobethylus charybdis, according to this new research. After recently analyzing 16 amber-preserved female specimens uncovered in northern Myanmar's Kachin region, an international team of researchers from China's Capital Normal University and the Natural History Museum of Denmark believe S. charybdis may represent an entirely new insect family. They reached their conclusion after observing the parasitoid's distinct hind wing vein patterns, which differ greatly from today's Chrysidoidea superfamily that includes cuckoo and bethylid wasps. However, the hind wings aren't its only striking features. S. charybdis appears to have evolved a unique, three-flapped abdominal setup similar to the leaves of a Venus flytrap. The paddle-like lower flap is particularly distinctive due to its hair-like bristles. 'The abdominal apparatus of Sirenobethylus is unlike anything previously reported from any extant wasp or indeed any insect known to us,' the team wrote in their study. Researchers posited two theories to explain the anatomy. The first hypothesis is that the females used their jawlike flaps to grip males during mating. While the team doesn't have any male specimens to study (yet), they still think this behavior was unlikely. 'Indeed, it would be unique for insect females to restrain the males during mating, rather than the other way around,' they added. They then offered another, far creepier explanation. S. charybdis may have used its appendages to trap potential victims, but instead of devouring its prey, the wasp likely held it down in order to deposit its eggs inside. This possibly allowed S. charybdis to wait for a more mobile winged or jumping bug to appear. If the target triggered the hairlike bristles, then the appendage flaps closed around it until the deed was done. Given that its stinger was located on the middle flap's dorsal side, experts also believe S. charybdis may have even stung the trapped larvae host in the process. It's currently unclear when the horrifying wasp died out, or why later insects didn't have this appendage. Still, the discovery indicates that at least some early Chrysidoidea species started developing parasitoid strategies by the mid-Cretaceous. For however long it lived on Earth, S. charybdis seems to have lived up to its namesake: Charybdis, the mythical Greek sea monster from The Odyssey that lurked underwater waiting to devour unsuspecting sailors.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ancient parasitic 'Venus flytrap' wasp found preserved in amber
An extinct species of parasitic wasp dating back nearly 99 million years was found preserved in amber, according to researchers. Specimens of Sirenobethylus charybdis, or S. charybdis, named after the Greek mythological sea monster Charybdis, would use their Venus flytrap-like abdomen to capture and immobilize their prey, according to a paper published Wednesday in BMC Biology. MORE: Dozens of dinosaur footprints found at Australian school, scientists say Researchers at the Natural History Museum of Denmark and Capital Normal University in China analyzed 16 female specimens preserved in amber using micro-CT scanning. They estimate the specimens, collected from the Kachin region in northern Myanmar, date to 98.79 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous period. The morphology of the wasps indicates that they were parasitoids, or insects whose larvae live as parasites inside their hosts before eventually killing them, the researchers said. The wasps likely allowed their host to continue growing while feeding on it. The species' lower abdomen forms a paddle-shaped structure with a dozen hair-like bristles, reminiscent of a Venus flytrap plant, according to the paper. The three-flap abdominal apparatus may have served as a mechanism to temporarily restrain the host during egg-laying, the researchers said. MORE: Well-preserved remains of saber-toothed kitten found frozen in Russian tundra, researchers say S. charybdis was likely unable to pursue prey over long distances, and the researchers speculate that they waited with the apparatus open for a potential host before activating the capture response. Its abdomen is unlike that of any known insect, according to the paper. MORE: Prehistoric mastodon jaw found in backyard of New York home The "elaborate" grasping apparatus likely allowed the species to snag highly mobile prey, such as winged or jumping insects, the researchers said. Cuckoo wasps and bethylid wasps are modern-day parasitoids within the same superfamily, Chrysidoidea, according to the paper. A unique pattern of veins in the hind wing of the extinct S. charybdis also suggests that the species may belong to its own family, the Sirenobethylidae, the researchers said. Ancient parasitic 'Venus flytrap' wasp found preserved in amber originally appeared on
