Fear is good. Fear keeps you safe. Fear evolved as a way for your brain to tell your body it's time to either fight or get us out of here. Fear is perhaps the single most important anti-preditor adaptation of all time, as it's all over the animal kingdom and underlies the utilization of almost any anti-preditor behavior.

Lions could catch gazelles a lot easier if they would simply stop running, right?

If you're a predator and you get one wish, it's got to be that everyone was a little less scared of you.

Today, we're going to talk about an animal for whom this wish came true.

Today, we're going to talk about the Emerald Cockroach Wasp, Ampulex Compressa.

I'm Mackin. This is Species.

Welcome to the show. This episode is not for the faint of heart, but I hope it will be an

enjoyable journey for those of you who can stomach it. Keep your podcast feed refreshed throughout this week.

I'm planning to release a public conversation with a rather important scientist, and I think

many of you will enjoy listening. If you like this podcast, please tell people about it. It's the easiest

way to help the show. And if you want to support this work, you can do so by going to

Speciespodcast.com slash donate. Thank you to all the donors who make this show possible,

and thank you to all the people who share it, and make it possible for others to hear it.

And, of course, thanks for listening. Thank you, Eric and the Animals for playing me in,

and now without further ado, I present to you the Emerald Carlin. Thanks for listening. Thank you, Eric and the animals for playing me in.

And now without further ado, I present to you the Emerald Cockroach Wasp. Today's animal looks like if a wasp got dressed to go to Burning Man and arrived via UFO.

The first thing you'll notice about them is their absurdly long, curly Dr. Seuss-style antennae.

And the second thing you'll notice is their coloration. True to their

name, they are largely an emerald green color. And this alone makes them look sensational,

but they have additional colors, including streaks of metallic blue and bright red thighs,

and all over their body, they have this high-gloss, reflective sheen

that makes them stand out more than they already would, which is a lot.

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