'Wasp doctors'

A HUMBLE wasp learned how to use sophisticated antibiotics millions of years before the discovery of penicillin, research has shown.

Digger wasps of the family Philanthus, also known as "beewolves", harness beneficial bacteria to manufacture a cocktail of drugs that protect its larvae from infection.

Scientists who made the discovery believe it could assist the development of new agents to combat human "superbugs".

Philanthus wasps coat their cocoons with antibiotics to fight off harmful microbes.

The insects not only evolved a method of manufacturing antibiotics, they used them in a highly effective way, said the scientists writing in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

Just as human experts have learned to do, the wasps combine different drugs that work together to destroy many different organisms.