Creationism - National Center for Science Education

disease, death, and decay all originated with the introduction of sin by Adam. Or, that
evil design is Satan’s design—a perversion of God’s created design.
The ichneumon wasp is a classic example of such apparently “evil” design. As
Stephen Jay Gould has pointed out (1983), the ichneumons presented a glaring challenge
to natural theology throughout the nineteenth century, being a particularly acute example
of the “problem of evil.” The ichneumons were described by many natural theologians
and naturalists of the time, notably Jean Henri Fabre, the great French entomologist and
confirmed creationist. The female ichneumon wasp (there are thousands of species) lays
eggs either on or inside captured, living caterpillars, spiders, or other insects; these hosts
then serve as food for ichneumon larvae. Some species lay eggs on top of caterpillars
which are carefully paralyzed to keep them alive for food but unable to move away from
the larvae which proceed to slowly devour their food supply. The larvae leave the heart
and other essential organs til last to keep them alive as long as possible. Some larvae
species even suspend themselves above partially paralyzed hosts so as to be able to avoid
their thrashing, carefully descending to eat during safer moments.
The earlier creationists had two general responses, according to Gould: they
described in anthropomorphic detail the protracted agony of the prey, or they emphasized
the “maternal” care of the ichneumon in so elaborately and efficiently providing for its
larvae. The second response also includes the familiar creationist invocation of Design as
proof of Creation. Theodore Graebner, for instance, used the example of the ichneumon
wasp, complete with picture, in his Essays on Evolution as evidence of instinctive
behavior so complex as to decisively refute evolution (1925:42). Televangelist George
Vandeman presents the example of the potter wasp, an ichneumon whose larvae are
suspended by threads above the partially paralyzed caterpillars, as proof of creationism,
along with other examples of Design. Vandeman quotes an unnamed source:
Certainly the potter wasp’s strange behavior has to leave evolutionary theory hanging in midair along with
its offspring. And maybe it’s trying to tell us something about a Creator who obviously has a lot of
architectural expertise along with a pretty ingenious imagination. [Vandeman 1978:83-4]
George O’Toole also described the exquisitely adapted instinct of these wasps,
which could not have evolved gradually, in The Case Against Evolution (1926:264-265).
More recently, an ichneumon wasp was featured on the cover of the Creation Research
Society Quarterly (1974: 11(4)) as an example of design.
A partial exception to the usual creationist treatment of design comes from Bolton
Davidheiser. Davidheiser, a trained zoologist, cites examples of design (including the
ichneumon wasp), but also provides many examples of imperfect biological adaptations
in his Evolution and Christian Faith (1969:194-7), arguing that these traits would not be
produced by natural selection. To Davidheiser this is evidence against the sufficiency of
evolution, since, he says, natural selection would not allow for the survival of such
imperfections, but Davidheiser’s argument runs counter to the standard creationist
appeals to benevolent and perfect design in nature.