(CNN) Branding can get you everywhere, even if you're just a bug. Boy, does the "Ampulex dementor" wasp know it. Over a year ago, officially, no one was aware that it even existed. 
 
 But on Wednesday, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling retweeted its photo, and the buzz helped propel the insect with a creepy sting to worldwide fame. Possibly for eons before, it had lived in obscurity in an enormous Southeast Asian jungle, until it was discovered last year. 
 
 But why would Rowling care? It's all in the name. 
 
 The Ampulex dementor is also called "Soul-Sucking Dementor." And the wasp was named for the sooty, skeletal, flying "dementor" character that appears in Rowling's novels and sucks the humanity out of its victims. 
 
 One almost got Harry at Hogwarts once, but a schoolmate sprang to Potter's aid. 
 
 Newly discovered wasp named after the soul-sucking dementors in Harry Potter. Thanks for the inspiration @jk_rowling ! pic.twitter.com/p8nguCGD6t 
 
 A whatchamacallit 
 
 Over a year ago, when a group of German scientists discovered the wasp in Thailand's Mekong region, Ampulex dementor didn't yet have a name. And the researchers decided to give the public a say in its taxonomy -- the scientific term for classifying a newly discovered species. 
 
 They took specimens back to Berlin, where they added them to some 30 million other exhibits at the natural history museum, the Museum für Naturkunde. 
 
 The Soul-Sucking Dementor looks like other wasps, flies like other wasps. But it has a particular appetite for cockroaches and a somewhat unique sting. 
 
 "A. dementor hunts cockroaches, injecting a venom into the mass of neurons on its prey's belly that turns the roach into a passive zombie," the World Wildlife Fund wrote in a statement. "Cockroach wasp venom blocks receptors of the neurotransmitter octopamine, which is involved in the initiation of spontaneous movement." 
 
 The roach loses control of its movements, as though it were stoned drunk, and the wasp schlepps it off to a quiet place where it feasts upon it. 
 
 The spine-chilling hunting method piqued the imagination of museum goers, who found it befitting of the Harry Potter ghoul's name. 
 
 A PR hit 
 
 The naming contest in May 2014 was a piece of publicity intended to generate more public interest in the discovery. 
 
 "I am convinced that events like this increase people's curiosity about local and global fauna and nature," said researcher Michael Ohl, who worked on the contest. He hoped it would garner more attention for conservation efforts. 
 
 It worked. 
 
 Though the bug was one of 139 new species discovered in the Mekong last year, including one new mammal, the "dementor" moniker got quick media coverage -- though some of the other animals discovered were perhaps, well, way cooler. 
 
 After all, other wasps also sting their prey into paralysis -- albeit with a less dramatic effect. 
 
 Long-fanged bat 
 
 That mammal, for example, was a bat with shark-like choppers. That got it the name "Long-Fanged Bat," in science Latin "Hypsugo dolichodon." 
 
 Beautiful photo of a new bat species from Laos & Vietnam: http://t.co/CDJntgWa9Y via @mongabay pic.twitter.com/K19Youj6vq — SDU-VT Lab (@SDUVTLab) May 27, 2015 
 
 There was even another insect that could have easily upstaged the new wasp -- an almost two-foot long stick bug, the second largest insect on record. Its name, "Phryganistria heusii yentuensis," doesn't exactly glide off the tip of the tongue. 
 
 Also, who hasn't heard of a "stick bug" already? 
 
 "Color-Changing Thorny Frog" is a catchy name, and it has a cool survival gimmick, too. At night, "Gracixalus lumarius" is pink and yellow, but during the day its back turns a dull brown to camouflage it. 
 
 The Color-Changing Thorny Frog is bright at night, camouflaged during the day 
 
 The bent-toed gecko probably got some kind of a door prize. Not for the name but for becoming exactly the 10,000th reptile species known to science, according to the WWF. 
 
 But with the Harry Potter name, the "Soul-Sucking Dementor" made top-ten lists and headed up the WWF's roster of the 139 new discoveries. When the WWF tweeted it out at J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling), she retweeted it the same day. 
 
 It's hard for any other creature alive to beat that branding. ||||| Warning! At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Spoilers will be present within the article. 
 
 "Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself... soulless and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life." —Remus Lupin's description of Dementors[src] 
 
 A Dementor is a gliding, wraith-like Dark creature, widely considered to be one of the foulest to inhabit the world. Dementors feed on human happiness and thus generate feelings of depression and despair in any person in close proximity to them. They can also consume a person's soul, leaving their victims in a permanent vegetative state, and thus are often referred to as "soul-sucking fiends", rendering a person an 'empty-shell'.[2] Dementors were closely associated with Azkaban, as they were formerly employed by the British Ministry of Magic as the prison guards, and were not known to permanently inhabit any other location. 
 
