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The macabre wasp that lays its eggs *inside* live fruit flies ????

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Drosophila fruit flies are well studied insects. For over a century, these tiny animals have been at the centre of some of the biggest molecular and genetic breakthroughs in science. But despite being under the microscope all this time, it looks like researchers have missed something. And that something is a minuscule wasp that preys on them.

This wasp species, named Syntretus perlmani, was discovered by chance in an infected fruit fly collected in a Mississippi backyard. Only a couple of millimetres long, it lays its eggs inside adult fruit flies. These eggs develop into larvae which grow and feast inside the host before bursting out to continue their lifecycle.

Despite being new to science, genomic analysis suggests its widespread across much of the US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvQVh5vnDQw&t=1170s
Category
Academic
Tags
science, nature video, fly
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