Being a mother can be very hard work, and finding enough food to feed your young is risky and time-consuming. But some parasitoid species give their young the best start in life by having an energy-rich meal ready and waiting when they emerge from the egg. The catch is that this very nutritious breakfast is the body of a hapless victim, its muscles paralysed by the mother’s venom. However, not ...

Wasp venom is mixture of complex proteins that have several physical and pharmacological properties. The photochemical detoxification of Vespa orientalis venom is expected to generate photooxidized venom sac extract (PVSE). Antigenically active PVSE is obtained by exposing the venom sac extract (VSE) of Vespa orientalis to ultraviolet radiation in the presence of methylene blue. The aim of the ...

Parasitoid wasps produce virulence factors that bear significant resemblance to viruses and have the ability to block host defense responses. The function of these virulence factors, produced predominantly in wasp venom glands, and the ways in which they interfere with host development and physiology remain mysterious. Here, we report the discovery of a specialized system of canals in venom gla...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of insect venom allergy and the indication for specific immunotherapy is based on history, skin tests and demonstration of hymenoptera venom specific IgE-antibodies. In cases with contradictory test results additional cellular tests are recommended. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the usefulness of a newly introduced test based on basophil CD63 expression as marker of activati...