As the vertebrate monsters have waxed and waned, the insects have gone on mating and hatching ... vision. Eggs must also somehow escape having the eggs of another type of insect, parasitoids ...

A small team of biologists at Mississippi State University and the University of Wyoming has found a species of parasitoid ...

“We’ve discovered that its egg sacs have unique spiky defenses that make it harder for parasitoid wasps to lay their eggs inside it. This could be part of why they’re so successful at spreading.

They come in a variety of glossy and metallic colours. Less beautiful, however, is how they provide for their offspring. These parasitoid wasps lay their eggs inside other insects. When the eggs hatch ...