Brain-Eating Wasp
1. Basic information
1.1. Anatomy
The Brain-eating wasp is a giant flying insect. It has weakly expressed sexual dimorphism, as the female is usually a little larger, and the second pair of wings are coloured differently. The wasp can reach a length of 70 mm for males and 85 for females. The average, respectively, is 68 mm and 80mm. Sometimes, single individuals of 100 or more millimetres are found. The wingspan reaches 100mm for males (average: 95) and 130 mm for females (average: 115 mm). The wasp's body is similar to the bodies of many such insects. It has three distinctive parts - head, mesosoma and metasoma. A chitinous exoskeleton on green and brown strips covers all the parts.
Head
The head is big, spherical and a little elongated. The face covers the entire frontal area. The micro-pattern of colour varies from wasp to wasp, so all wasps have their unique and distinguishable look. The mouth occupies the lower part of the face. Two massive mandibles cover it and participate in the food chewing. They are so powerful that they can clip through the exoskeleton of most insects and rip the skin of many soft-skinned animals. Multiple sharp tooth-like growths cover the inner edge of each mandible. Their placement is asymmetric, so the two mandibles tightly fit when closed. The mandibles grow in length during the entire lifespan of the wasp, and new "teeth" appear as they grow.
Eyes
Two compound teardrop-shaped eyes are located sideways on the head. They usually are green-, cyan- or teal-coloured. They provide the wasp with excellent eyesight at a wide angle, practically a full 360-degree view. Thanks to it, a wasp can distinguish and recognize a particular wasp just by its facial pattern. Five additional "simple" eyes support the eyesight - three on the forehead, one more on the underhead, and one last on the abdomen near the stinger. The first three so-called dorsal ocelli allow the wasp to autonomously follow the flight path, while the fourth enriches it with a perception of depth and an object's temperature. The last one differs much from the rest and serves much more like a sensor than an actual eye. It only activates when the wasp is about to sting or lay eggs (for females), allowing it to aim more precisely.
Body
A semi-immobile membrane, the cervix, attaches the head to the mesosoma. It allows very restricted movement and rotation but cannot stretch. The mesosoma includes the entire thorax and the first segment of the abdomen. It contains all the vital organs of the wasp, and all limbs are attached to it. A strong exoskeleton of overlapped plates covers it entirely. The shell is one of the hardest in all insects, surpassing even most beetles. The weakest point is the cervical membrane, so most smaller predators decapitate the wasp and gain access to the internals through the membrane. There are three pairs of legs. The first two are in the frontal lobe of the thorax, attached closely to one another, and the third is rear-placed near the border between the thorax and the abdominal segment. The wasp lands on the first two, then lowers and steps on the hind pair for balance. The first two pairs are folded under the thorax in flight, while the third stretches along the abdomen. From the centre of the mesosoma begin two pairs of wings. The front wings are large and provide the most lifting traction, while the rears are smaller and help manoeuvrability and course corrections. The body is green with brown strips, the front pair of wings is yellowish-brown, and the hind is green in males and teal in females.
Abdomen
The metasoma is the last body part of the wasp. A narrow and short connects it with the lone abdominal segment in mesosoma. The waist (or petiole) is formed from the heavily modified second segment of the abdomen, which becomes a straw-like ring of strengthened chitin. The rest of the abdominal segments comprise the metasoma, the so-called "true abdomen". The metasoma contains the respiratory system's main body, the reproductive system, the vertically placed stinger, and the depot for extra nutrients (yes, there is such a thing as a "fat Brain-eating wasp"!). The abdominal exoskeleton is much weaker but more flexible than the thoracic one. Females have a small membranous "pouch" lying on the outer side of the abdomen.
