Stuff To Blow Your Mind The Bone Collectors, Part 2
Oct 28, 2025
Dive into the fascinating world of bone collectors! Discover the intriguing behaviors of cave hyenas and the bone-collector caterpillar. Learn about the unique bone house wasp that uses dead ants for camouflage. Explore how spider-hunting wasps provision their nests and the clever camouflage techniques of decorator crabs. Uncover the mystery of octopus middens and their role in understanding diet and habitat. The hosts reflect on the connections between these different species and their intriguing use of remains!
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Wasp Builds An Ant-Filled Mudroom
- Deuteragenia osarium builds a vestibular cell filled with dead ants at the nest entrance.
- That ant-filled chamber is a previously unknown nest-protection strategy in animals.
Spider Wasps Use Live Food Preservation
- Pompilidae are nectar-feeding adults that hunt and paralyze spiders to provision nests for larvae.
- Larvae consume the paralyzed spider gradually to keep the prey fresh and non-decomposed.
Ant Scent Acts As Chemical Shield
- The dead ants give the nest the scent profile of an ant colony via persistent cuticular hydrocarbons.
- That scent deters predators and parasitoids from attacking the wasp brood.