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Definition 2024
cockroach_wasp
cockroach wasp
English
![](http://llc12.www.definify.com/images_main/Ampulex_compressa.jpg)
An emerald cockroach wasp, Ampulex compressa
Noun
cockroach wasp (plural cockroach wasps)
- Any wasp of the family Ampulicidae, small sphecoid wasps that prey on cockroaches to lay their eggs on them.
- 2007, Craig Childs, The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild, unnumbered page,
- The emerald cockroach wasp, Ampulex compressa, uses a cockroach as a host by essentially taking over its mind.
- 2010, Lynas Murdoch, Four Years on St Helena, page 92,
- Equally fascinating was a video shot by Norman Hoyle, the school's Deputy Head, which showed a cockroach having been stung by a cockroach wasp (Ampulex Compressa) - though I seem to recall that the locals had a different name for it.
- 2011, Peter K. L. Ng, Richard Corlett, Hugh T. W. Tan (editors), Singapore Biodiversity, page 268,
- Mainly found in the tropics, cockroach wasps have a metallic green body and measure up to 33 mm long. […] When a prey is located, the female cockroach wasp stings the prey to paralyse it.
- 2007, Craig Childs, The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild, unnumbered page,