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Sometimes literary works of fiction inspire scientists.

Meet “Ampulex dementor” aka “the dementor wasp.” This species, discovered a few years ago, was named after the mythical dementors in "Harry Potter" that suck souls with abandon.

Why? The dementor wasp injects venom into its prey, turning cockroaches into passive zombies before dragging them off to be devoured. #nature #science #books #SharedPlanet

#books #nature #science #sharedplanet
This entry was edited (1 year ago)
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Ashwin Baindur
Ashwin Baindur
• •
that's true of almost all parasitoid wasps. But obviously the name can only go to an as-yet-unnamed taxon. Great! 😄
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Lloyd
Lloyd
• •
this is fascinating but I'm glad I read it in the morning as otherwise I'd not be sleeping...
in reply to Sheril Kirshenbaum

Juni
Juni
• •
Kind of a mean thing to name a species after terfy fascist fantasy things. No creature deserves that.

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