PARASITE IN HORNET WASP

                                                INSECT WORLD 

                                                              

                                                                    HORNET

                                               Scientific Name     : Vespa crabro

                                                Order                     : Hymenoptera 

                                   Family                   : Vespids 

                                                

                    

                        Science Time The video you will see is extraordinary in every way. In the foreground you will see a gigantic Vespa mandarina, a type of Asian hornet that measures almost three inches. Second, you will witness the extraction of a parasite that lived within it.

                    The strange intruder that lived in this hornet is known as Xenos moutoni, a parasite that be longs to the order Strepsiptera which has the ability to spend all of its life in the abdomen of these wasps or similar insects, altering the behavior of the host. It is kind of similar to the fungus that turns ants into zombies.

                    Hornets often attack bee hives with the goal of obtaining their larvae. Hornets can devastate a bee colony: a single hornet can kill 40 bees per minute.

                    The sting of the Asian giant hornet is about 6 millimetres in length, and injects an especially potent poison that contains an enzyme so strong that it can dissolve human tissue.

                    If a giant hornet stings a person and does not receive medical attention quickly, the individual can die from a reaction to the poison. About 40 people die each year after being stung by these giant hornets.