BANGKOK: A previously unknown species of wasp has been named after Hollywood star Brad Pitt.
The Conobregma bradpitti wasp was one of the two newly found wasp species belonging to a large group of wasps that lay their eggs inside a host.
Apparently, the discoverer Buntika Butcher, was assessing the new species in her laboratory under the poster of Pitt. The Brad Pitt wasp measures less than two millimeters.
The researchers said that the insect is actually very valuable in agriculture. Apparently, they help control the insect population that ravages crops.
The other wasp species was discovered in India. The wasp larvae’s hosts usually have a protection system that protects them but the wasps flood the hosts with too many eggs to overwhelm this protection response.
Additionally, an endoparasitic wasp can bring down the defense system of its larvae’s host by simply injecting the host with a virus. Many hosts may seem completely defenseless against these parasitic wasps but other ones, particularly ants, know how to keep them from being attacked.
Ants violently move their mandibles and legs to injure the wasp. However, the ants’ strategy still fail because wasps counter this defense by moving close to them too fast for the ants to move.
The Conobregma bradpitti wasp was one of the two newly found wasp species belonging to a large group of wasps that lay their eggs inside a host.
Apparently, the discoverer Buntika Butcher, was assessing the new species in her laboratory under the poster of Pitt. The Brad Pitt wasp measures less than two millimeters.
The researchers said that the insect is actually very valuable in agriculture. Apparently, they help control the insect population that ravages crops.
The other wasp species was discovered in India. The wasp larvae’s hosts usually have a protection system that protects them but the wasps flood the hosts with too many eggs to overwhelm this protection response.
Additionally, an endoparasitic wasp can bring down the defense system of its larvae’s host by simply injecting the host with a virus. Many hosts may seem completely defenseless against these parasitic wasps but other ones, particularly ants, know how to keep them from being attacked.
Ants violently move their mandibles and legs to injure the wasp. However, the ants’ strategy still fail because wasps counter this defense by moving close to them too fast for the ants to move.
