Panda Ant
- bioworld090
- Jul 21, 2022
- 2 min read
INTRODUCTION
The panda ant, unlike its name, is actually a species of wasp famous for its panda-like black and white body colour. Its scientific name is Euspinolia militaris and belongs to the family Mutillidae, commonly known as velvet ants, which contains more than 9000 species of wasps. It was discovered in 1938 in Chile. It is also found in the southwestern US, Mexico, and Argentina.
DESCRIPTION
The panda ant is a solitary organism that measures 8 mm in length and 2-3 mm in height. Its body is covered with dense thick hairs and a hard exoskeleton that ensures reduced water loss. It exhibits sexual dimorphism i.e., males and females show morphological differences. Males are larger and possess wings while females are shorter and wingless. Also, males are nocturnal(active at night) and females are diurnal(active during the day).
REPRODUCTION & PARASITISM
During mating, males pick up females, and once the mating process is over, they put them on the ground. The female would then go in search of an insect nest to lay its eggs on or near the larvae or pupa present in that particular nest. As idiobiont ectoparasitoids, the panda ant's larvae, after hatching from eggs, feed on the host larva to develop and eventually kill it. The female lays around 2000 eggs per year, but the panda ant is still on the verge of extinction as they are susceptible to predation.
"COW KILLER"
Even though its panda-like colour makes it a cute creature but there's a dangerous side to this small and seemingly harmless creature. The panda ant is notorious for its extremely painful sting, which is why it is also known as the "cow killer". However, no cow death has been reported from its sting. The pain lasts for about 30 minutes. The sting is a modified ovipositor and is present only in females.
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