 The Dementors of Azkaban were under the employ of the Ministry until mid-1996, when Lord Voldemort was sighted in the Ministry, and their defection to the Dark Lord's cause became undeniable. The Dementors supposedly led the Death Eaters and Voldemort into the Ministry of Magic.[3] After the end of the Second Wizarding War in 1998, the Ministry was re-formed, and newly-appointed Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt ensured that they were not used by the government again, presumably due to their changing allegiance and support of Voldemort, and due to ethical reforms in the Ministry and Wizarding society at large.[4] 
 
 There are certain defences one can use against Dementors, specifically the Patronus Charm. Dementors hold no true loyalty, except to whoever can provide them with the most people to feed on. They seemingly cannot be destroyed, though their numbers can be limited if the conditions in which they multiply are prevented from forming, implying that they do die off eventually.[4] 
 
 Contents show] 
 
 History 
 
 Early history 
 
 "Those who entered to investigate refused afterwards to talk of what they had found inside, but the least frightening part of it was that the place was infested with dementors." —J. K. Rowling on the early history of Azkaban[src] 
 
 The history of Dementors in relation to Wizarding society in Britain is inextricably tied up with one location: Azkaban . The island in the North Sea on which the wizard prison is built has never appeared on any map, wizard or Muggle . Perhaps its first resident, or even creator, Ekrizdis , practised the worst kinds of Dark magic and constructed a fortress on the island, luring Muggle sailors there to torture and murder them. After his death, the various concealment charms placed on the island faded, and the Ministry became aware of the mysterious site's existence. 
 
 Those who entered the deserted fortress to investigate discovered, among other horrors, an infestation of Dementors. Fearing the reprisal of these dark entities should anyone try to evict them, the Ministry decided to let the sizeable colony remain, unmolested and unchecked. 
 
 When Damocles Rowle was elected Minister for Magic in 1718, he insisted on utilising Azkaban's dark pedigree, seeing the Dementors as a potential asset: putting them to work as guards would save expense, time, and lives. This plan was eventually put into motion and, despite protests, Azkaban remained the prison of the wizarding world right up until the Second Wizarding War, mostly because of its near-zero breakout rate. From that point on, the Dementors served the Ministry of Magic as the guards of Azkaban, as the arrangement allowed them to feed on the emotions of the prisoners within its walls. Somewhere between 1733 and 1747, Minister Eldritch Diggory visited Azkaban and was horrified at the sheer despair and insanity that the Dementors induced within the prisoners. He formed a committee to find alternative solutions, the least of which was to remove the Dementors, which met opposition from those who feared a mainland invasion by the dark creatures if they were deprived of their food source. Alas, Diggory died of Dragon Pox while in office, and thus the campaign to find an alternative to Azkaban's Dementors stalled. Though their primary function was to guard Azkaban, Dementors also performs other services for the Ministry, such as being sent to guard other locations, escort prisoners to trial or even hunt down certain criminals. 
 
 Although many in the wizarding world felt they could sleep easy at night in the knowledge that Dementors guarded Azkaban, making it virtually impossible for dangerous criminals to escape, some believed the Dementors to be inherently fickle and untrustworthy, fearing a potential change in allegiances should a dark wizard arise who might offer them more promising compensation than the Ministry. Albus Dumbledore, in particular, thought it was a mistake for the Ministry to ever ally with such creatures, though Alastor Moody thought violent criminals such as Death Eaters deserved such treatment.[5] 
 
 1993-1994 
 
 "When they get near me — I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum." —Harry Potter on the Dementors' effect on him[src] 
 
 During the 1993-1994 school year, Dementors were sent to guard Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry against "mass murderer" Sirius Black, who had recently escaped from Azkaban in 1993. On the Hogwarts Express, Harry Potter had his first encounter with a Dementor. Whenever brought into close proximity with one, Harry was forced to relive his worst memory: hearing the last moments of his parents' lives before they were murdered by Lord Voldemort. 
 
 The first of these encounters was on the Hogwarts Express, during which he was protected by the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin. While the Dementors were at Hogwarts, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore refused to let them enter the School Grounds but was unable to prevent their presence entirely, and so warned his students to give the Dementors no reason to harm them. So dangerous did Dumbledore consider them to be that, even when Sirius Black was found to have entered the school, he refused to let them search or enter the castle. 
 
 Harry endured a second encounter with a group of Dementors during a Quidditch match, causing him to lose consciousness and suffer a fall from his broom. He was that time rescued by Dumbledore, who slowed Harry's fall and then drove the Dementors away with a Patronus. They had a particularly bad effect on Harry due to his miserable childhood and plentiful bad memories.[2] Professor Lupin later claimed that the atmosphere of excitement during a Quidditch Match would be like a feast to the Dementors, which they were unable to resist. 
 
