This Wasp Larvae Takes Over The Mind Of A Spider

Of course we humans are always on the lookout for insect-borne diseases. There could not be anything worse than having to live the rest of your life with Lyme disease, or HIV/AIDS, or yellow fever, or malaria, and there are plenty more. However, many people do not realize that humans are not the only animals afflicted by infectious bugs. For example, one wasp species that is known as the parasitic ichneumon (PI wasp) can infect the orb-weaver spider with its eggs. Eventually, and after hauling the wasp-eggs around for a while, the eggs will hatch, killing the spider. Researchers have known about this parasitic arthropod relationship before, but recently researchers noticed that orb-weavers will spin strange webs after they become infected with the wasp eggs.

The parasitic wasp species will implant its eggs into the abdomen of the orb-weaver spider. Once these eggs hatch, the orb-weavers abdomen basically explodes and releases wasp larvae. This parasitic behavior has fascinated researchers for a long time, but now it looks like these wasps can control some of the spider’s behaviors. For instance, once the orb-weaver spider has been implanted with wasp eggs, the spider begins to spin webs differently. The new webs are certainly atypical for the orb-weaver spider, and it is clear to researchers that these strange webs are being spun for the benefit of the wasp eggs being carried by the spider. The unusual webs are similar to the sort of webs that orb-weavers construct right before molting, but these new strange webs are more than forty times stronger.

According to researchers from Japan’s Kobe University, the orb-weaver spiders build webs this way so that the wasp larvae will be able to build a cocoon with the strangely crafted webbing. However, other experts believe that the strange webs are a result of injurious and intoxicating chemicals that are released into the orb-weaver spider’s body as a result of the parasitic infection. Researchers are still trying to find the answers, but it looks like mind control is a possibility.

Why do you think the orb-weaver builds strange webs after becoming infected with wasp-eggs?