Ladybug Zombies

This is twisted. I love it. From National Geographic:

“The parasitic wasp…prepares to inject a spotted ladybug with a single egg…the ladybug has been paralyzed by the wasp’s venom…”:

A picture of a parasitic wasp about to inject a ladybug with an egg

“In time the egg will hatch into a larva that will develop for a few days and then chew a small hole through the abdomen of the ladybug. The larva will then spin a cocoon between the legs of the ladybug, whose body will rest on top of the cocoon as the larva undergoes metamorphosis…”:

A picture of a wasp larva emerging from a ladybug

“…sometimes the ladybugs survive the larva’s emergence, and in those cases, the…larva then “brainwashes” the bug into defending the vulnerable cocoon from predators, said study co-author Jacques Brodeur, a biologist at the University of Montreal…”

A picture of a "bodyguard" ladybug assuming her post on top of a parasitic wasp cocoon

There you have it. Ladybug zombies.

Although my favorite parasite is the Cuckoo bird:

“The European cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is, famously, a “brood parasite”: the female lays her eggs in other birds’ nests. Typical victims are small birds like reed warblers and wagtails. When the young cuckoo hatches, its first act is to dispose of any other eggs: it heaves them out of the nest, leaving itself as the sole occupant.

What happens next is peculiar. The foster parents don’t appear to notice they are rearing a monster. Instead, they work hard to satisfy the demands of the chick, even though it sometimes becomes so large that it no longer fits inside the nest, and has to sit on top. It’s one of the oddest sights in nature.”

For more, check out The Selfish Gene.