The wasp that turns cockroaches into zombies and walks them like a dog
This wasp stings a cockroach directly in the brain, then leads it away like a dog on a leash.
Which one is REALLY true about the Jewel Wasp?
The short version
The emerald jewel wasp delivers two precise stings — one to paralyze the front legs, one straight into the cockroach's brain to switch off its escape reflex — then chews its antennae into a leash, walks it into a burrow, and lays an egg that eats it alive.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Jewel Wasp is a metallic green insect barely half an inch long that hunts cockroaches many times its size.
- ✓The Jewel Wasp stings twice, once to paralyze the front legs and once straight into the cockroach's brain.
- ✓The Jewel Wasp injects a that switches off the roach's escape reflex, leaving it awake but obedient.
- ✓The Jewel Wasp chews off half of each antenna and steers its victim down into a burrow like a dog on a leash.
- ✓The Jewel Wasp lays a single egg on the zombified roach, and the larva eats it alive from the inside.
You could line up about 61 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This wasp turns cockroaches into zombies and walks them like a dog. Meet the emerald jewel wasp, a metallic green insect barely half an inch long. When it finds a cockroach many times its own size, it delivers two precise stings. The first paralyzes the front legs. The second is aimed directly into the roach's brain, injecting a venom that switches off its escape reflex. The roach stays fully awake and able to walk, but it simply no longer wants to run. The wasp then chews off half of each antenna, grabs what is left like a leash, and leads the cockroach down into a burrow. There it lays a single egg on the roach, and the larva slowly eats it alive from the inside. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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“The Jewel Wasp is a metallic green insect barely half an inch long that hunts cockroaches many times its size.”
“The Jewel Wasp is the world's only flightless parrot, and one of the heaviest parrots on Earth.”
“The Jewel Wasp stings twice, once to paralyze the front legs and once straight into the cockroach's brain.”