Friday, May 6, 2011

Baeus



This unpredictable interval time brings you an image of Baeus. Parasitoid wasps in this genus attack the eggs of spiders. The plucky females nibble their way through the silk covering of spider egg sacs and parasitize the eggs inside. Males have wings, in the females the wings are vestigial. The round, spherical shape of these wasps reflects the shape of the egg in which they develop. They are very small, typically less than 1 millimeter in length, and are probably not noticed at all by adult spiders.

If you have a cellar, attic, or windows full of cobwebs, you may be in close proximity to these creatures.

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