UBC News
It might sound like something from a Nightmare Before Christmas, but researchers at UBC say that "zombie spiders" are the real deal. Well, they aren't zombies exactly, but they are certainly operating in a "zombie-like" trance.
So, why exactly are these creepy crawlies behaving in such a bizarre way?
The answer is both bizarre and fascinating: a newly discovered wasp called Zatypota puts the critters under its venomous spell. It works specifically with the social Anelosimus eximius spider by laying an egg into the abdomen of the spider. Once the egg attaches, its larvae sucks the life out of the poor arachnid, and also manipulates its mind. Essentially, it acts as a parasite.
Philippe Fernandez-Fournier is the lead author of this ground-breaking study, and adds that although similar behaviour has been seen in the past, this complex level has never been observed.
Further, he adds that the wasp is relatively beautiful, but then it does the most horrific thing. Once the larvae begins "controlling" its host, it forces it to spin a cocoon. After it eats its host spider, the wasp emerges from the cocoon, fully developed and ready to take on the world.