 To overcome the Dementors, Harry asked Lupin for assistance. Lupin began teaching Harry the Patronus Charm, using a Boggart, which transformed into a Dementor in front of Harry. During the next Quidditch match Harry competed in, four Slytherins, Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Marcus Flint, disguised themselves as Dementors to distract Harry. Although not yet capable of producing a fully formed patronus, Harry was able to perform the spell well enough to thwart their attempts and won the match, after which Professor Minerva McGonagall sentenced the offending students to detention and deducted fifty House Points from Slytherin. 
 
 Harry's next encounter with the Dementors came when he, Hermione, and Sirius were attacked by a group of them in the Forbidden Forest; the three were saved by the intervention of a powerful and fully formed Patronus before the Dementors were able to take their souls via the Dementor's Kiss (defined below). Though initially believed (by Harry) to be the Patronus of his deceased father, this Patronus had in fact been conjured by Harry himself, who had travelled back in time with Hermione Granger using her Time-Turner[2] (this technically counts as both Harry's third and fourth encounter with the Dementors, since, due to his time travelling, he experienced this same encounter twice). Harry's Patronus took the form of a stag, which was both the form his father's Patronus took and the form his father took as an Animagus. Because the Dementors tried to Kiss Harry during this encounter in the Forest, it was enough to convince the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge to have the Dementors removed from Hogwarts at the end of the school year. Dumbledore seemed very happy about this. 
 
 1994-1995 
 
 "The Dementors will join us, they are our natural allies...." —Lord Voldemort talking to his Death Eaters[src] 
 
 1995-1996 
 
 Harry met an apparent Dementor in the Triwizard Tournament; thinking that it was a real Dementor he conjured the Patronus Charm, and soon the Dementor stumbled and then Harry knew it was a boggart and soon cried 'Riddikulus'. 
 
 Harry's fifth encounter was in an alley near his home on Privet Drive, when he and his cousin, Dudley Dursley, were ambushed by two Dementors sent secretly and illegally by Dolores Umbridge. He successfully used the Patronus Charm and was subsequently rescued by a Squib named Arabella Figg. Harry was put on trial for his use of underage magic, but ultimately was not punished, as it was recognised as having been self-defence. Nearly a year later Umbridge admitted the plan to attack and undermine Harry using the Dementors.[6] 
 
 By July 1996, all of the Dementors of Azkaban collectively rebelled against their employers to join Lord Voldemort, who offered them more victims and free rein across the country. This aided the 1996 and 1997 escapes of Death Eaters from Azkaban.[6] By mid-1996, the Dementors who had joined Voldemort were multiplying in such quantities as to generate an 'unseasonal' July mist, noticeable to both the Muggle and wizarding worlds alike. Cornelius Fudge also admitted they were factors in the British Prime Minister's recent decline in terms of public approval, as they were making people less happy in general.[3] 
 
 1997-1998 
 
 "The air around them had frozen: Harry's breath caught and solidified in his chest. Shapes moved out in the darkness, swirling figures of concentrated blackness, moving in a great wave towards the castles, their faces hooded and their breath rattling...." —Dementors join the Battle of Hogwarts[src] 
 
 During the 1997 infiltration of the Ministry of Magic, while Harry Potter was disguised as Albert Runcorn, he encountered the Dementors in the Muggle-Born Registration Commission courtroom, where they were used to take away convicted Muggle-borns after interrogation and to terrorise them during interrogation. Dolores Umbridge protected herself and the other questioners with a cat Patronus, which dissipated when Harry stunned her. Harry and Hermione then performed the charm to save the Muggle-borns who had yet to be interrogated from the Dementors. 
 
 After Apparating to Hogsmeade, Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off a Caterwauling Charm and hid under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Unable to find them the Death Eaters dispatched Dementors to attack the trio, as Dementors sensed the presence of others and did not rely on sight. Harry was forced to cast his Patronus to protect the trio from being kissed. They could not Disapparate due to an Anti-Disapparition Jinx placed on the village and were stuck (caterwauling charm). Harry drove away the Dementors, but almost gave the three away, as his patrounus was very distinctive, Aberforth Dumbledore saved them and passed off Harry's stag as his own goat Patronus and ushered the trio into his pub. 
 
 Later, during the Battle of Hogwarts, the Dementors fought on the side of Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley were attacked by large numbers of Dementors, and due to the horrific events they had experienced and witnessed, including the recent death of Fred Weasley, they all had difficulty summoning their Patronuses. In fact, Harry welcomed the fate that came with a Dementor's kiss, but Seamus Finnigan, Luna Lovegood, and Ernie Macmillan attacked the Dementors with their own Patronuses holding them at bay and encouraged Harry to do the same, allowing him to finally summon his Patronus, which caused the Dementors to scatter. Later, Harry encountered more Dementors in the Forbidden Forest, but the presence of James, Lily, Sirius and Remus, summoned through the Resurrection Stone, shielded him from them.[7] 
 
 Post 1998 
 
 After the Second Wizarding War, the Ministry of Magic became headed by former-Auror and Order of the Phoenix member Kingsley Shacklebolt. Due to their actions during the war (allowing Death Eaters to escape back to Voldemort and joining forces with him themselves), Shacklebolt disbanded the Dementors as guards of the wizard prison. It is unknown where they went or what they did without their only known application. After the Dementors were removed from the prison, Aurors were placed in the prison as guards. 
 
 Description 
 
 Appearances 
 
 Dementors have a humanoid shape, approximately three metres, or 10 feet high, and are covered in dark hooded cloaks of long ripped black cloth, making them closely resemble wraiths. Its body is greyed and decayed looking, like a decomposing corpse, and its breath sounds rattling like it is trying to "suck more than air" out of a room. Its hands are "glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed". They seem to exude cold. 
 
 A Dementor's face has empty eye sockets, covered with scabbed skin. There is a gaping large hole where the mouth should be, which is used for sucking the soul out of the victim in a process called the Dementor's Kiss, leaving victims in a state generally considered worse than death. The Dementor pulls back its hood and sucks out its victim's soul, leaving the person an empty shell, alive but completely, irretrievably 'gone'. They are described as being able to glide over the ground only, and in any case, they cannot pass through solid obstacles.[2] 
 
 Dementors are also known to be blind, as they do not have eyes. However, they can sense whether a presence is near them or not, by sensing the victim's emotions. 
 
 Nature and behaviour 
 
 He felt the unnatural cold begin to steal over the street. Light was sucked from the environment right up to the stars, which vanished... The cold was biting deeper and deeper into Harry's flesh... Then, around the corner, gliding noiselessly, came Dementors, ten or more of them, visible because they were of a denser darkness than their surroundings, with their black cloaks and their scabbed and rotting hands. Could they sense fear in the vicinity? Harry was sure of it: They seemed to be coming more quickly now, taking those dragging, rattling breaths he detested, tasting despair on the air, closing in —" —Description of Dementors as they close in[src] 
 
 Dementors seem to suck all the light and happiness from the air as they draw long rattling breaths, and cause darkness to close in everywhere and the victim to feel incredibly cold. They can glide toward a victim without sound. 
 
 Their sapience is heavily debated: they are sentient enough to taste and sense fear, being drawn to it and the promise of positive memories that it can feed off of. They are also intelligent enough to be greedy: they obeyed the Ministry of Magic for years because, in guarding Azkaban, they were provided with the sustenance of any remaining hope or happiness in the prisoners. They can understand and follow at least simple instructions, which allowed a Dementor to act as a bodyguard to Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge in 1995,[5] and for them to escort prisoners in and out of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission courtroom in 1997.[7] They could also communicate what they had heard Sirius Black saying in his sleep to the Ministry in 1993, implying that they can speak or otherwise communicate with wizards. 
 
 On the other hand, Albus Dumbledore describes Dementors as vicious creatures and that they won't ever differentiate between those they are hunting and those that stand in their way. He also informs the students to give Dementors no reason to harm them, saying that forgiveness is not in a Dementor's nature. Moreover, they reportedly have no soul of their own (though it could be argued that "soulless" is merely figurative in this instance). 
 
 Outside of Azkaban, Dementors appear to hunt for prey in groups of variable size, from as small as two to as large as greater than twenty. They appear to attack by first surrounding their targets, cutting off any escape, then descending upon them all at once to feed. 
 
 Abilities 
 
 "They don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheerful thought. Most go mad within weeks." —Remus Lupin on Azkaban prisoners' long-term exposure to Dementors[src] 
 
 Being blind, Dementors sense and feed on the positive emotions of human beings in order to survive, forcing their victims to relive their worst memories over and over again. The very presence of a Dementor can make the victim's surrounding atmosphere grow cold and dark, and as the number of Dementors increase, so do the effects. Those that are kept in the company of a Dementor for too long tend to become depressed, and are often driven insane, which was the main source of Azkaban 's well-deserved horrible reputation when they still guarded its prisoners. After spending only a few months there, Rubeus Hagrid claims he wished he would die in his sleep.For this reason, they are considered some of the foulest creatures on Earth. 
 
 Dementors rely fully on their ability to sense emotion and physical and/or mental health to track the movements of the prisoners in their care, and are generally unable to distinguish one person from another if both are in similar physical or mental condition. They were unable to identify Mrs Crouch being sneaked into Azkaban disguised as Bartemius Crouch Jr using Polyjuice Potion, or Barty Crouch Jr being sneaked out disguised as his mother, since both were ill nearly to the point of death, as divulged by Bartemius Crouch Jr under the influence of Veritaserum in 1995 (though it may be that they simply did not care who they were sucking happiness from so long as they were "fed"). They are genderless and don't mate, they grow like fungus where there is decay. 
 
