It might sound like something out of a horror story, but the aptly-named bone-house wasp builds its nest out of dead ants! It stuffs the ant bodies between the mud walls of its nest. Scientists discovered that the corpses not only provided insulation from heat and cold that the scent kept away a number of predators. Most animals avoid ant colonies because they are known to put up a ferocious defence against intruders.
Scientists theorized the reasoning behind these strange defense tactics and concluded that the wasps are using the ant carcasses as deterrents from possible predators. Ants emanate strong pheromones as communication mechanisms and these scents linger for a period of time after their death. The smell of the lifeless bodies serves as an adequate deterrent for animals attempting to eat nesting larvae.
This analysis results in the subsequent reasoning that female wasps must actively seek out and kill live ants as opposed to collecting their dead bodies. This theory was confirmed by the 13% lower parasitism rates in bone-house nest as compared to nests of similar species.
Picture Credit : Google
