| Ampulex dementor | |
|---|---|
 Female holotype | |
| Information | |
| Range | Thailand |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Class | Insecta |
| Order | Hymenoptera |
| Family | Ampulicidae |
| Genus | Ampulex |
| Species | Ampulex dementor |
The Ampulex dementor, is a new species of cockroach wasp native to Thailand, described in 2014 by Michael Ohl of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. The species name was selected by visitors to the museum, in efforts to connect members of the public to issues of taxonomy and the description of biodiversity.
Behavior[]
The wasp has an unusual behavior towards cockroaches: As it stings its prey, it releases a toxin into the victim's neural nodes, neutralizing all specific neural behavior. Its muscle functions still active, the cockroach then "runs into" the wasp's nest, allowing for its easier capture by the wasp.
Etymology[]
At the time of the wasp's description, visitors to the Museum für Naturkunde (in which the species was described) were asked through pamphlet distribution to choose between four names, of which the third was 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 one of the earliest "ethnic groups" to live there.
- Ampulex dementor, referring to its behavioral resemblance with the Dementors, fictional characters from the Harry Potter Books franchise, who suck their prey's soul, leaving it an empty body with neither thoughts nor emotions, in a way like the wasp.
- Ampulex plagiator, because the species is an ant mimic, a species which "copies" the ant in many ways such as its way of moving and general appearance, making it a plagiarist of said ant.
Description[]
Ampulex dementor is colored in red and black. Its mandibles, (most of) clypeus, prothorax, mesothorax, posterolateral areas are all light red, while its abdomen and much of its head is black. Its wings are slightly yellow. It has long and slender legs, and a tubular petiole, as long as the tergum. Female length varies between 9.6 and 10.9 mm; the male length is unknown.