 Dementors seemingly don't feel and recognise animal emotions in the same way as human emotions. When Sirius Black, an Animagus, was imprisoned in Azkaban in his dog form before his eventual successful escape also as a dog, his emotions were less human. The Dementors could feel there was a difference in his emotions when he changed his form, but they didn't understand why there was such a difference; they simply thought he was losing his mind. 
 
 Although Muggles cannot see Dementors, they are affected in a way similar to wizards and witches, becoming depressed when near them.[6] While at least one Squib, Arabella Figg, has claimed to see a Dementor,[6] the truth is that Squibs cannot see them, but have enough magical knowledge to identify their effects.[8] 
 
 After Bartemius Crouch Jr's mother died in Azkaban, Dementors buried her body, which shows that Dementors are capable of physical labour, such as grave-digging. Also, Sirius escaped when the Dementors came to give food, another sort of labour. 
 
 It is stated by Remus Lupin that, if a wizard remains in close contact with Dementors for an extended period of time, a Dementor can drain a wizard of his powers. This fact is not expounded upon, so the truth to this statement is unknown. If this is the case, however, it would make Dementors the only known being to permanently render a wizard without magic. Lupin might also mean this metaphorically, as severe depression, which is caused by prolonged contact with Dementors, can be really detrimental to a wizard's ability to cast spells. 
 
 Dementor's Kiss 
 
 There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just... exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever... lost." —Remus Lupin regarding the kiss[src] 
 
 In addition to feeding on positive emotions, Dementors can perform their last and most dangerous ability: the Dementor's Kiss, in which a Dementor latches its mouth onto a victim's and sucks out the person's soul.[2] The victim is left as an empty shell, incapable of thought and with no possibility of recovery. It is believed that existing after a Dementor's Kiss is worse than death: as a person's soul is their true self, to be 'kissed' by a Dementor is to cease to exist, and yet also remain. The Ministry of Magic occasionally allowed this as a punishment, before Kingsley Shacklebolt became Minister for Magic. It is unknown what effect a Dementor's Kiss would have on a person who had split his or her soul through the use of a Horcrux. It is also possible that the soul is trapped inside the Dementor, thus the victim is unable to pass on. This is probably what "worse than death" is. 
 
 The only known named victim of the Kiss is Barty Crouch Jr. From 1994 to 1995 Crouch had been using polyjuice potion to pose as Alastor Moody, and had been teaching at Hogwarts in his stead; he was detained at the castle, awaiting trial, after his ploy was discovered, and it emerged that he had been working in secret for Voldemort. He was subjected to the punishment by a Dementor accompanying Cornelius Fudge as a bodyguard.[5] The unfortunate consequence of this act was that it rendered Crouch unable to testify about his master's return, allowing Voldemort almost a full year to gather strength while the Ministry continued in its denial. 
 
 Protection from Dementors 
 
 Patronus Charm 
 
 Main article: Patronus Charm 
 
 A Patronus is a kind of positive force, and for the wizard who can conjure one, it works something like a shield, with the Dementor feeding on it, rather than him." —Remus Lupin regarding what a Patronus is[src] 
 
 No one has ever demonstrated the ability to kill a Dementor, by Avada Kedavra or otherwise, implying that they can not be killed through physical means, but can only be driven away or temporarily kept at bay. One of the few ways to shield oneself from Dementors is by the very difficult Patronus Charm.[2] The charm summons a Patronus, a magical manifestation of good will and happiness, providing varied levels of protection against the Dementors' influence, based on the caster's strength as a wizard. With sufficient ability, a single wizard can hold off dozens, if not hundreds, of Dementors with a single corporeal Patronus, as Harry Potter demonstrated during his third year at Hogwarts when he drove off a horde of Dementors seeking to consume Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, and Harry's past selves.[2] 
 
 As the Patronus is not alive, the Dementor cannot feed on it. Only when summoned by an experienced caster will the Patronus take the form of an animal significant in some way to the individual. While the lower level Patronus is more amorphous and ephemeral, corporeal Patronuses chase down Dementors and force them to flee the vicinity.[6] An incorporeal Patronus only slows a Dementor down,[2] as if the creature is walking through quicksand, and tends not to last long, but could eventually give the caster time to escape. 
 
 Other 
 
 Since Dementors cannot properly sense the less complex thoughts and emotions of a person when he or she takes on an Animagus form, doing so allowed some, such as Sirius Black, to temporarily avoid feeling the effects of the Dementors' presence.[2] When they sensed the less-than-human thoughts of his Animagus form, the Dementors simply thought Sirius was losing his mind. 
 
 The effects of a Dementor's happiness-draining powers can also be resisted if one focuses not on happy thoughts, but on obsessions, or other things that give one strength without exactly making one feel better. For example, Sirius managed to avoid going mad in the Dementors' custody and eventually plan an escape by focusing on the fact that he was innocent and didn't belong in Azkaban, and later that Peter Pettigrew was at Hogwarts and that Harry was in danger. 
 
