Mirror Daily

Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Log in
  • Home
  • National & Global News
  • Business & Economy
  • Tech & Science
  • Health
  • About Mirror Daily
    • Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Latest News
    • The Geological Features of Pluto Have Just Gotten Dark Names Inspired from the Underworld
    • The Abuse of Imodium
    • McDonald’s Salads are worse than their Burgers
    • US Family Sues Hospital Over Botched Tonsillectomy
    • Should We Go Back to The Moon?
    • Photo of Gay Military Men Kissing Goes Viral

Pages

  • About Mirror Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Fossil Reveals That Dinosaurs Suffered from Arthritis
  • Our Team
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Terms of Use
  • World Breastfeeding Week: Advantages and Disadvantages

Recent Posts

  • Using Tinder Intended for Hooking Up July 6, 2020
  • An Unbiased Enjoy of Argentine Mail Buy Brides July 1, 2020
  • Positives and negatives Of Going out with Thai Women of all ages June 27, 2020
  • Living, Death and Asian Females Looking For Guy June 27, 2020
  • The Unexposed Top secret of Japanese people Brides June 25, 2020
  • East European And Slavic Birdes-to-be ᐈ Locate Top Females For Marriage Here! June 24, 2020
  • Women Dating For the First Time June 23, 2020

Killer Wasps Turn Spiders into Zombies to Weave Their Nests

August 6, 2015 By Matthew Slotkin Leave a Comment

"killer wasp fighting spider"

Wasps have no conscientious scruples when it comes to subduing weaker insects.

Parasitoids have always amazed researchers due to their ability to mind-control other insects and oblige them to carry out various chores on their behalf. Scientists have made a new discovery proving killer wasps turn spiders into zombies to weave their nests.

Thought humankind is mean and you’d be better off alone on a deserted island? Guess again. Chances are you could stumble upon a much more dangerous species like, say, the Reclinervellus nielseni wasps. The behavior of these insects has but recently been observed, but the few facts we know about them have been enough to make us love and appreciate our brethren.

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, these killer wasps have all the survival skills they need, but zero conscientious scruples. They take advantage of weaker insects and use them to carry out various chores on their behalf.

The victims that fell prey to this species of wasps are usually the Cyclosa argenteoalba spiders. Parasitoids lie eggs on their hosts’ bodies, which develop into larvae and consume the spiders’ interiors until they become zombie-liked slaves that can be controlled and forced to do various things.

The deadly wasps, however, seem to be more interested in spiders’ abilities to build webs. Based on previous researchers, it appears that Cyclosa argenteoalba can create two types of webs, one that has a classic orb design with a sticky middle where the prey is caught and a so-called ‘resting’ web that spiders use to deposit their own eggs and basically… rest.

Wasps seem to have observed their prey’s tactics becoming aware of their engineering abilities. For that matter, they use their larvae to subdue spiders and to make them build resting webs for them. But killer wasps are not that easy to please. They impose certain building criteria for their new cocoons, namely, they want the spiders to reinforce them and to make them much safer for wasps’ eggs.

Spiders rarely comment. They couldn’t, even if they wanted to, considering that the wasp larvae on their bodies control their minds through a possibly chemical compound, according to scientists’ theories. Experiments have shown that the zombie-liked hosts have little or no control on their bodies; they simply do what they are told to and once their mission is over, they lie in the middle of the ‘resting’ net waiting for the larvae to completely devour it. ‘Cause there is no happy end to this story, all spiders die, in the end.

For the current experiment, scientists have made microscopic observations of the spider webs and compared them to the ones that were built for the killer species of wasps. Spiders’ steps have been carefully documented from the very moment when they were subjugated until the last moment of their lives showing that wasps have controlled their minds the whole time.

Image source: www.wikimedia.org

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

Matthew Slotkin

Matthew Slotkin has graduated from Rice University with a degree in History and English. He worked as an assistant professor before joining The Mirror Daily as a full time writer.

