“Ancient Amber Holds Shocking Secret: Unearthed ‘Venus Flytrap’ Wasp Could Change Our Understanding of Parasitism!”
It was a joint effort between researchers from the Natural History Museum of Denmark and the Capital Normal University in China, and the amber itself was originally donated to the Capital Normal University by a private collector who purchased it in 2015. This is of particular note because, in 2020, the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology advised researchers to avoid working with amber acquired in Myanmar after 2017, as the resin trade was connected to funding violence amidst the country’s ongoing political turmoil.
Sirenobethylus Charybdis, The Prehistoric Wasp With A Venus Flytrap-Like Apparatus
Qiong WuA Sirenobethylus charybdis specimen in amber.
Based on the researchers’ observations of 16 female specimens preserved in amber, using micro-CT scanning, S. charybdis was estimated to have lived around 98.79 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous period. And while S. charybdis somewhat resembles the wasps of today, there is one noticeably distinct feature: its Venus flytrap-like abdomen.
The morphology of this wasp suggests it was a parasitoid, an insect whose larvae live as parasites inside hosts before killing the hosts. It’s likely that the wasp allowed its host to continue growing while it fed on it — and the paddle-shaped structure on its abdomen played a key role in this cycle.
The apparatus, which looks similar to a Venus flytrap plant, featured hair-like bristles and three flaps. Based on researchers’ observations, they said this structure likely restrained the wasp’s prey as it laid its eggs. They also said that it is unlikely that S. charybdis would have been able to pursue prey over long distances, meaning it is more likely that it lay hidden with the apparatus open, waiting to capture a potential host.
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