Discovering bees 'savage, bloodthirsty'

Scientists have discovered a new wasp in Thailand. It's called Cystomastacoides kiddo, named after the character Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill.

Cystomastacoides kiddo is a parasitic wasp which belongs to the family Braconidae known for its bizarre reproductive habits. The female bee finds a suitable host (usually a caterpillar) and implants the egg inside. They then secrete a hormone to protect the egg nest from the host's immune system. The eggs hatch into larvae, slowly eating the host from inside to outside until they are large enough and if they do not kill the host, they will secrete fluids that make the host immobile or infertile.

The scientists explained the reason for choosing the name Cystomastacoides kiddo for the bee: 'The deadly biological characteristics of hornets make us think of Uma's character. She is an assassin and master of kungfu tigers and cranes. She killed people quickly by creating five pressure points around the heart with the fingertips. Victims will quickly die from heart failure. In addition, parasitic animals also wear yellow 'shirts' - black like Kiddo's jumsuit ".

Parasitic wasps.

Parasitic wasps are often known as clever assassins. The larvae of Ampulex compressa (another parasitic wasps) secrete antimicrobial resistance to keep the host - a cockroach is not decomposed. In a study in 2000, scientists found coccinellae Dinocampus wasps using ladybirds to make larvae nurseries. Zombie ladybirds have kept vulnerable larvae from predators.

Scientists have identified two other species of wasps in the genus Cystomastacoides in Papua New Guinea. One is Cystomastacoides asotaphaga, with the victim of a caterpillar caterpillar of Asota plana. The second is Cystomastacoides nicolepeelerae, named after Nicole Peeler, a favorite novelist by Donald Quicke. He is a scientist at Imperial College London, the head of the research.

The scientists' findings have expanded the distribution range of parasitic wasps. Previously, there was only one known species - Cystomastacoides coxalis in mainland China.

Last year, scientists identified at least 177 species of isolated parasitic wasps of the subfamily Orthocentrinae from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador.