''Ampulex dementor'', commonly known as the dementor wasp, is a species of cockroach wasp native to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, described in 2014 by Michael Ohl of the

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum () is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major museums in Germany alongside Naturm ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

. The

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

was selected by visitors to the museum in an effort to raise awareness among the public of issues in

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

and the description of

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

Description

''A. dementor'' is colored in red and black. Its mandibles and most of its clypeus,

prothorax The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ...

mesothorax The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum ( ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) ...

, and posterolateral areas are all light red, while its abdomen and much of its head is black. Its wings are slightly yellow. It has long, slender legs, and a tubular petiole, as long as the

tergum A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; : ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton wi ...

. Of about 170 species in the family Ampulicidae, ''Ampulex dementor'' is the largest. The length of females varies between 9.6 and 10.9 mm; the length of males is uncharacterized.

Behavior

The wasp has an unusual behavior towards

cockroaches Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

. As it stings its prey, it releases a

toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived ...

into the victim's neural nodes. This toxin blocks the cockroach's octopamine receptors, leaving the cockroach alive, but docile and with impaired motility. By prodding with its antennae, the predator then escorts its victim into the wasp's nest, where it can be dispatched more easily.

Etymology

At the time of the wasp's description, visitors to the

(in which the species was described) were asked through pamphlet distribution, to choose between four names, the third of which was ultimately chosen: * ''Ampulex bicolor'' (the Latin word means 'two colors', from '' bis'' = twice) due to its very distinctive colours, black and red * ''Ampulex mon'', an allusion to its origin, Thailand, and the

Mon people The Mon (; Thai Mon: ဂကူမည်; , ; , ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar's Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, the Irrawaddy Delta, and several areas in Thailand (mostly in Pathum Than ...

, one of the earliest ethnic groups to live there * ''Ampulex dementor'', referring to its behavioral resemblance to the Dementors, fictional creatures from the Harry Potter Books franchise, who suck the soul from their prey, leaving an empty body with neither thoughts nor emotions, somewhat as the wasp does * ''Ampulex plagiator'', because the species is an ant mimic, in particular 'copying' the general appearance and movement of an ant, thus making it a plagiarist in this regard

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16961401 Ampulicidae Insects described in 2014 Insects of Thailand

Description

Behavior

Etymology

See also

References