The wasp larva's last supper: 100 million years of evolutionary stasis in the larval development of rhopalosomatid wasps (Hymenoptera: Rhopalosomatidae)
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und
Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Michael S. Engel
Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive – Suite 140,
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-4415, USA
Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History,
Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024-5192, USA
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Amber functions as a window into the past, capable of capturing behaviors frozen for millions of years. Here, we report on the exceptionally rare discovery of a dinosaur-age larva of a stinging wasp, feeding on its cricket host, in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar. It reveals a considerable constancy in the biology of this particular family over the last 100 million years. The excellent preservation of the larva is remarkable and due solely to the fidelity permitted by inclusion in amber.
Amber functions as a window into the past, capable of capturing behaviors frozen for millions of...
