A new wasp species discovered in the Amazon has a giant stinger used for injecting venom and eggs into its victims, surprising scientists and horrifying onlookers.
The wasp, named Clistopyga crassicaudata, was discovered by researchers from the University of Turku, Finland, and colleagues from Colombia, Spain, and Venezuela, who recently described the discovery in the journal Zootaxa.
"I have studied tropical parasitoid wasps for a long time but I have never seen anything like it. The stinger looks like a fierce weapon," Ilari E. Sääksjärvi, a professor from the University of Turku said in a statement.
The wasp was found in an area between the Andes and the Amazonian lowland rainforest. Its enormous stinger, which it uses to inject its eggs into spiders or spider egg sacs, sets it apart from other known species.
"We do not know for sure which spider this wasp species prefers," Sääksjärvi said in the statement, adding that researchers looked to recent studies of other wasps in the Clistopyga genus to understand the new species. "The giant stinger of the current species is very likely a highly sophisticated tool as well, but unfortunately we can only guess at its purpose."
The wasp's stinger is both long and wide and takes up almost the length of the creature's body, Popular Mechanics noted.
Wasps in the Clistopyga genus target spiders by first paralyzing them with their venom and then laying eggs on the spider, which later becomes a meal for the hatching larva, the magazine noted.
Twitter users expressed horror at the discovery.
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