Scientists in Myanmar have found 16 amber-enveloped wasps on a hillside in Hukawng Valley, an isolated region in northern Myanmar's Kachin State.
Perfectly preserved in the fossilised tree resin for the past 99 million years, the researchers spotted something remarkable on the bodies of this now-extinct invertebrate (Sirenobethylus charybdis) – a trap-like abdomen, much like a Venus flytrap, likely used to seize and immobilise other insects.
Sirenobethylus charybdis: a deadly hunter
Unlike modern parasitic wasps, the researchers believe S. charybdis had a specialised abdominal structure made up of three flaps, one of which was paddle-shaped and covered in fine bristles.
This feature may have been used to briefly trap a host insect while the wasp laid its eggs, say the team, who examined the all-female specimens using micro-CT scanning.
They think that rather than chasing after prey, the ancient wasp waited in ambush, snapping its grasping mechanism shut when an unsuspecting insect triggered its response.
S. charybdis is thought to have been a 'koinobiont' – a type of parasitoid that allows its host to keep growing while being slowly consumed from the inside.
Today, parasitoids such as cuckoo wasps and bethylid wasps share some similarities, but none have the same dramatic grasping mechanism, say the researchers.
The discovery suggests that parasitic wasps in the mid-Cretaceous may have had a greater variety of hunting strategies than their modern relatives.
How did S. charybdis get its name?
The species takes its name from Charybdis, a sea monster in Greek mythology said to swallow and regurgitate water three times a day. The researchers says S. charybdis may have used its deadly grip to seize prey before releasing them into a fate even more gruesome.
Find out more about the study A cretaceous fly trap? remarkable abdominal modification in a fossil wasp, conducted by Taiping Gao, Lars Vilhelmsen and colleagues from the Capital Normal University in China and the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
Main image: Myanmar forest. Credit: Getty
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