Digger wasps protected by antibiotics

European beewolf carrying a honeybee towards its tunnel.
Captured in The New Forest, England. (Photo: Wikipedia)

DIG THIS: Digger wasp larvae are protected during their protracted hibernation period by antibiotics. A cocktail of nine different protective drugs covers the cocoons during their development, a German study has found. They are injected into the ceiling of the brood cells by the female of the species. Bacterial infection is a major threat to the digger wasp, or beewolf, which spends most of its life underground. The study appears in Nature Chemical Biology.

http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2010/03/01/ - p15.