Wasps are known for disrupting summer picnics, generating anxiety in people of getting stung, and cause some major uncertainty. In addition to this unfounded fear, there are many other misconceptions about these insects. A lot of people wonder how wasps lay their eggs and some have even heard that there are parasitic wasps that place their eggs in other animals. That said, here’s a burning question, can wasps lay eggs in humans?
It’s not possible that wasps oviposit eggs in humans. Only parasitoid wasps lay eggs in other animals but they are specialized in small insects (arthropods) as their hosts. These wasps also inject a venom that inhibits the host’s immune system so that the wasp offspring can develop. This venom isn’t strong enough in humans.
Parasitoid wasps can’t develop in humans but that’s just one point of this exciting story. In this article, we will also talk about the detailed mechanisms and if our dogs and cats are affected. We will explain why parasitoid wasps are crucial for your food and how you can use them to get rid of pests.
Let’s get started.
Do Parasitoid Wasps Lay Eggs In Humans?
As earlier mentioned, parasitoid wasps don’t lay eggs in humans, they only feed on other animals, mostly arthropods. After the complete development of the eggs into offspring, the host insects die. That happens because of the deactivation of the host’s immune system by the parasitoid wasps.
These parasitoid wasps won’t lay eggs in humans because their offspring couldn’t evolve. They are not capable of deactivating our immune system, therefore the wasps’ eggs simply would be destroyed.
Parasitoid wasps look quite different from wasps you may know. Usually they are much smaller and don’t have the well-known yellow appearance. They need to hide and stay undetected as long as possible. It’s quite unlikely for you to see a parasitoid wasp. And if so, it won’t sting you!
However, there are other species of wasps that attack humans once in a while, most especially during the summer season. This is due to a large number of these insects during the warm season and the frequent stay of people outdoors. The contact is nearly inevitable as soon as sugary food is around.
But wasps don’t sting humans for many reasons. First, a wasp sting acts as a defense mechanism. So, they sting humans when they feel their homes have been invaded. In this case, they resolve to use their only “defense mechanism” to secure their homes from attacks.
Furthermore, the insects can also string humans if they’re annoyed by certain actions. They mostly feel threatened when humans try to kill them, and this makes them try to sting because of the agitation.
In every case a sting of a wasp may hurt, but it will never mean it layed it’s eggs in you.
Why Do Wasps Lay Eggs In Other Animals?
According to a publication on ScienceDirect, wasps mostly lay eggs in other insects because they need their host for the successful development of their offspring. Here’s how it works, below.
As mentioned, there are tens of thousands of identified wasps species. Speaking of the species that lay eggs on and in other animals, they are referred to as parasitoid wasps. They are called parasitoids because they are not strictly parasites and they are also not predators – they sit somewhere in between.
Wasps are not categorized as parasites because they kill their hosts – that’s very unlikely of parasites. Although they prey on other animals, they are not strictly predators like mammals, as they only kill their hosts very slowly. That said, parasitoid wasps lay or oviposit their eggs in other animals, most especially insects (Arthropods) in the order Lepidoptera, such as butterflies and moths.
Parasitoid Wasps inject eggs and venoms into the host. The benefit of wasps’ venom is mainly to deactivate the host’s immune system, preventing it from harming the eggs. However, wasps’ venom also helps in the successful development of the eggs into independent “young” wasps.
These eggs mostly develop into wasps’ offerings by feeding on the tissue of the host insects. That’s not all! The offerings also feed on Polydnaviruses from wasps. The parasitoid wasps first infect the host with the polydnaviruses, after which, significant changes occur as a result of the presence of virus-specific gene products in the host. This is what causes the complete development of the offspring.
Do Parasitoid Wasps Lay Eggs In Dogs And Cats?
Just like humans, parasitoid wasps don’t lay or oviposit eggs in Dogs and cats. The immune system of mammals can’t be reduced by their low dose and will destroy every egg which enters their bodies. Parasitoid wasps know that and even don’t try.
Surely, you are familiar with parasites, such as lice and ticks. These organisms live in or on animals, such as dogs, taking their nourishment from them. These pests are specialized in mammals and are adapted to the immune system. They use some weaknesses but won’t reduce the defense mechanisms at all.
Are Parasitoid Wasps Helpful?
Yes, parasitoid wasps offer a lot of benefits for humans and ecosystems. As mentioned earlier, generally a world without wasps would be disastrous for the global economy and the ecosystem, according to experts.
That said, here’s a burning question; how are parasitoid wasps helpful to humans and the ecosystem?
As we now know, wasps mostly feed on Arthropods, which happens to be the largest phylum in the animal kingdom. These insects are known for a lot of things, including being right at the top of the invertebrate food chain.
That said, parasitoid wasps help to regulate the population sizes of their hosts by feeding on them. So, it’s the regulation of the hosts’ population that makes them economically important.
That’s not all! Parasitoid wasps are also of great benefit to farmers, across the world. Are you wondering why? Well, ectoparasitoid wasps can act as effective biological control agents for farmers. They do that by helping farmers to get rid of harmful pests.
Here are some of the pests that ectoparasitoid wasps help to rid off. Beetle larvae, moth caterpillars, bagworms, Colorado potato beetle, cucumber beetles, cutworms, caterpillars, Mexican bean beetles, sawfly larvae, aphids, vine borers, tent caterpillars, and whiteflies.
Parasitoid wasps can be used not only in agriculture but also in every household. There are specialized parasitic wasp species, which can be used to combat moths quickly and easily.
The helpful wasps are so small that they can hardly be seen. After all the moths have been eliminated, the wasps will disappear by themselves and turn (literally) into dust. This makes them the easiest and most effective method for such problems!
