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January/February 2018^ DISCOVER^51
THIS PAGE FROM TOP: CÉSAR VILLARROEL/EXPLORASUB; PENGFEI FAN; NICK KERHOULAS. OPPOSITE FROM TOP: RYAN RIDENBAUGH AND MILES ZHAN
G; JANNES LANDSCHO AND RAFAEL LEMAITRE, ZOOKEYS 676: 21–45 (2017) BACKGROUND: SULEYMANKARACESME/SHUTTERSTOCK
CODENAME Crypt-keeper wasp
NAME Euderus set
COMPROMISED January
KNOWN TERRITORY
Southeastern U.S.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Iridescent exoskeleton
NOTABLE SKILLS/TRAITS
STEALTH ASSASSINATION AND
IMPERSONATION: It wasn’t
until one researcher happened
upon this wasp’s home on a
casual stroll that its cover was
blown. E. set lays its eggs in
the new, growing stems of oak
trees, in which another wasp,
the crypt gall wasp, has also
laid its eggs. Just as the new
generation of adult gall wasps
bores its way out of the tree,
newly hatched E. set wasps kill
their hosts, eating their way
through their victims’ bodies
and hiding in the corpse until
they reach maturity.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS Green
eyes; living shell composed
of anemones held together by
sand
NOTABLE SKILLS/TRAITS
EVASION/CAMOUFLAGE:
P. atkinsonae wasn’t spotted
until 2012. It could have been
just another hermit crab, but
a researcher conducting a sea
life survey spied P. atkinsonae’s
signature green eyes. Much
like M. tecta, it took experts
another five years to root out
this agent.
DECLASSIFIED
CODENAME Green-eyed
hermit crab
NAME Paragiopagurus atkinsonae
COMPROMISED May
KNOWN TERRITORY South African
coast