Latest posts by Matthew Slotkin (see all)

  • Mongolian Pterosaur Fossils Likely Belonged to One of the Largest Flying Creatures in the World (Study) - November 2, 2017
  • Long-Lost Jackson’s Climbing Salamander Spotted in Guatemala After 40 Years - October 31, 2017
  • Former Challenger Astronaut Paul Weitz Dies Age 85 - October 26, 2017

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Tech & Science

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Articles

Albert Einstein in group photo

Einstein’s Travel Diaries Reveal His Lesser Known Racist Side

June 14, 2018 By John Birks

Baobab tree in Tanzania

Southern Africa’s Iconic Baobab Trees Facing Massive Die-Off

June 11, 2018 By John Birks

UFO 'Self Parking' Sign

Researcher Accuses NASA of Massive Alien Cover-Up

March 5, 2018 By John Birks

Elon Musk's flying Tesla roadster

NASA Warns Elon Musk’s Flying Tesla Roadster May Contaminate Mars

February 28, 2018 By John Birks

Windows 10 home screen

Microsoft Working on Making Windows Password-Free

February 12, 2018 By John Birks

Ice Cubes

Scientists Discover Fourth State of Water: Superionic Ice

February 10, 2018 By John Birks

Head of a northern gannet

Forever Alone Nigel the Gannet Found Dead near Fake Partner

February 3, 2018 By John Birks

Globular Star Cluster

Scientists Find Surprise Black Hole in Globular Star Cluster

January 20, 2018 By John Birks

The Amazon Echo Dot

America’s Smart Speaker Market Jumps to 39 Million Users

January 15, 2018 By John Birks

Pink plasma ball

CES 2018: Intel Presents Out-of-This-World Quantum Computer

January 10, 2018 By John Birks

Teen using her iPad

Major Apple Investors Urge Company to Do More About iPhone Addiction

January 8, 2018 By John Birks

Russian spacecraft

Out-of-Control Chinese Space Station Hurling Toward Earth

January 5, 2018 By John Birks

wanning moon seen on the evening sky in between trees

Scientists Thrilled about Trump’s Initiative to Send Explorers Back to the Moon

December 31, 2017 By John Birks

Two iPhone 7 models on table

Apple Confirms Slower-iPhone Conspiracy Theory

December 22, 2017 By John Birks

Related Articles

  • Albert Einstein in group photo

    Einstein’s Travel Diaries Reveal His Lesser Known Racist Side

    Jun 14, 2018
  • Baobab tree in Tanzania

    Southern Africa’s Iconic Baobab Trees Facing Massive Die-Off

    Jun 11, 2018
  • UFO 'Self Parking' Sign

    Researcher Accuses NASA of Massive Alien Cover-Up

    Mar 5, 2018
  • Elon Musk's flying Tesla roadster

    NASA Warns Elon Musk’s Flying Tesla Roadster May Contaminate Mars

    Feb 28, 2018
  • Windows 10 home screen

    Microsoft Working on Making Windows Password-Free

    Feb 12, 2018
  • Ice Cubes

    Scientists Discover Fourth State of Water: Superionic Ice

    Feb 10, 2018
  • Head of a northern gannet

    Forever Alone Nigel the Gannet Found Dead near Fake Partner

    Feb 3, 2018
  • Globular Star Cluster

    Scientists Find Surprise Black Hole in Globular Star Cluster

    Jan 20, 2018
  • The Amazon Echo Dot

    America’s Smart Speaker Market Jumps to 39 Million Users

    Jan 15, 2018
  • Pink plasma ball

    CES 2018: Intel Presents Out-of-This-World Quantum Computer

    Jan 10, 2018

Categories

  • Business & Economy
  • Capital & Retail Sector
  • Health
  • IT & Diversified Sector
  • National & Global News
  • Tech & Science

Copyright © 2021 MirrorDaily.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.