Neuro-parasitogy of the Jewel Wasp and its Zombie Cockroach Host

The parasitoid Jewel Wasp (Ampulex compressa) uses cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) as a live fresh food supply for its offspring. The wasp injects venom directly into the cockroach brain to control its behavior. In this movie, we show the life cycle of this amazing predator, which ends in a slow horrifying death of the cockroach. produced by Prof. Frederic Libersat, Prof. Michael E Adams, Maayan Kaiser Paltin, Ryan Arvidson, Victor Landa, Gustavo Jose Glusman, and Stav Emanuel.

[velfcookie]

The most savage wasp I have ever seen. "Takes a few refreshing sips of the oozing juices caused by the broken antennae"

[uzaiyaro]

Having a serious phobia to cockroaches, to the point where watching one on TV makes me uncomfortable, this wasp is now my hero and I would like to introduce them into my country.

[kingleoxvii]

How nice to keep the nervous system intact.

[shmnpiot]

That is so interesting. How on earth did this relationship evolve?

[tolu]

This wasps ecosystem gives off a kind of Xenomorph vibe to it

[waltnrose]

That was fascinating . 🤔 I found myself almost in disbelief how amazingly calculated the wasp’s actions were . Thanks for sharing !

[donrussell]

Any wasp that kills roaches is a friend of mine

[theaquaticbee]

The fact that the larvae squirms and wriggles around the abdomen of the roach sends shivers down my spine. Terrifying.

[TheSnakeboy]

One of the most fascinating things I have watched, yet so filled with revulsion at the behavior of this wasp

[modeljetjuggernaut]

Amazing how the wasp already knows how to do this because there's a lot of steps involved..  No DIY Zombie manual to go by.

[Crazicus_Cappicus]

Everyone: We want to see aliens!

Bugs: allow us to introduce ourselves

[boneylockz]

Well, that's one way to get rid of a nasty cockroach.

[sirriffsalot]

And I always thought the Alien Vs. Predator story was all great inventive fiction-writing. Once again they nicked it from somewhere else. Scary as hell... larvae in human brains turning us into zombies even!

[joeb.]

That's how the IRS learned to do it.

[zakuto]

Ouch that ant is doing a smackdown on cockroach.

Cockroach: I'm bigger
Ant: but I'm dangerous

[YaoEspirito]

Shocking, disgusting, yet totally fascinating.

[wowowowdog]

Impressive I've never though there is an enemy for cockroach except sandals.

[fCauneau]

What a great job, filming and tracking this cycle in so difficult conditions. Great !!!

[chickendrawsdogs]

It seems one day in the long history of the Earth's natural evolution, a jewel wasp just came up to a cockroach and said: "I'm gonna have my kid eat your inside." - the cockroach did a Steve Carrell's The Office impression and we all know how the story ends.

[cookiecrunch]

hell nah. to the nah nah nah. hell to the nah.