The female uses her ovipositor and extracts a single egg cluster from her egg sac. She then shoves it into the sperm bath located in the posterior thorax of the subdued male. Once the ovicluster is fertilized she will choose to depart, letting the male live. Or she will decapitate the male. Or she will consume the male, in whole or in part.
Once fertilized the female then finds and subdues a suitable host. Using her ovipositor, she attaches the ovicluster to the host’s underside.
The eggs soon hatch triggered by the warmth of the host. Dozens of larvae burrow into the host and consuming it from the inside out to fuel their own growth. Instinctively, the larvae avoid vital organs until no other edible parts remain.
Once the host is consumed, the larvae exfiltrate the host’s remains in search for a nearby suitable place it can pupate, making its own cocoon from available plant matter and its own saliva.
The female uses her ovipositor and extracts a single egg cluster from her egg sac. She then shoves it into the sperm bath located in the posterior thorax of the subdued male. Once the ovicluster is fertilized she will choose to depart, letting the male live. Or she will decapitate the male. Or she will consume the male, in whole or in part.
Once fertilized the female then finds and subdues a suitable host. Using her ovipositor, she attaches the ovicluster to the host’s underside.
The eggs soon hatch triggered by the warmth of the host. Dozens of larvae burrow into the host and consuming it from the inside out to fuel their own growth. Instinctively, the larvae avoid vital organs until no other edible parts remain.
Once the host is consumed, the larvae exfiltrate the host’s remains in search for a nearby suitable place it can pupate, making its own cocoon from available plant matter and its own saliva.