Charity Smith
Staff Writer
The Emerald Cockroach Wasp, which frankly sounds like something out of one of my more horrible dreams, has gotten a new name. One that is, I think, far better suited to its nature. Ampulex compressa lacks that certain je ne sais quoi, non?
A group of 300 museum visitors voted to rename the wasp (drumroll please)……. Ampulex Dementor, so named after the happiness-draining, soul-sucking Dementors of Harry Potter fame.
The newly minted Dementor Wasp earned the moniker because of its unusual reproductive behavior. Its precisely placed sting is not used to kill the cockroach, but to inhibit its survival behaviors, making it docile, but not entirely paralyzed. The wasp leads the roach to its burrow where it lays an egg on the roach’s abdomen and then leaves, blocking the entrance behind her. Then the baby hatches and digs into the roach’s belly, surviving on the internal organs.
So basically it’s like date rape meets Alien. Good luck with your dreams tonight. All I know is, if museums are now accepting votes to change bug names, I’ve got some suggestions…..
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