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The female of Dasymultila klugii or cow killer is the living image of the triumph of evolution. Under its dense orange fur is a horror gallery of such caliber that a team of scientists has just confirmed that this wingless wasp has no more natural predators.
This is what happens when you get the sting of a wasp known as Cow Slayer
The hairy horror that you see in The picture is a Dasymutilla ant or velvet. This is actually …
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Researchers already suspected that the female Dasymultila klugii (males have wings and do not even bite) had reached a state of evolutionary grace in which simply nobody is interested in eating it (or approaching it the least). To test their hypothesis, they took a few specimens and collected them with various species of what should be their natural predators: insectivorous birds, lizards, moles, shrews and even a toad of America, a species known for virtually nothing to disgust them. 19659006] Screenshot: YouTube
Only two of these species approached the wasp. The mole paid dearly for his mistake when a peak of the insect left him gripped by strong convulsions for several minutes. The toad came to swallow the wasp. 20 seconds later, he vomited. Aside from wet, he did not have a scratch. The amphibian was seen offering a second wasp and escaped into panic.
The Dasymultila klugii is not without signs of alarm. If its bright orange color is not enough sign that it may not be a good idea to eat it, the animal secretes irritating chemicals with a very unpleasant odor. Its shell is so hard that predators simply can not pierce it, and swallowing it alive is not a good idea. His long sting injects a toxin that ranks third on the pain scale.
The sting is not lethal, but it is extremely painful. Farmers say that they can knock down a cow because of the pain it causes, but the cows are probably too smart to get closer. [vía New Scientist]
