Bizarre parasitic wasps preserved in amber about 99 million years ago had trap-like abdomens that they may have used to immobilise other insects ...

"I've seen a lot of strange insects, but this has to be one of the most peculiar-looking ones I've seen in a while," said one entomologist.

Preserved in amber, the wasp appears to have used a Venus flytrap-like structure on its body to grasp potential hosts.

likely to trap other insects. Perhaps most disturbingly, the researchers detected a needle-like structure that the parasitic wasps might have used to deposit their eggs in or on their prey.

However, the hind wings aren’t its only striking features. S. charybdis appears to have evolved a unique, three-flapped abdominal setup similar to the leaves of a Venus flytrap. The paddle-like lower ...

Scientists have discovered a extinct parasitic wasp with an abdomen that worked like a Venus flytrap inside a 99-million-year-old piece of amber.

resembling "a small bear trap attached to the end of it," said study co-author Lars Vilhelmsen from the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Scientists uncovered over a dozen female wasps preserved ...

resembling “a small bear trap attached to the end of it,” said study co-author Lars Vilhelmsen from the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Scientists uncovered over a dozen female wasps ...