Sunday, November 04, 2018

A Cockroach's Defense Against Zombification



The emerald jewel wasp is a parasite that stings a cockroach to turn it into a zombie. It chews off half the roach's antennae, then leads it by the antenna to the wasp's nest, where it lays an egg inside the roach. The whole dreadful story is at Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_cockroach_wasp However, cockroaches have developed a defense against the wasp that resembles a martial arts film. It's hard to pick a champion when a cockroach fights a wasp, but this footage from Vanderbilt University is pretty cool. (via Metafilter)


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