Stinger
The stinger is about one-seventh of the entire body length. The stinger of the Brain-eating wasp is solid, not hollow, and is placed vertically in the centre of the abdomen but not in its lower section, unlike other wasps. It has three parts. The base part, the stinger's blade or simply the blade, is made from hard chitin, the same as in the thoracic exoskeleton. It is shaped like an oblique cone whose tip points backwards and down. The second part, the "saw", is a small barbed plate on the blade's lower edge. A pair of strong muscles in the abdomen moves the saw back and forth along the blade, rending and tearing the victim's skin. The last part is a small membranous "lid" covering a venom pocket on the blade's upper edge. It controls the amount of toxin to be released in the wound. The Brain-eating wasp produces hemotoxin, which prevents the blood from clotting. The stinger is sturdy and durable and can penetrate most other insects' exoskeletons.
Ovipositor (females only)
The female wasp lays eggs in the amniotic sac outside its abdomen and secretes a highly tranquillizing amniotic fluid. There, they are fertilized by the male. During the incubation period, the outermost layer of all eggs fuses, forming a long straw-like organ called an ovipositor. It is long (usually about 100 mm, sometimes up to two times the wasp's length). The tranquillizing fluid from the sac fills the gaps between the eggs. The ovipositor sits as a coiled spring in the abdominal pouch until the eggs are ready to lay. Then, the wasp flies out in search of a host. When the wasp finds a victim, it "stings" the victim with the ovipositor. The ovipositor attaches itself to the host and continuously injects eggs and tranquillizers into its bloodstream.
1.2. Habitat
The Brain-eating wasp is endemic to Blatishnica. It prefers wet, dark places with much space to build its nest. The wasp commonly builds its nest under the bark of rotting trees, in small caves, or in large rock holes. On rare occasions, it would use an open wound of a large living animal, such as a hog, a wolf, a beaver, or similar, as a temporal shelter (in vivo nest). A few observation reports wasps that use the bodies of their victims as temporary nests, but this is an exception rather than a rule. The wasps never use the carcass of a dead animal for a hideout, and if the animal host dies, it will move out and build a new nest. However, they have no hesitation against dead or dying tree trunks or bushes.
The Brain-eating wasp needs shallow, muddy water during the pre-mating courtship. Male wasps fight in such water, trying to stay as long as they can be submerged and force the adversary to surface and breathe. All tricks are allowed except killing or drowning the opponent. The mating fight very rarely ends with the death of a combatant. If the one wasp dies, the female rejects the survivor(s).
True nest
The usual nest of Brain-eating wasp has a simple structure - a large enclosed storage chamber with a smaller "bedroom" inside and a narrow tunnel for entrance. The wasp builds it from different plant fibres, insect exoskeletons and mud, all glued with saliva. The tunnel is usually two to three times the length of the wasp, and the wasp periodically rebuilds it as it grows. The storage chamber, or food chamber, holds the wasp's food supplies. The wasp builds the chamber's floor as small detachable hexagonal cells, loosely attached. The cells are shallow tubes, empty and sealed in the top end at the time of building. The wasp fills them with chewed food and seals the bottom. Both seals are from saliva. The wasp continuously builds new cells over the sealed ones and fills the empty each time the food is in excess. However, it will stop hoarding food if the filled cells become too much. As the wasp first eats the innermost food cells, the nest becomes taller (externally) and deeper (internally) in time.
The wasp tends to use a nest for a very long time, but it will abandon it and build a new one in some cases. Usually, if the nest grows too tall and the food chamber becomes too deep, the wasp makes a new one, transfers the remaining food cells, and then moves in. Also, if a predator threatens or destroys the nest, and the wasp survives, it immediately moves out. It will abandon any food cells or any other useable things.
In vivo nest
Nests, built-in live animals (in vivo nests), are considered temporal, and the wasp uses them for short periods. The wasp still creates food cells there but eats directly from the host. Later, it transports the cells to the new nest.
1.3. Diet
The Brain-eating wasp is a carnivore and fierce predator.
immature stages
Adulthood
In adult form, it feeds primarily on smaller critters like insects, spiders, worms, small amphibians and rodents. The wasp prefers to kill and eat fresh prey, but sometimes, its menu includes flesh from dying animals or rotting carcasses. Usually, it turns any excess food into supplemental cells and stores them in its nest. They form the wasp's reserve.
