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People associate wasps with memories of picnic invasions, BBQs under siege, and painful stings. There is a lot more to these much-maligned insects though, and with more than 100,000 different species, their life histories range from the quietly unobtrusive to the bizarre and gruesome. A new study in the Journal of Experimental Biology documents one such disturbing example of wasp larvae that takes control of their unfortunate spider hosts.
The Japanese scientists behind the study thought the host-parasite relationship between the wasp Reclinervellus nielseni (most wasps have only a scientific name) and its orb-weaver spider host Cyclosa argenteoalba could help us understand how parasitic organisms alter their host’s behaviour.
The adult wasps lay an egg on the outside of the spider’s body. The wasp larva hatches out and attaches itself to the spider’s abdomen, where it feeds on the fluids within, while the spider goes about its normal life. At a certain point though, the larva causes the spider’s behaviour to change. It’s as though the larva takes control of the spider and forces it to create the perfect environment for the wasp larva to transform (or “pupate”) into an adult.
Read more here. (The Guardian UK)
The Japanese scientists behind the study thought the host-parasite relationship between the wasp Reclinervellus nielseni (most wasps have only a scientific name) and its orb-weaver spider host Cyclosa argenteoalba could help us understand how parasitic organisms alter their host’s behaviour.
The adult wasps lay an egg on the outside of the spider’s body. The wasp larva hatches out and attaches itself to the spider’s abdomen, where it feeds on the fluids within, while the spider goes about its normal life. At a certain point though, the larva causes the spider’s behaviour to change. It’s as though the larva takes control of the spider and forces it to create the perfect environment for the wasp larva to transform (or “pupate”) into an adult.
Read more here. (The Guardian UK)
