Entomologists from National Taiwan University have found a new species of wasp that lays its eggs inside the eggs of damselflies. When the larvae hatch, they use the damselfly eggs for nourishment.

The authors also observed the tiny adult female wasps, which are only 1.2 mm in length, gathering near the abdomens of the damselflies, and even saw them hitchhiking on their backs as the damselflies flew, which you can see in the photo below:

The newly discovered wasp, Hydrophylita emporos (“emporos” means “passenger” in Latin), belongs to a genus containing only four other known species, all of which are from South America.

Their observations are described in a Plos One article called “Hydrophylita (Lutzimicron) emporos Shih & Polaszek (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) from Taiwan, Parasitising Eggs, and Phoretic on Adults, of the Damselfly Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae)”

The article contains photos and a supplemental video.

Read more at:

– New Species of Parasitic Wasp Found in Taiwan

– NTU entomologists discover new species