Forget the romantic nonsense in wildlife documentaries, where all creatures great and small act for the great good and the harmony of the ecosystem. As Darwin said, “What a book a devil’s chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low and horribly cruel works of nature!” A classic example is the ichneumon wasp, who paralyzes a caterpillar and lays eggs in its body so her hatchlings can slowly devour its living flesh from the inside.
Forget the romantic nonsense in wildlife documentaries, where all creatures great and small act for the great good and the harmony of the ecosystem. As Darwin said, “What a book a devil’s chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering, low and horribly cruel works of nature!” A classic example is the ichneumon wasp, who paralyzes a caterpillar and lays eggs in its body so her hatchlings can slowly devour its living flesh from the inside.