Character Sketch This One!
One component of my fundamentalist Christian upbringing was the Institute in Basic Life Principles seminar (known then as the Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts). One of the products sold by this organization is the Character Sketch book series. From the IBLP Web site:
The Character Sketch books are designed to show how God’s creation demonstrates character. Using illustrations from nature, these books teach such character qualities as Attentiveness, Responsibility, Obedience, and Orderliness. Each of these beautifully illustrated books contain different character examples as seen in nature.
So, as I read Carl Zimmer's description of a parasitic wasp called Ampulex compressa, I found myself wondering what a benevolent creator would be trying to teach us thereby.
After mating, the female wasp finds a cockroach victim and delivers a very precise sting that takes away the roach's impulse to flee while leaving it mobile. Then, the wasp leads the roach into its burrow, "like a dog on a leash," where it proceeds to lay an egg on its side. The wasp larva, once hatched, burrows into the living roach, which becomes a nice snack and a sleeping bag to boot. It's really quite diabolical. As Zimmer says, "seeing a full-grown wasp crawl out of a roach suddenly makes those Alien movies look pretty derivative."
Posted March 11, 2006 9:30 AM