Only females can sting predators and inject them with toxins.
Two thin, retractable "genital spines" are found on either side of the phallus of the male mason wasp (Anterhynchium gibbifrons).According to a new study published in the journal Current Biology, some wasps use them to hold females in place during mating.However, male mason wasps seem to use them in a different way, at least in a laboratory setting.Instead, they only swing their pointed phalluses when confronted by a perceived predator — such as a scientist's hand.
Misaki Tsuji, study co-author and studentat Kobe University Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences in Japan, was studying the life cycle of mason wasps when she felt a sudden “stabbing pain” in her finger. She was holding in her hands a male wasp, which she considered harmless.
Tsuji and her co-author Shinji Sugiura developedexperiment to see if males can use their genitals to fend off predators they encounter in the wild. They brought Japanese tree frogs (Dryophytes japonica) into the laboratory, placed them in containers with male mason wasps, set up cameras, and waited.
Male mason wasps can sometimes escape from predators by impaling them with their genital spines. Image courtesy of Shinji Sugiura
When tree frogs opened their mouths toto eat the wasps, the insects wounded the frogs and pricked them with their genital spines. However, most of the wasps' defensive efforts were in vain, as almost 65% of the insects ended up being eaten anyway. But in 35.3% of cases, the tree frogs spat out the resisting wasps and left them alone.
The team repeated the experiment with male wasps that had their genitals removed. It turned out that all insects without genitalia were quickly swallowed, although the males continued to bite the frogs.
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