Attack of the Zombies!!!

Or I should say, attack of the wasps?

A ladybug being infected.

Parasitologist Nolwenn Dheilly at Stony Brook University in New York found a virus that actually turns ladybugs into a zombie by wasps.  Here's how it works:
The green-eyed wasp, Dinocampus coccinellae, lays its egg inside the ladybug (or various other beetles, but this is the most common). The larva eats the ladybug's internal organs for sustenance until it erupts from her abdomen after 3 weeks.  Then, it weaves a coccoon in between her legs and the ladybug turns into a zombie, warding off predators until the adult wasp emerges from the coocoon one week later. The ladybug is NOT zombified before the wasp emerges as a larva. Parasiologists and enthomologists wondered how this can even occur. Was it a toxin? Is it a mutation? Another parasite?  The answer may shock you.

A ladybug with a D.coccinellae cocoon.

Parasitologists, specifically Dheilly, found "unfamiliar viral RNA not present in healthy beetles."  Upon further study, a new species of Iflavirus (similar to the RNA virus that causes polio) was found and named DCPV (D. coccinellae paralysis virus). The wasp injects this virus into the ladybug when it is laying its egg into their abdomen. It then replicates rapidly but only moves to the brain right before the larva emerges from the egg (and the ladybug's abdomen). So far, they have not figured out why the virus is active in the brain at that point. One hypothesis is that the ladybug's immune system seems to be suppressed due to the wasp larva feeding off of her innards, and after the larva emerges as an adult, her brain returns to a normal function. The suppression may be a cause for her brain to not function appropriately, and once she is not being fed on, her brain can almost revive itself. This brain damage may be the cause of the zombie-like state that is timed right around when the wasp larva emerges from its egg. It is said that 25% o all infected ladybugs recover completely, some even become infected again!

While I do find this article extremely disturbing, I also find it quite amazing that animals have adapted over time to give them an upper-hand at evolution and survival. Many other animal species have parasitic components to their survival, but it's always a marvel to see a genetic evolution of a species to control brain function, even if it's not intentional! Perhaps now we can understand the real purpose of some species' existence, and how we can even attempt to reproduce those characteristics in modern science and medicine. What if there was a bioterroristic weapon that controlled the minds of people into doing what they wanted? What if governments were able to control your brain? One could only hope a success like this isn't used against us!

Original Article:Wasp virus turns ladybugs into zombie babysitters