Security Mites

Female potter wasp

Psalm 20:1

​The potter wasp is a solitary wasp that makes a mud nest with several rooms in it. At egg-laying time, the wasp lays one egg in each cavity and leaves some food in each cavity. She also leaves behind a security force!

You see, there is another species of parasitic wasp that seeks out a potter wasp nest to lay its eggs. When it is successful, the baby potter wasps would have no chance of survival if it wasn't for the security force. The mother potter wasp has very specialized pockets on its back. Tiny mites live within those pockets, causing no harm to the wasp. Then, while the potter wasp lays her eggs, some of the mites exit and remain in each room with the egg. These mites will remain in the nest after it is sealed, feeding on the food left for the hatchlings. They also mate at this time, which conveniently provides a population of mites as food for the young potter wasps. While these mites are peaceful creatures, they are the security force, and should a parasitic wasp get into the nest, they eagerly attack it.

This arrangement that benefits both the potter wasp and the mites is too intricate to have come about by accident. It was designed by the same Creator Who protects His children.

Notes: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/33774/title/Mighty_mites. Photo: Courtesy of Bruce Marlin. (CC BY-SA 3.0). Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

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