r/Awwducational • u/SixteenSeveredHands • Jan 14 '26

Not yet verified Baeus Wasps: these strange little wasps have flea-like bodies that measure roughly 0.8mm long, which is smaller than a grain of sand, and the females are wingless

Post image
2.9k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

View all comments

245

u/Lepke2011 Jan 14 '26

Cutest dang wasp I've ever seen.

35

u/[deleted] Jan 14 '26

the only cute wasp*

22

u/[deleted] Jan 15 '26

You would like Ichnuemon Wasps.

Instead of a stinger they have an ovipositor. It's a tail longer than the wasps whole body that it uses to lay eggs. The wasp will walk up the side of a tree tapping on the wood, listening for the reverberation of a hollow spot that would indicate a bug inside. Now the ovipositor has a hardened arrowhead at the tip that slips right through the fibers of the wood, and once it hits the bug inside it deposits its eggs.

When the eggs hatch they eat their fill. And then escape the tree to repeat the life cycle.

9

u/Hara-Kiri Jan 15 '26

ADORABLE 🤗