In this video, Xenos moutoni are carefully extracted from hornets. Xenos parasites, in the order Strepsipsera, live their entire lives in the abdomens of wasps and similar insects, altering the host's behavior. Here's a story about Xenos vesparum, which parasitizes paper wasps. And here's a scientific paper about Xenos myrapetrus, which lives within swarm-founding wasps.

The infected wasp begins to suffer nutritionally, then flies to meet with other infected wasps. The male parasite exits the wasp's abdomen and mates with the female parasites which stay inside their host. Wasps infected with the male parasite die. Wasps infected with the female parasite then fatten themselves up much like queen wasps do. They then fly to meet with other uninfected queen wasps. Then when the parasite is mature, the infected wasp flies to mingle with other uninfected wasps, thereby spreading brood and larvae into new environments.

Tiny tweezers and a steady hand. Read the rest

A team of researchers at Cornell University recently published a new paper titled "Evolutionary dynamics of recent selection on cognitive abilities." But that's a mouthful that kind of buries the lede, which is the fact that Northern paper wasps are apparently much smarter than we had previously realized. From the abstract (emphasis added):

Cognitive abilities can vary dramatically among species. […] Here, we investigate recent selection related to cognition in the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus—a wasp that has uniquely evolved visual individual recognition abilities. We generate high quality de novo genome assemblies and population genomic resources for multiple species of paper wasps and use a population genomic framework to interrogate the probable mode and tempo of cognitive evolution. Recent, strong, hard selective sweeps in P. fuscatus contain loci annotated with functions in long-term memory formation, mushroom body development, and visual processing, traits which have recently evolved in association with individual recognition. […] These data provide unprecedented insight into some of the processes by which cognition evolves.

On the surface, this might sound terrifying. But according to the researchers, these wasps have only thus far evolved to recognize each other, rather than That Human Kid Who Keeps Coming Back And Messing With Their Nest. As Michael Sheehan, professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell, and senior author on the paper, told Phys.org, "The really surprising conclusion here is that the most intense selection pressures in the recent history of these wasps has not been dealing with climate, catching food or parasites but getting better at dealing with each other. Read the rest

Used car for sale! Only 10,000 careful owners: "You need to call yourself an exterminator, dude."

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Phillips Pest Control out of Alabama reports that this is the largest yellowjacket nest they've ever had to deal with.

I treat the nest with Permethrin. You will see the incredible size of the nest and the massive numbers of yellowjackets. Within a couple days after the treatment all yellowjackets were dead.

Today in "I don't know what I expected": former Blackberry engineer and YouTuber Matthais Wandel's ingenious but doom-laden wasp vacuum.

Tell you what, Happy Mutants, if you like this and fancy a light, uplifting read, be sure to grab Iain Banks' debut novel The Wasp Factory. Read the rest

Shawn Woods is known for his informative videos demonstrating every imaginable kind of mousetrap, but this time, he goes after yellowjacket wasps. Read the rest

As seen in this photo, taken by Pest Professionals of Northampton, England, there was a wasp nest in the attic of house in Pipewell.

Pest controller Gary Wilkinson, of Northamptonshire pest controllers Pest Professionals, who found the nest, said: "It's an impressive wasp nest alright - much bigger than a barrel. Normally we get called in at the first sign of wasps causing a problem to people. This community has been allowed to go about its business undisturbed for a whole summer season. Although you wouldn't want it in your own loft, you have to say it's a very impressive and in its own way a very beautiful thing." Carcasses of hundreds of dead wasps found next to the nest indicate that the colony was created by the common wasp (Vespula Vulgaris).

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