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#1
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11-20-2012, 11:22 AM
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 ★ Legacy Member ★ Poster Rank:2045 Female Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 241 Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Quoted: 10 Post(s)
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The Parasitic Jewel Wasp
The parasitic jewel wasp uses a venom injected directly into a cockroach's brain to inhibit its victim's free will, scientists have discovered. The venom blocks a chemical substance called octopamine in the cockroach's brain that controls its motivation to walk, the study found. Unable to fight back, the "zombie" cockroach can be pulled into the wasp's underground lair, where an egg is laid in its abdomen. The larva later hatches and eats the still living but incapacitated cockroach from the inside out. "The whole thing takes about seven to eight days, during which the meat has to be fresh," said study co-author and neurobiologist Frederic Libersat of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be'ér Sheva, Israel. The mature wasp emerges from the bug victim's body after about a month. The study recently appeared in the Journal of Experimental Biology. |
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#2
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11-20-2012, 04:31 PM
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 ♚ Legacy Gold Member ♚ Poster Rank:35 Female Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 43,396
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Re: The Parasitic Jewel Wasp
Amazing process yet some of the worst deaths I've seen occur in the insect world. This is absolutely awful  If the roach was a cute fuzzy vocal animal, imagine how horrendous this would be to watch!!  |
