Clistopyga crassicaudata

WHAT IS IT?

The egg-laying organs – or ovipositors – of ants, bees and wasps double up as stings. Some species put them to other uses. Close relatives of this newly discovered ichneumon wasp use theirs to entangle the silk surrounding the exit holes of spiders’ nests before stinging the inhabitant and laying an egg on its paralysed body. The precise function of the new species’ huge ovipositor is not yet known.

WHERE IS IT?

This species, found in Peru, is one of seven new species of Clistopyga discovered in a narrow zone of vegetation between the Andes mountain chain and the Amazonian rainforest.

This preserved specimen of Clistopyga shows its large stinger.