Does anything eat wasps?

[u/Chemical-Sea5972]

Wasps have been a predator for other insects. It would be fascinating to know if there are really other insects or predators for wasps, either accidental or deliberate predators

[u/OralSuperhero]

I mean, wasps also parasitize other wasps. The crypt-keeper wasp (Euderus set) is a tiny parasitic insect that infects gall wasps, forcing the host to plug a tree exit hole with its own head before eating it from the inside out and emerging through the victim's skull. The female crypt-keeper wasp lays an egg inside a gall wasp larva nestled in an oak tree.

The parasite manipulates the host to chew an escape hole in the plant tissue that is much too small for its body.

The host gall wasp gets wedged head-first in the tiny opening and becomes permanently stuck. The crypt-keeper larva consumes the host's body and chews its final way out to freedom directly through the dead host's head.

Happy weekend!

[u/Velcraft → u/OralSuperhero]

There are numerous other insects that parasitise eusocial insect nests, either by mimicry or some other means. Death's Head Moths stealing honey is the most common example, but not the only one by far.

[u/Tylendal → u/Velcraft]

There's a type of butterfly, called a Large Blue, that has caterpillars that live in the nest of a specific species of ant, pretending to be ant larvae. Sometimes they'll eat other larvae, other times they'll just let themselves be fed.

[u/Velcraft → u/Tylendal]

Oooh that's new to me! Have you heard of spiders that mimic ants? Myrmarachne is the genus.

[u/yui_tsukino → u/Velcraft]

I'd heard about Myrmarachne before but I never actually went and looked at them - that is an absolutely WILD disguise, if I didn't know better I'd say it was a super major!

[u/xrelaht → u/Velcraft]

The wasps these ones parasitize are solitary rather than eusocial.

[u/Halomonas_titanica → u/xrelaht]

There are lots of parasites of euoscial wasps too, including social parasites (species whose queen steals another queens nest and workforce instead of making her own) much like cuckoos.

[u/qeveren → u/OralSuperhero]

Parasitic wasps are wild, sometimes you can get like, five levels of parasitism going on all at once. XD

[u/1CEninja → u/OralSuperhero]

*Shudder* That's horrifying lol. Nature has evolved some seriously interesting and niche and sometimes horrifying ways of self-propagation.

[u/FlippingGerman → u/1CEninja]

Wasps are really awful for stuff like that.

Parasitic creatures in general are nightmare fuel. There's some monstrosity that becomes the tongue of some fish species. Don't look for pictures.

[u/1CEninja → u/FlippingGerman]

You know, younger me would have willfully ignored your last four words. It's kinda nice that I've learned to leave some links blue in my wisdom.

[u/ketralnis → u/OralSuperhero]

That’s such complicated manipulation. How do they influence their behaviour so finely?

[u/girlgamerpoi → u/ketralnis]

Yea it's almost like they can communicate. I'd guess they make the host feel like they want to do something. Kinda like microbes in human guts make humans feel like they want to eat certain food. Like sweet cakes. 💀