Parasitoid wasp - Depositing eggs

Description:

Larger picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vipinbaliga... The long, needle-like structure called the Ovipositor is specially adapted to bore through wood in order to parasitise the wood boring larvae. The wasps seem to detect the presence of the larvae by smelling with it's antennae and maybe feeling the larvae's vibrations in the wood. Picture 1 - The wasp has penetrated the dead tree in search of a beetle larva.She was probing continuously for approx 55mins before locating the larva. Picture 2,3,4,5 - Once located, she stabs the beetle grub with the giant ovipositor and lays an egg inside it. That egg hatches into the wasp larva which feeds on the beetle grub until it fully develops and pupates to become a wasp, and eventually killing the beetle in the process. Took her not more than 3mins to complete this task. Picture 6,7 - Once the eggs are laid, she retracts the Ovipositor. Picture 8 - The Ovipositor is seen in the normal position. She turns around and inspects her work, repeats the procedure all over again in the same spot. This process continues for more than 4 hours. After finishing she takes off. Sources: http://philtorres.tumblr.com/post/416982... http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/ph...