Monarch Predators Have Also Evolved to Withstand Toxic Milkweeds

Monarch butterflies are famous for their beautiful colors and their long migration patterns. They are also well known for being poisonous due to their consumption of the milkweed plant. A genetic mutation found in monarchs block the plant’s toxins while also allowing said toxic to accumulate in the insect. This mutation is found in 3 copies of a gene for the sodium-potassium pump and is critical to the monarch’s ability to tolerate the toxins of the milkweed found a group of researchers two years ago. This mutation, along with the monarch’s warning color has helped as a deterrent to hungry predators.

However, monarchs are not the only species that can tolerate the milkweed’s toxins. This article shows that four different predators of monarchs were recently discovered to have the same genetic mutation that monarchs have. These organisms are the black-headed grosbeak, the eastern deer mouse, a tiny wasp that parasitizes monarch eggs, and a nematode that parasitizes monarch larvae. All four organisms have at least one or more copies of the gene. The black-headed grosbeak and wasp has evolved single-nucleotide mutations in their sodium pump gene in two of the three locations where monarchs evolved the mutation. The eastern deer mouse and nematode have their changes in all three locations. Noah Whiteman, evolutionary biologist and member of the study, noted that this might be the first time we are seeing the same resistance mutations that have been found in the second and third trophic levels that evolved due to the second trophic level’s ability to feed on toxic plants. The team suspects that there are other organism in the food chain that begins with the milkweed that also have the same mutations found in monarchs.

Parasites Alter Butterfly Genomes Using Viruses

Genetically modified organisms (GMO's) are usually known as a creation of human, but insect studies show otherwise. Researchers have found modified genetics in butterflies and moths, but they weren't caused from humans. These modified genetics were caused by a virus that weaves through DNA. Parasitic insects known as braconid wasps lay eggs inside of caterpillars and hatch into larvae. The wasps also inject bracoviruses that incorporate themselves into the genome of caterpillars. These modifications will be passed on to other generations. Scientists believe that some butterflies and moths have kept these wasp genes because they protect against other viruses that could be harmful. Scientists also believe that insects that are genetically modified by humans have the potential to transfer to other insects, and therefore we must be fully aware of what genes are modified.

This article was very interesting to read. I am on the fence about genetically modified organisms, and when I found out that insects that are genetically modified by humans have the potential to spread those modified genetics to other insects, it pushed me even further away from GMO's. What was also very interesting is that the wasp virus can completely change the genome of a caterpillar, and that genome is passed on to other generations. This is the first time I've heard of naturally occurring GMO's.

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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