Movie 2

Curved and straight ovipositor insertions in the substrate. Protraction of ventral valve(s) within the substrate leads to dorsal curving of the ovipositorߣs distal end. In contrast, protraction of the dorsal valve within the substrate does not lead to noticeable curving of the ovipositor, which therefore makes a straight path. Videos obtained as described in Cerkvenik et al. (2017). Videos show insertion in 2% gelatine, slowed down approximately 10x.

Stiffness gradients facilitate ovipositor bending and spatial probing control in a parasitic wasp

Uroš Cerkvenik, Johan L. van Leeuwen, Alexander Kovalev, Stanislav N. Gorb, Yoko Matsumura, and Sander W. S. Gussekloo

Journal of Experimental Biology 2019. 222:None-None; doi: 10.1242/jeb.195628