 Though clearly not a common method of repelling Dementors, the enigmatic form people take after being brought back by the Resurrection Stone appears to function much like a Patronus, as the 'resurrected' forms of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and James and Lily Potter were able to shield Harry Potter from the Dementors that Voldemort had stationed in the Forbidden Forest in 1998. And also, after Harry returned from the brink of life and death, he was so overcome with joy at being alive that the Dementors had no effect on him, showing that if a person is truly happy as he can be, the Dementors main weapon is rendered useless. 
 
 There may be another, more common way of repelling a Dementor, aside from the Patronus Charm, as Harry Potter disagreed with Professor Snape on the best method for confronting one when it was the subject of a report in his sixth year.[3] This implies that there are, indeed, other methods. Probably one of them is reducing the effects and conditions of the habitat that Dementors prefer, which would cause them to be driven away. Other methods may include the use of Felix Felicis to increase a wizard's luck, or with the use of Occlumency to neutralise thoughts and emotions to keep calm and confident, both methods would eventually lead to the point that a wizard could easily cast the Patronus Charm to fend off Dementors. 
 
 The mood-enhancing properties of chocolate are well known in both the Muggle and wizard worlds. Chocolate is the perfect antidote for anyone who has been overcome in the presence of Dementors, which suck hope and happiness out of their surroundings. Chocolate can only be a short-term remedy, however. Finding ways to fight off Dementors — or depression — are essential if one is to become permanently happier. Excessive chocolate consumption cannot benefit either Muggle or wizard.[9] 
 
 Dark Wizards cannot commonly produce Patronuses. However, they do not need to do so in the first place, as they are like-minded in evil. Voldemort even states that they are natural allies. This does not, however, prevent Dementors from imprisoning dark wizards in Azkaban. 
 
 Etymology 
 
 The English word dementor is used generically to refer to any evil or fearsome creature. The word ultimately derives from the Latin dēmens, meaning "insane". 
 
 Behind the scenes 
 
 Portrayal in the movies 
 
 In the film series, Dementors are portrayed differently compared to how they were described in the books. In the books, they were described as tall hooded humanoid figures, whereas in the films, they appear as skeletal creatures wearing black robes. 
 
 Another notable difference is that the Dementors in the films can fly freely. This aspect was completely absent from the books, where they were merely gliding over the ground. This is most noticeable when the Dementors were intruding the first Quidditch match in the Prisoner of Azkaban. In the book, the Dementors were described as standing in the stadium, while in the film, they were purposefully pursuing a broomstick-riding Harry Potter. Because of this, the corporeal Patronus Charm in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban seems to work differently by sending a pulse at the Dementors flying in the air rather than charging at them on the ground. 
 
 Furthermore, the Dementors from the films appear to have a much more drastic effect on the environment compared to their book counterparts. In the films, the nearby surroundings of a Dementor are immediately covered by a layer of ice and any plant in the vicinity almost instantly withers away. The only explicit effect the book described Dementors were having in the environment is that they are accompanied by a cold mist. The first Dementor Harry encountered in the third film was able to open the Hogwarts Express without touching it, causing it to slide open with a wave of its hand, with some wizards and witches in the films also being able to perform similar feats. Also, the first Dementor seen in the fifth film was able to effortlessly lift Harry off the ground by the neck and pin him to a wall, showing great strength. 
 
 Foreign words for Dementor 
 
 Albanian : "Marroses" 
 
 : "Marroses" Bulgarian: "Диментор" 
 
 "Диментор" Catalan : "Demèntor" (pronounced duh-MEN-toor) 
 
 : "Demèntor" (pronounced duh-MEN-toor) Chinese : Taiwan, Hong Kong : 催狂魔 - cuīkuángmó - "drive-mad devil/demon" China: 摄魂怪 - shèhúnguài - "suck-soul devil/monster" 攝魂怪 in traditional characters 
 
 : Czech : "mozkomor" - "plague of the brain" 
 
 : "mozkomor" - "plague of the brain" Danish: "Dementor" 
 
 "Dementor" Dutch: "Dementor" 
 
 "Dementor" Finnish : "ankeuttaja", from "ankeus" - "drearyness" 
 
 : "ankeuttaja", from "ankeus" - "drearyness" French : "détraqueur" - "that which makes (things) go wrong or break down" 
 
 : "détraqueur" - "that which makes (things) go wrong or break down" German : "Dementor" 
 
 : "Dementor" Georgian : "დემენტორი" (დემენტორები); (pronounced dementori, plural: dementorebi) 
 
 : "დემენტორი" (დემენტორები); (pronounced dementori, plural: dementorebi) Greek: "Παράφρονας" (pronounced "Parafronas") - from Greek "παράφρων" meaning "mentally ill". 
 
