What is Syntretus Perlmani?

About Syntretus Perlmani:

• It is a new species of parasitoid wasp.
• It is the first wasp found to infect adult fruit flies, a stark contrast to related wasp species that usually target the larvae and pupae stages of flies.
• These fruit fly invaders are considered parasitoids rather than parasites because they always kill their hosts unlike the latter, which generally leave them alive.
• Female S. perlmani wasps use a specialised organcalled an ovipositor to inject eggs directly into the abdomen of adult fruit flies.
• Over the next 18 days, the eggs develop into wasp larvae, slowly growing inside the host until they eventually kill the fly by emerging out of its body.
• The research team found evidence of S. perlmani across the eastern United States, including Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina.

Q1. What is a Wasp?

Ans. A wasp is any member of a group of insects in the order Hymenoptera, suborder Apocrita, some of which are stinging. Wasps are distinguished from the ants and bees of Apocrita by various behavioral and physical characteristics, particularly their possession of a slender, smooth body and legs with relatively few hairs. Wasps also generally are predatory or parasitic and have stingers with few barbs that can be removed easily from their victims.

Source: New wasp species discovered in US bursts from living flies in horror movie fashion