"A female digger wasp not only lays her egg in a caterpillar so that her larva can feed on it, but carefully guides her sting into each ganglion of the prey’s central nervous system, so as to paralyse it but not kill it. This way, the meat keeps fresh. It is possible the prey might be aware of being eaten alive from inside but unable to move a muscle to do anything about it."

(Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden)

Is nature really so barbaric and callous? The digger wasp is but one example of the indifference of nature and evolution. But is it all so cruel? The natural world contains astonishing beauty and in this Blog I want to highlight some amazing evolutionary stories and share my awe and passion for one of the most important theories ever conceived by mankind.

Friday, 5 September 2014

Parasitic wasps have evolved zinc tipped drills

Female parasitic fig wasps bore their way through tough, unripe figs to find the larvae of other pollinating insects already developing inside. Laying their eggs here, the wasp offspring then feed on these larvae as they develop within the safety of the fig.

The wasps have evolved an incredible microscopic drill, thinner than a human hair, that has teeth strengthened with zinc. Using an electron microscope, researches have been able to reveal the structure of this ovipositor which is very similar to a drill bit.



The ovipositor is three times the length of the wasp and so cleverly designed, it really is mind boggling to think that random mutations passed down over many generations can result in a model drill bit, complete with jagged teeth and even enriched with zinc.
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