Life cycle
The Brain-eating wasps reproduce sexually. There is weak sexual dimorphism, as the female is slightly longer than the male.Fertilization and egg laying
The male wasp fertilizes eggs directly inside the female and leaves. The female seals herself in her next for ten to fifteen days. During this period, she incubates the fertilized eggs into embryos and grows a new tube-like organ, the ovipositor. The ovipositor usually has a length of about 100 mm and is coiled in a small pouch under the abdomen. The female wasp feeds on the supplies left by the male before copulating and could die of starvation if they aren't enough. She's also easy prey to any predators lurking nearby. After ten to fifteen days (usually at the twelfth), the wasp leaves its nest to seek a host for the embryos. The ideal victim is a warm-blooded animal of average size with short fur, but if they lack, she will infect any warm-blooded. Often, the wasp dies shortly after laying eggs, killed by the egg's host.Grow and hatching
During the egg laying, the ovipositor detaches from the wasp and hooks up to the victim's body. It continuously injects eggs and a tranquillizing agent into the bloodstream until there are no more eggs. Then it dries up and falls. Once the eggs enter the bloodstream, they awaken embryos in them. The bloodstream carries the eggs to the large blood vessels. There, they attach to the walls and lose their semi-hard shell. The blood flows semi-freely through the membrane, so its nutrients feed the embryos inside. Once the larvae fully develop, they hatch and travel through the blood vessels to the brain. There, they exit into the brain, rupturing the blood vessels. While leaving the bloodstream, the larvae secrete a substance to seal the rupture and prevent further bleeding that would kill the host too fast. When they nest in the brain, but before they start feeding, the larvae release a chemical that forces the host to find a hideout. Then, they feast on the brain tissue, killing the host. The larvae need to be exposed to fresh air to become pupas. It can reach them in two ways: an animal cracks the skull and eats it way in, or through the eye when it is eaten or decays.Pupa, cocoon, imago
The wasps are the most vulnerable in the pupa's phase, but the cocoon shell can withstand the most external impact. The pupa can survive the passing through an animal's digestive system unharmed. However, some species penetrate the cocoon and fest of defenceless pupa inside. Hatching of imago usually happens seven to eleven days after the cocooning. The adult is sexually mature and can mate immediately. The Brain-eating wasps rarely do it, but usually, the mating happens at least two weeks after hatching. It takes a week for females and two for males. In the first week, the wasp builds a nest, while the second males gather a food offering for the female.
Enemies
Some ambush predators and ranged hunters often prey on Brain-eating wasps. They feed on adult wasps and use various tactics to avoid their dangerous sting. Some of the widely spread tactics are spiderweb traps (spiderweb spiders), long sticky tongues (toads and frogs), hard beaks (insectivore birds), digestive fluids (insectivore plants, jumping spiders), etc.
Immatured forms have fewer predators due to their enclosed environment. Most well-known are the headpecker and larvae of the Master frog. The headpecker seeks recently collapsed animals and pierces their skulls, looking for wasp cocoons. A single bird usually cannot eat all cocoons in one animal, so some hatch. A hatched tadpole of the Master frog will feast on any wasp's eggs, larvae, and cocoon it finds. A larva that has eaten a wasp's immature will eat adult wasps when it turns into a frog. Some colonial omnivore insects often take hatched and unhatched wasp cocoons to their colonies. The cocoons are dismantled there, and if the pupa is intact, the colony's queen feasts on it.
An unhatched cocoon is strong enough to survive a trip through common animals' digestive systems if ingested. The larvae and eggs aren't and will perish.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
U wanna tell me it's a wasp? Giant fuckin' flyin' bug? U gonna kiddin'! I saw birds smaller than dis beast! An' it'll be lyin' its goddamn eggs in a LIVING PEOPLE? Merciful God, kill me just now!
Females: up to 85 mm (average 80 mm)
Females: up to 130 mm (average 115 mm)
Usual: about 4 weeks
