A WASP’S antenna is an odd place to find a medicine cabinet, but that is where some wasps keep their drugs. Gene analysis may unlock the cabinet for us to use.
Beewolf wasps, named for the females’ habit of hunting bees, have special reservoirs in their antennae, filled with bacteria. Not any old bacteria: beewolves (Philanthus triangulum) cultivate the antibiotic-producing Streptomyces and secrete them into their underground brood cells. When a beewolf larva is ready to pupate, it applies the bacteria onto the silk threads of its cocoon. Chemicals produced by Streptomyces fend off fungal attack, so boosting larval survival.…
