Parasite Uses Bio Weapon to Create Zombie Bodyguard

Parasite Uses Bio Weapon to Create Zombie Bodyguard
Feb 10, 2015 07:00 PM ET // by Jennifer Viegas
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A ladybug “zombie” sits on top of a parasitic wasp cocoon.

Gilles San Martin, Wikimedia Commons

Parasites can use viruses as biological weapons to turn their victims into puppet-like zombies, finds new research on what has to be one of the weirdest examples of mind control in the animal kingdom.

The study helps to explain how the parasitic wasp Dinocampus coccinellae transforms ladybugs into bodyguards that protect, and later feed (with their own bodies), the wasp’s larvae.

The bizarre phenomenon is described in detail in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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“Parasites have the capacity to alter the biology of their hosts in many ways to improve their own fitness, (with) host behavior manipulation being one of the most striking outcomes,” lead author Nolwenn Dheilly of the Universite ́ de Perpignan Via Domitia in France and colleagues wrote.

The team of scientists used RNA sequencing to study the heads and abdomens of ladybugs that had been “zombied” by the parasitic wasp and some that hadn’t.

Prior research determined that the wasp begins its sinister scheme by depositing its eggs inside of living ladybugs. After about 20 days, a single baby wasp emerges from the ladybug and spins a cocoon. During this time, the ladybug remains standing over the cocoon, trembling every so often. Anyone watching would think that an adult ladybug is alive and well and protecting her brood.

Dheilly and team found that, in reality, the wasp — in addition to depositing eggs inside the ladybug’s body — also injected a dose of a newly identified virus that targets the nervous system. The virus, named DcPV, causes paralysis and tremors.

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As if this wasn’t bad enough for the ladybug, the larvae later hatch from the cocoon and feast on the hapless ladybug’s body.

“This study provides strong support for the fascinating new idea that parasites can use symbiotic microorganisms as biological weapons,” the authors wrote.

The “symbiotic microoganisms” in this case are the virus particles.

The creepy question remains: Can parasites that infect humans also manipulate the behavior of their victims? Studies on the common parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which can infect people, suggest that it may affect the individual’s brain and behavior.

Some studies even suggest that T. gondii could play a role in certain cases of schizophrenia.

At least the parasitic wasp seems only to be interested in turning ladybugs into zombie bodyguards, given that humans are thankfully too large to serve the wasp’s needs.