Dementor wasps now exist thanks to museum patrons in Germany

 

Dementor wasps now exist thanks to museum patrons in Germany.

Roughly 300 people voted to name an obscure wasp species from southeast Asia after the creatures from the "Harry Potter" novels.

J.K. Rowling's dementors suck happiness from people around them. The dementor wasp steals the free will of its prey. The wasp uses venom to hunt cockroaches; the venom paralyzes the cockroach's neurotransmitters. The cockroach still has the ability to move, but not the will to do so. The Ampulex dementor then eats the frozen cockroach alive.

The Museum fr Naturkunde asked for help naming the wasp as part of an effort to generate interest in biodiversity, the World Wildlife Foundation reports. Museum goers who attended a nighttime event at the museum were given ballots to name the wasp.

 

Those who responded said naming Ampulex dementer made them feel a special bond with it. They also said it changed their perception of insects and the unexplored part of nature.

Researchers hope activities like naming the wasp could help generate interest in taxonomy and support for conservation.

You can read more about the Dementor wasp at the Public Library of Science.