A new wasp species uses the bodies of dead ants to protect its nest.
The "Bone-house wasp" could employ the chemical signals of the dead ants to ward predators away, PLOS reported.
The findings were published July 2, 2014 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Michael Staab from University of Freiburg, Germany.
Wasps have a variety of nest-protection strategies such as digging holes or moving into preexisting cavities in wood. Past studies have shown nest of wasps that had moved into wood cavities contained several brood cells separated by thin walls made from "debris, resin, or soil."
Once Bone-house females finish constructing their nests, laying eggs, and providing food for them, they build a vestibular cell near the nest. After this is constructed the mother wasp flies away and does not care for the offspring anymore; because of this, nest-protection strategies are extremely important for brood survival.
To make their findings the researchers looked at 800 nests containing 1,900 brood cells made by 18 different wasp species found in South-East China.
The researchers identified a previously-unseen nesting practice. In over 70 nests the team found an outer vestibular was filled with dead ants. The species that constructed these dead insect-filled cells were previously unknown to science. The same study named the species the "Bone-house Wasp" (Deuteragenia ossarium). They were given the name after graveyard bone-houses or ossuaries.
The researchers discovered a lower parasitism rate in the Bone-house nests than in nests of wasps species that do not use ant bodies. The researchers suggested nests containing ants were less vulnerable to potential enemies due to the chemical cues coming from the dead ants.
"Our discovery demonstrates in an impressive way, what fascinating strategies of offspring-protection have evolved in the animal kingdom," Staab said.
