These Parasites make Real World Zombies

hi I'm just kidding and this is animal logic second nature most insects have natural enemies parasites and predators [Music] the larvae of a tiny wasp has destroyed the internal organs of its people [Music] parasitic zombification this horror of evolution is exhibited by multiple species separated by thousands of years on the evolutionary tree the larvae of such parasites grow up inside the bodies of their hosts and emerge to pupate and start a new life cycle from fungi that turns ants suicidal to Ches bursting wasps to worms that feast on the insides of crickets science fiction really takes its cues from nature first eyewitness accounts of this grisly development came from people who were understandably frightened and almost incoherent parasite hosts relationships are an ongoing battle of evolution the two are continually adapting to try to find advantage over each other none are more fascinating than the behavior altering parasites the parasites that turn their hosts into husks of their former selves with all free will removed zombies living day Oh Theo cordyceps are a genus of fungi found primarily in tropical rainforests like many fungi they need to spread their spores through the air to reproduce but when living in a relatively win this rainforest this can be difficult [Applause] [Music] but the ophiocordyceps have found a solution a fascinating and horrifying solution ants ants are mostly a nuisance new poisons are developed to rid us of insect pests the cordyceps will release a burst of spores as an ant passes by if one of these spores lands on the ant it can penetrate the ants exoskeleton the skeleton of an insect is outside its body and it's called an exoskeleton once inside the fungus grows rapidly feasting on the ants internal organs and within three and a half weeks half of the ants body weight is the fungus the cordyceps severs the ants nerves cutting communication between its brain and muscles it's now controlled entirely by the cordyceps yet despite this internal carnage the ant still shows no symptoms when the cordyceps have fully grown it will guide the aunt out of the colony always when the Sun is highest in the sky at noon and lead it up a leaf that is 25 centimeters off the ground the cordyceps are always sure to guide the aunt to a leaf that is in their temperature sweet spot between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius and a humidity of 95% this is the ideal temperature for the cordyceps to thrive the leaf will also be close to an ant trail making it easier for its force to find a new host then the cordyceps will have the ant bite the underside of the leaf holding it in a death grip that the ant is unable to open now with the hook in deep he twists it to make sure the victim will never get away now the cordyceps finishes the job it devours the ants brain and over the next three weeks it bursts out of the ants head forming a tall stock when grown the stock will begin to release spores along the nearby ant trail claiming fresh victims [Music] these parasites can devastate ant colonies but ants have adapted when they find a fallen and they carry its body far away from the colony in case it's been taken over by cordyceps this is why it's so crucial for the fungus to force their hosts to look as normal as possible and thus skirt detection this battle between ant and fungus has been happening for at least 48 million years scientists found leaves of that age that have the trademarked dumbbell shaped death bite of the zombie ant yet despite their sinister reproductive strategy cordyceps also find themselves a victim to parasites these parasites within a parasite are called hyper parasites the one that the cordyceps are hosts who remains unknown but they make it so that only 6.5 percent of all cordyceps can produce spores without these hyper parasites ants would be in for a world of hurt cordyceps do target other species but answer the most effective due to their eusocial nature some ants find themselves victim to another type of parasite the Atlantic liver fluke [Music] these flat worms have a much more complex life cycle than cordyceps and begin their journey in the humblest of places sheep poo and what loves eating sheep poo as it turns out snails do the fluke enters the snail which shortly after releases it little slime balls and often favorite treat of some ants once eaten by the ant the fluke will travel up to its cerebral ganglia there it releases a chemical that forces the ant to leave the colony at night climb up a blade of grass and wait to get eaten by a sheep if the ant is so unlucky as to not be eaten the fluke will have it returned to the colony and pretend to be normal for another day until it forces it to go out again when it's eaten the fluke will work its way into the sheep's liver where it will lay its eggs to be excreted by the Sheep starting the whole process again other flukes follow similar life cycles but instead of controlling ants to reproduce and sheep they control fish to reproduce in birds they infest the fish and then force it to constantly jump out of the water making it an appealing snack to a passing gull lesson learned don't trust a meal that looks like it wants to be eaten fortunately the parasites found in water get a whole lot worse than flukes the larvae of the aptly named kamikaze horsehair worm is born in water where it is unknowingly gobbled up by other larval insects like mosquito larvae the mouse parts are seen to be in constant motion when feeding at the water's surface suddenly the skin bursts along the middle of the back literally oozing out of the pupil envelope when the infested mosquitoes eventually exit the water they'll be eaten by crickets here the horsehair worm will grow sustaining itself by eating the crickets insides when it's fully grown and ready to mate the worm begins to control the crickets movements forcing them to jump into the water and kill themselves [Music] multiple larvae can infest a cricket leading to dozens of horsehair worms bursting from a single cricket once in the water the horsehair worms will find a mate reproduce and restart the cycle [Music] green crabs fall victim to a similarly grim fate the horrific renamed castrator barnacle will make its way through a crabs joint into its exoskeleton the barnacle will find its way to the rear of the crab where their eggs are incubated and emerge from the crab as a SAP from this point on the barnacle begins to change everything inside the crabs body if the crab is female it destroys its reproductive organs and if it's a male the barnacle starts to change the shape of the male to resemble a female these Body Snatchers force the crabs to care for and lay their eggs as if they were their own these parasites stay with the crab and use it to reproduce and guard its young until the crab dies this hornworm covered with small silk cocoons is doomed to die a parasitic wasp laid its eggs within the hornworms body Dino campus coca Nelly wasps employ a similar strategy they hunt ladybugs and when they find one they inject their egg into it after 20 days the egg emerges from the ladybug and forms a cocoon between the ladybugs legs zombified by a virus transmitted by the egg the ladybug will defend the cocoon at all costs which drastically increases its survival rate fortunately this story has a happy ending well more so than the others about 25% of ladybugs recover from the sama fication after the wasp has left the cocoon but king of zombies the ladybug killer is not that title goes to the emerald jewel wasp these wasps zombified cockroaches usually about twice their size when they find one they sting at two times the first sting temporarily paralyzes them this second sting is much more precise they surgically target the part of the cockroaches brain that controls dopamine output stopping it and taking away all free will of movement from the cockroach the wasp elite one of the roaches antennae and used the other like a leash to walk the cockroach to its grave once in the hole the wasp will lay her egg on the roach and block the entrance on her way out to protect her egg from predators three days later the egg will hatch and the larvae will burrow into the still living still zombified cockroach the larvae will feast on the insides of the cockroach before forming a cocoon there it will stay in the now dead roach until it finishes its metamorphosis at which point it will burst enter the cockroach delightful so what should I talk about next be sure to let me know in the comments and please subscribe so you get new episodes of Animal Logic second-nature every other week thanks for watching millions more insects are hatching out all around us new hordes of insects to compete with the swelling population of mankind for the necessities of life

Channel: Animalogic

Views: 519,142

Rating: 4.9074926 out of 5

Keywords: animals, animal, logic, education, show, animalogic, crazy, ugly, weird, gross, beautiful, interesting, facts, animalsfacts, about, information, info, school, research, learn, learning, fun, easy, smart, parasite, zombie, horsehair, worm, worms, burst, alien, xenomorph, cockroach, emerald, jewel, wasp, wasps, nope, eat, brain, devour, host, control, mind, cordyceps, ophiocordyceps, alive, jess, keating, #secondnature

Id: IucX8XimGKQ

Length: 11min 36sec (696 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 05 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/dkane227]

I assume this is about cordyceps, which are very cool indeed. What's sort of cool is that there is a unique species of cordyceps for every species of animal they infect.

[u/SHDShadow]

Damn nature you scary as shit.