gasteruptiid wasp flying behavior
As a gasteruptiid wasp seeks out larvae of solitary and soil-nesting bees to parasitize, she engages in a vertical and horizontal swaying behavior in flight. Research on this behavior and the physical characteristics of gasteruptiids’ enlarged lower legs suggests that fat body in the leg adjacent to the wasp’s subgenual organ (used to detect minute vibrations) is used to amplify vibrational signals, and the leg swaying “could be a way to tune into the source of these vibrational signals through the air.” (Video originally published supplementary to Mikó et al 2019, Insect Systematics and Diversity)