Hawai'i Nature Squad
Jewel wasp tells of its gruesome birth

By the Hawai'i Nature Center

The cockroach wasp boasts a sparkling emerald color and is also known as the jewel wasp.

His partner, detective Penny Pinao, had just walked into the squad room. Her normally iridescent compound eyes had lost their sparkle. "I should have never rented that scary movie. I had nightmares all night," she said.

"The best way to get a good night's sleep is a full day of hard work," interrupted Captain Wekiu. The boss bug handed the detectives their next assignment. "Kaycee Kealoha, of St. Theresa School, spotted a strange bug in her auntie's yard. She described it as 'a greenish-blue, jittery bug' and actually saw it dragging a giant cockroach under the washing machine. Identify this bug for Kaycee and prepare a full report for me."

The detectives scrambled out the door, grabbing their night vision goggles on the way out.

That evening the detectives set up surveillance under the large banyan tree in Honolulu's Thomas Square. "If that bug has a fondness for cockroaches, we're sure to find it here. Cockroaches love hanging out around the banyan's roots."

The detectives scanned the area with their special night goggles. "Movement!" whispered Penny. They both stared hard at a large brown object twitching near a pile of leaves.

"It's a cockroach, the B-52 model," confirmed Andy. "Looks like he's been wounded. Let's check it out." Penny took to the air while Andy made his way amidst the leaf litter.

They arrived together and were greeted with a grisly sight. Something had chewed the cockroach's antennae down to the knubs and there appeared to be a large gash in the insect's abdomen. The worst part was the cockroach's legs seemed to still be twitching!

"Andy, look!" shouted Penny. "Something's climbing out of the cockroaches body! Aaaaaaah!" The detectives watched in horror as a shiny insect began to chew its way out.

"Tah-daaah!" sang the insect. A sparkling emerald green wasp freed itself from the cockroach. It leaped to the ground before the weak-kneed detectives.

"It, it, it's Kaycee's mystery bug," stuttered Andy.

"Well," stated the bug, "My proper name is Ampulex compressa. I'm also known as the cockroach wasp, for obvious reasons. But personally, I prefer the name 'jewel wasp.' "

"I can see why," Andy said. "Your colors are beautiful!"

"Why, thank you," said the wasp. "Now, where can I find some nectar-oozing plants? I'm famished!"

"How can you still be hungry after you just devoured an entire cockroach?" asked Penny.

"That was weeks ago," said the wasp, "back when I was just a larva. I feasted on the cockroach's insides for breakfast, lunch and dinner!" The wasp told the gruesome story of how his mother had bravely attacked the cockroach by paralyzing it with her stinger. "She chewed off the cockroach's antennae and then she grabbed hold of it with her powerful jaws and pulled it to this very spot."

He brought the detectives over to the cockroach carcass and pointed to one of the back legs. "My mom laid an egg right on this leg and when I hatched out as a little larva, I ate my way into the twitching cockroach."

"Disgusting!" yelled Penny.

The wasp continued. "When I grew, almost as big as the inside of the cockroach, I spun a silk cocoon. That was a few weeks ago. Now here I am, freshly emerged from my birth chamber!"