Some stinkbug species, such as Coridius chinensis pictured here, use a fungal symbiosis to protect their eggs from parasitic wasps. Image courtesy of Minoru Moriyama
Joel Kontinen
The fall of man, described in Genesis 3 brought death to the
world. But intelligent design has a way to
redress it.
Many invertebrates are preyed on by parasitoid wasps that
lay their eggs in or on another organism’s body for their hatchling larvae to
feed upon. Some researchers
have found out that
females of a small dinidorid stinkbug have relied on intelligent design to help their offspring avoid this fate. The
wasps have symbiotic organs on their hindlegs with a tympanum-like structure.
The outer cuticle has pores through which h the authors observed fungal hyphae
emerging. Several fungal species are selected by the females, which notably
include cordyceps that are often insect pathogens. When the female bugs lay
their eggs, they rub the cultivated hyphae across the egg mass. The hyphae grow
to envelope the eggs and physically exclude attentive parasitoid wasps until
the bugs hatch.
Source:
Caroline Ash 2025 In Science Journals | Science 17. October
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