# Euderus set

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***Euderus set***, the **crypt-keeper wasp**, is a tiny [chalcid wasp](/source/Chalcid_wasp) from the family [Eulophidae](/source/Eulophidae) from the United States, [described](/source/Species_description) in 2017 as a [parasitoid](/source/Parasitoid) of the [gall wasp](/source/Gall_wasp) *[Bassettia pallida](/source/Bassettia_pallida)*. The description of its life cycle has attracted widespread publicity.

## Description

The predominant colour of the adult wasp is metallic green to turquoise to [iridescent](/source/Structural_coloration) blue, depending on age, with a yellow scape and white tarsi which have a dark brown terminal segment. Females are 1.6mm to 2.3mm in length, males are 1.2mm to 1.6mm.[1]

## Discovery

One of the parasitologists to co-discover the species was [Kelly Weinersmith](/source/Kelly_Weinersmith).[1]

## Distribution and habitat

The [type locality](/source/Type_locality_(biology)) of *Euderus set* was [Inlet Beach, Florida](/source/Inlet_Beach,_Florida) and it has since been recorded throughout the midwestern, southcentral and southeastern United States.[2] Specimens have been collected from galls on oaks from several subsections of the genus *[Quercus](/source/Oak).*[1][2]

## Biology

The female *Euderus set* searches for the [galls](/source/Gall) or "crypts" induced by the [gall wasps](/source/Gall_wasp) *[Bassettia pallida](/source/Bassettia_pallida), [Andricus quercuspetiolicola](/source/Andricus_quercuspetiolicola)*, and possibly others.[1][2] The female *E. set* then [oviposits](/source/Oviposit) in the chamber of the gall. When the egg hatches, the larva of *E. set* burrows into the larva of the host wasp. It then manipulates the host so that it speeds up its development, [metamorphoses](/source/Metamorphosis) into an adult and chews its way up to the surface months earlier than normal. When the host does this, the burrow is not wide enough for it to emerge from the stem and its head becomes stuck.[3] The *E. set* larva then consumes the host and chews through its head to emerge as an adult. The larvae overwinter in the gall, eating the host, and emerge in the following spring.[4] The mechanism used to manipulate the host is not known.[5]

If the adults of *E. set* have to excavate their own exit tunnel through the plant tissue themselves, they are three times more likely to die than are those that have the host excavate the tunnel for them.[3]

*E. set* appears to be most closely related to *Euderus crawfodii* and *E. multilineata*, in the sub-genus *Neoeuderus*, together with another wasp which is a [parasitoid](/source/Parasitoid) of a [pin oak](/source/Pin_oak) gall wasp. The wasps in the sub-genus *Neoeuderus* appear to be specialist parasitoids of the gall wasps of the family [Cynipidae](/source/Cynipidae).[1]

## Naming

The specific name is the name of the Egyptian god [Set](/source/Set_(deity)), who trapped his brother [Osiris](/source/Osiris) in a sarcophagus before killing him and cutting him up into little pieces.[6]

## References

1. Egan SP, Weinersmith KL, Liu S, Ridenbaugh RD, Zhang YM, Forbes AA (2017). "Description of a new species of *Euderus* Haliday from the southeastern United States (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Eulophidae): the crypt-keeper wasp". *ZooKeys*. **645**: 37–49. [doi:10.3897/zookeys.645.11117](https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.645.11117). [PMC 5299223](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299223). [PMID 28228666](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28228666)

1. Ward AK, Khodor OS, Egan SP, Weinersmith KL, Forbes AA (September 2019). "A keeper of many crypts: a behaviour-manipulating parasite attacks a taxonomically diverse array of oak gall wasp species". *Biology Letters*. **15** (9). [doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0428](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0428). [PMC 6769138](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6769138). [PMID 31551066](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31551066)

1. Weinersmith KL, Liu SM, Forbes AA, Egan SP (January 2017). "Tales from the crypt: a parasitoid manipulates the behaviour of its parasite host". *Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences*. **284** (1847). [doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.2365](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2365). [PMC 5310038](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5310038). [PMID 28123089](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28123089)

1. Barras C (2017-01-25). ["Parasite turns wasp into zombie then drills through its head"](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2119136-parasite-turns-wasp-into-zombie-then-drills-through-its-head/). [New Scientist](/source/New_Scientist). Retrieved 18 June 2017.

1. Bittel J (2017-01-25). ["New Crypt-Keeper Wasp Is Parasite That Bursts From Host's Head"](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/crypt-keeper-wasps-parasites-new-species). [National Geographic Society](/source/National_Geographic_Society). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210228063413/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/crypt-keeper-wasps-parasites-new-species) February 28, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 18 June 2017.

1. Goenka H (2017-01-26). ["Crypt-Keeper Wasp, Euderus Set, Is A Newly Discovered Parasite That Kills Its Host By Eating Its Head — From The Inside Out"](http://www.ibtimes.com/crypt-keeper-wasp-euderus-set-newly-discovered-parasite-kills-its-host-eating-its-2481568). *International Business Times*. Retrieved 18 June 2017.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Euderus set](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus_set) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euderus_set?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.