 "Παράφρονας" (pronounced "Parafronas") - from Greek "παράφρων" meaning "mentally ill". Hebrew : "סוהרסן" (pronounced "Soharsan", plural: "סוהרסנים", "Soharsanim") - from "סוהר" ("prison warden") and "הרסן" ("destructive") 
 
 : "סוהרסן" (pronounced "Soharsan", plural: "סוהרסנים", "Soharsanim") - from "סוהר" ("prison warden") and "הרסן" ("destructive") Hindi (India): दमपिशाच ( damapishācha or dampishāch ) - from Sanskrit dama = "house" and pishācha (a type of Hindu demon: see pishacha). 
 
 (India): दमपिशाच ( or ) - from Sanskrit = "house" and (a type of Hindu demon: see pishacha). Hungarian: "Dementor" 
 
 "Dementor" Icelandic : "Vitsuga" - The one who sucks out your mind, or sense of anything. 
 
 : "Vitsuga" - The one who sucks out your mind, or sense of anything. Indonesian : "iblis" - "demon of death and happiness remover"; see wikipedia:Iblis 
 
 : "iblis" - "demon of death and happiness remover"; see wikipedia:Iblis Italian : "dissennatore" - "he who takes sanity away", from senno meaning 'mental sanity' 
 
 : "dissennatore" - "he who takes sanity away", from meaning 'mental sanity' Japanese : ディメンター - dimentā 吸魂鬼 - " kyūkonki " - suck-soul ghost/demon (modelled after East Asian words for vampires) 
 
 : Lithuanian : "Psichas" - Mental/Psycho 
 
 : "Psichas" - Mental/Psycho Latvian: Atprātotājs 
 
 Atprātotājs Macedonian: Дементор 
 
 Дементор Norwegian : "Desperant" - One that brings out despair 
 
 : "Desperant" - One that brings out despair Persian: "دیوانه ساز" - Maddening 
 
 "دیوانه ساز" - Maddening Polish: "Dementor" 
 
 "Dementor" Portuguese : Brazilian : "Dementador" European : "Dementor" (plural: "Dementores") 
 
 : Romanian : "Dementor" 
 
 : "Dementor" Russian: "Дементор" (plural: Дементоры) 
 
 "Дементор" (plural: Дементоры) Slovak : "Dementor" 
 
 : "Dementor" Slovenian: "Morakvar" 
 
 "Morakvar" Spanish : "Dementor" 
 
 : "Dementor" Swedish: "Dementor" 
 
 "Dementor" Thai : "ผู้คุมวิญญาณ" - "Poo-khum-win-yarn" - Soul Warden 
 
 : "ผู้คุมวิญญาณ" - "Poo-khum-win-yarn" - Soul Warden Turkish : "Ruh Emici" - "soul-suckers" 
 
 : "Ruh Emici" - "soul-suckers" Ukrainian: " Дементор" (plural: Дементори) 
 
 Дементор" (plural: Дементори) Vietnamese: "giám ngục Azkaban" - "prison guards of Azkaban" 
 
 Appearances 
 
 Dementor. The Harry Potter Wiki has 67 images related to 
 
 See also 
 
 Notes and references 
 
 
 
 
 
 [[de2:Dementor s: ||||| With the screaming fans, soft drink endorsements and your pick of M&M; colors, being a world-famous musician has its share of perks. And one of those perks, if you’re particularly lucky, is lending your name to an animal for the foreseeable future of zoology: 
 
 Beyoncé’s Fly With The Golden Tuchis 
 
 (Erick/Wikimedia Commons; Caro Carlow/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) 
 
 "It was the unique dense golden hairs on the fly's abdomen that led me to name this fly in honor of the performer Beyoncé as well as giving me the chance to demonstrate the fun side of taxonomy – the naming of species," are all words the entomologist who named Scaptia beyonceae told The Telegraph in 2012. 
 
 The Shakira Wasp Makes Mummies (Credit: Eduardo Shimbori; oouinouin/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) 
 
 Aleiodes shakirae is a parasitic wasp, who injects eggs inside caterpillars. As the caterpillars dry out, they twist into mummies (their death throes were reminiscent of the pop singer's dance skills, apparently). 
 
 Frank Zappa Got His Jellyfish 
 
 (jlacpo/Flickr/CC BY 2.0; Ferdinando Boero/Wikimedia Commons) 
 
 "There is nothing I'd like better than having a jellyfish named after me," musician Frank Zappa reportedly said once, so an intrepid jellyfish discoverer and jazz-rock-fusion fan made Phialella zappai a real thing. 
 
