Beautiful wasp zombifies cockroach

Be thankful the Jeweled or Emerald Cockroach Wasp (Ampulex compressa) only targets roaches! This parenting trick is both brilliant and nightmarish, just one of the ways nature can trump science fiction and horror every time.

And why is it so beautiful? No one knows. It definitely doesn't need to be with venom like that!

Narration by Dave Gillies.

[bighaley]

cockroaches are literally the punching bag of nature.

[ainttt]

Cockroaches: *Exist*
The entirety of Earth: Sorry, that’s illegal

[Charles-qksc]

She's a scientist, an engineer and a laborer at the same time.

[vangoghsseveredear]

Apparently, the antenna part is even worse.

This whole poison cockroach zombie thing makes the wasp rather tired, so she drinks its mf blood to regain energy. She also severs the antenna so it'll be easier to lead, as effectively she's become the pilot, removing some more of the roaches senses.

Bugs are utterly terrifying

[dandychiki]

Literally the entire animal kingdom, including humans work together to eradicate cockroaches

[captaintrips]

To get ideas for horror movies, one needs only look to nature.

[axodok]

What I find most amazing about this is how insects like this have evolved to target organs in a specific order to keep the host alive as long as possible

[solefinder]

And it's amazing how no parenting needed for the wasp, it's just hardwired with instant adult wasp behaving info...
No one has to teach it what to do, what to look for, which insect to lay it's eggs in, it just knows...born ready, no pampering needed.

That's really what I find most amazing.

[Andromediens]

This small world is clearly another universe, scary asf

[vr]

ok so videos category are:
spider=comedy
ants=action
wasps=terror.

[princequestly]

I’m just astonished by these amazing creatures. Even the colors on that wasp are so vibrant and they look metallic. What an incredible little insect.

[mrmatamoskas]

I don't know if the cockroach or the cameras to record the entire video process is more incredible

[emmanuelculilap]

Plot twist: The wasp didn't know what she was doing. She just follows the narration.

[xstuddahx]

Cockroach: HELP HELP IM BEING ATTACKED
Cameraman: that's nice

[glaxko]

Wasps are such incredible and horrific predators. I saw a mud wasp "get stuck" in a spider web once. When the spider approached, the wasp freed itself and murdered the spider and carried it's corpse away. Another time I was working at a church and they had a spider problem outdoors. I saw, without exaggeration, hundreds of spiders by one doorway alone. And it was interesting to see the yellow jackets hover and pick off spiders who were careless enough to leave the safety of their webs. Not 100meters the wasps built a fairly large nest, so they were basically farming these spiders quite easily.

[efficiencygaming]

The one wasp I wouldn't want to swat on sight. Anything that can help deal with a roach problem is a friend of mine.

It's incredible how the wasp knows exactly what she needs to do. She knows precisely where to sting the roach, how to remove its antennae, and where on the roach to lay the egg. It's as if these wasps are born with that knowledge in mind.

A very interesting video. Love the narrator's accent!

[TheManWithNoName.]

This is like a horror film .. terrifying ... glad that bugs aren't same size as us

[-TheUnkownUser]

Cockroaches can survive a nuclear war...



Wasps: Hold my egg

[cher]

Stunning creature. I'm an artisan jewellery maker specializing in gemstones and I frequently take colour inspirations from gorgeous animals like this highly adapted wasp. The cinematography on these short docs is outstanding and the narration is exactly right.

[jovanizamarripa]

It’s crazy how a new wasp comes out knowing right away what it’s purpose is to be alive