Mangaluru: An Indian subspecies of the Thailand and Papua New Guinean insect, the Assassin Wasp (Cystomastacoides kiddo) was observed and described by Prof Arunachalam Kumar in the outskirts of Mangaluru.
The insect was spotted him (thrice over a eight year period), is a steel blue black wasp, resembling other wasps known for their ekistic skills, the potter wasp and the leaf cutter wasp. The macabre process through which the wasp buries alive a stung to paralysis caterpillar, gives it its name.
The wasp has the macabre habit of burying caterpillars alive underground. The insect then lays its own eggs on the paralysed victim before interring it. The hatchlings feed on the live prey till they are strong enough to dig their way out of the hole.
The odd change in the ritual burial was that the assassin wasp chose a readymade man made metal framework as building block as its nest, lining it with wet and moist mud and clay to complete its nursery.
First described as native of Thailand less than a decade ago, the Mangaluru specimen is probably an Indian subspecies of the Southeast Asian wasp.