 Madonna: Like A Water Bear 
 
 (Bob Goldstein and Vicky Madden/Wikimedia/CC BY 3.0;Karen Blue/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) 
 
 Zoologists dubbed a species of nigh-indestructible microscopic animal (called tardigrades or water bears) after Madonna in 2006 — Echiniscus madonnae (the species pictured is a distant tardigrade cousin Hypsibius dujardini). 
 
 Ozzy Osbourne’s Frog Sounds Like A Bat 
 
 (Portal Focka/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) 
 
 Ozzy Osbourne, the self-labeled Prince of Darkness whose renovation plans were recently thwarted by a flock of bats, is the namesake of a frog, Dendropsophus ozzyi. The tiny amphibian has a high-pitched chirp like the squeak of a bat — Croak At The Moon, anyone? 
 
 David Bowie’s Spider From Earth, Not Mars 
 
 (ikrichter/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) 
 
 A funky spider with bright copper hairs — "a very distinctive arachnid," says endangered species charity ARKive — the David Bowie spider, Heteropoda davidbowie, lives in the trees of Southeast Asia. ||||| A weird new species of ancient predatory cockroach has been discovered preserved in amber. 
 
 The cockroach is thought to have lived 100 million years ago, and it looks little like its modern relatives. 
 
 After the first look I knew it was something new 
 
 The tiny monster, measuring just under 1 cm, hosts a weird amalgam of unique features making it look like a chimera of a crane fly, a praying mantis and a cockroach. 
 
 The discovery adds to the number of ferocious cockroaches known to have lived in prehistoric times. 
 
 The new specimen Manipulator modificaputis belongs to an ancient family of cockroaches, called the Manipulatoridae. 
 
 It has a triangular, manoeuvrable head, with large eyes, set upon a long neck, features that likely helped it hunt its prey. The cockroach also had a narrow body and wings, elongated legs and mouthparts, and an extra set of modified eyes located on the top of its head, which likely helped it spot predators, such as the feathered dinosaurs living at the time. 
 
 This little monster was a solitary hunter 
 
 The cockroach was found preserved in amber by German researcher Ziggi Ellenberger in modern day Myanmar. 
 
 At first, scientists thought the cockroach might have been a mantis. 
 
 But an examination by Dr Peter Vršanský, from the Geological Institute of Bratislava and the Slovak Academy of Sciences revealed it to be something different. “After the first look I knew it was something new,” he told BBC Earth. “Nothing similar runs on Earth today.” 
 
 Vršanský made the discovery, reported in the journal Geologica Carpathica along with Günter Bechly, from the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany. 
 
 They believe the cockroach hunted at night. 
 
 “This little monster was a solitary hunter, able to run very fast, with a body unlike the vast majority of cockroaches living today, it posed high above ground, frequently taking flight when necessary, and seizing its prey with strong short spines developed on its extremely long feet,” he adds. 
 
 Not all scientists agree on the cockroach’s hunting skills though. Manipulator had long and weak legs, and was unlikely to run fast, says Dr Alexandr Rasnitsyn, a professor from the Palaeontological Institute, at the Russian Academy of Sciences. 
 
 He thinks it was more likely to surprise rather than chase its prey, using its long limbs to traverse gaps between forest leaves. 
 
 The new discovery in among a number of ancient cockroaches found in Myanmar. 
 
 Many were predatory insects that evolved to rule the night. “Especially drastic and brutal were top predatory Raphidiomimidae. Cockroaches with a wingspan up to 20cm and eyes divided into two parts, with gut containing large pieces of demolished insects,” says Vršanský. 
 
 Most of these ferocious lineages went extinct, however, with only one lineage surviving today: the praying mantis, which belongs to the same superorder of the cockroaches.
– What name is worthy for a ferocious flying insect that swoops down on supposedly indestructible cockroaches, paralyzes them with its devastating sting, then drags them off into a corner to devour them? "Soul-Sucking Dementor" sounded pretty good to visitors at Berlin's Museum fuer Naturkunde. They were offered the chance to crowdsource a moniker for the wasp (official name: Ampulex dementor) discovered last year in Thailand's Mekong region, reports CNN. The inspiration for the name? Creatures in the Harry Potter series that "feed upon human happiness, and thus cause depression and despair to anyone near them … and are known to leave a person as an 'empty-shell.'" Luckily for us, SSD's favorite meal isn't humans, but cockroaches, and it will do whatever it takes to get what it wants—to wit, by pumping venom into its prey's belly until it "turns the roach into a passive zombie," the World Wildlife Fund explains in a press release introducing some of the 139 new species discovered last year in the Greater Mekong. Letting the public choose the wasp's name had a specific purpose, as described in Plos One: "to link museum visitors emotionally to biodiversity and its discovery." The name resonated especially well with one particular person: JK Rowling. The Harry Potter creator, who's been on fire lately on Twitter, retweeted the WWF's post thanking her for the inspiration for the name. (But could the Soul-Sucking Dementor have taken on this monstrous cockroach?)