Most wasps do not have an ant's head on their tail. So, if you were a researcher and found a wasp with an ant's head among the abandoned exhibits of the museum, you would probably have exclaimed: "Wow, caramba!" (watch the video below).
While visiting the Museum of Natural History in Peru, zoologists from Finland found a single specimen of a bizarre species of wasp called Clistopyga Caramba that boasts a tail that bears a striking resemblance to an ant.
The sample looked so unusual that at first scientists thought it was damaged. However, in the end, entomologists came to the conclusion that, in fact, it was a unique species of wasp that evolved in this way.
According to the researchers, the strange wasp is an example of a natural phenomenon known as Bates' mimicry, in which creatures imitate other animal species in order to scare or deceive their prey.
For example, hoverflies imitate bumblebees. And the vulture turtle, in the process of evolution, got hold of a worm-like tongue, with the help of which it lures prey into its mouth. However, the wasp found really shocked scientists. She looked so strange that they decided to immediately report her to the public.
The date of the collection in which the strange wasp was found is unknown. It is only clear that the unusual specimen was brought to the museum from the area where the Amazon rainforests come to the foot of the Andes. Scientists have put forward theories explaining the appearance of an ant's tail in a wasp.
It turns out that some species of jumping spiders are afraid of ants, so the wasp scared the spiders with its appearance to feast on their eggs. On the other hand, the wasp could use the head of an ant to lure hungry insects and then attack and paralyze them.
Of course, it is impossible to determine the function of an unusual process on a wasp's tail with only a single specimen in hand. Scientists now intend to obtain more reliable evidence of their conclusions.
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Voronina Svetlana