Cowkiller RAIDS Angry Swarm of Wasps!

This cow killer velvet ant is planning the heist of its life. The only problem is, its prize is guarded by an angry swarm of Bemba Sinus sand wasps, who'll sting anything that comes too close. Luckily, this tiny thief has a plan, and is outfitted with all the built-in gadgets it needs to make the ultimate score. The sand wasps have been hard at work stockpiling leafhoppers in their underground burrows. Each one is still alive, but permanently paralyzed with venom, and will be slowly eaten alive by the wasp's larva. These piles of defenseless prey are too tempting to ignore, and the smell has attracted dozens of velvet ants. Not only do cow killer velvet ants not kill cows, but they aren't even ants. These are bizarre, flightless wasps that have built their whole life around robbing the nests of others, and these sand wasps are today's target. Sneaking around in a velvety red pimp jacket may seem like a really stupid idea, but dressing up like this is actually the stealthiest color palette for the mission. Wasps can't see the color red. The velvet ant slinks around the colony, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike. The sand wasps dig so close to each other that it might seem like they're all a part of the same happy hive. But these guys are actually solitary wasps, and this is the only time of year they're found grouped together. Just like college freshmen forced to live with assigned roommates, violent fights tend to break out over whose food is whose. They constantly rob each other's stashes, and venomous wrestling matches ensue. Even if a neighbor decides to dig its burrow a little too close, they'll be met with vicious resistance, and any other insect usually just gets punted away like an afterthought. So then, how come the velvet ant can come right up to the wasps, even touch them, with no consequences? I'm honestly not sure, but it might be because the wasps know the velvet ant is the last bug they'd ever want to fight. The sting of a cow killer is one of the most powerful in the insect world, even able to kill full-grown lizards. And if the sand wasps tried to sting it, they'd find out the velvet ant's armor is 11 times stronger than theirs. Practically impenetrable. Honestly, there's not much they could do to fight off a velvet ant. Their only hope is making the self-conscious about its flightlessness by dive-bombing it from the air. But even making fun of its biggest insecurity doesn't seem to faze the velvet ant. But despite this, the cow killer ignores the nests actively guarded by wasps. After all, it's a lot easier to get its prize without a fight in the first place. The wasps will attack anything that tries to go down the burrow, so the velvet ant is smart enough to dig its own hole. It smells where the underground stockpile is and digs from above. And the wasp doesn't piece together that its burrow is the one under attack. It tunnels in completely undetected and reaches its target. But like all great heist stories, there's a twist. The one after the sand wasp's stash wasn't the velvet ant itself, but its unborn baby. The cow killer lays its own egg on the sand wasp's larva and quickly sneaks out before its mother gets back. See, once the velvet ant hatches, it'll treat the leafhoppers as nothing more than livestock feed. Gruel that'll fatten up its actual prize, the wasp larva. The velvet ant will slowly feast on it and its siblings until the home invader reaches adulthood. This isn't a rare occurrence. The vast majority of the 7,000 velvet ant species on earth specifically target wasps. And every single one you see is the result of their mom breaking and entering into a wasp's nest so her own kid can eat its baby. The only other bug on earth that screws over wasps this badly is actually another kind of wasp. An emerald green wrecking ball that has a completely different method of taking over a nest. So if you want to learn how the cuckoo wasp pulls off its own heist, check out this video. And I'll see you guys next time.