What’s worse than a wasp’s sting? Murder - Miles Zhang

Explore the gruesome evolutionary strategy employed by parasitoid wasps where they feed off other animals to grow their offspring.

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A cockroach and jewel wasp are locked in battle. The wasp latches onto the cockroach and inserts her stinger into the cockroach's brain, where her venom blocks its fight-or-flight response. Now, the cockroach is essentially a zombie, and its carcass will be used to grow the wasp’s offspring. Miles Zhang explores the gruesome evolutionary strategy known as parasitoidism.

Lesson by Miles Zhang, directed by Denys Spolitak.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jezabel, Abdullah Abdulaziz, Xiao Yu, Melissa Suarez, Brian A. Dunn, Francisco Amaya, Daisuke Goto, Matt Switzler, Peng, Tzu-Hsiang, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, Boffin, Jesse Jurman, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, paul g mohney, Steven Razey, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Karmi Nguyen, John C. Vesey, Yelena Baykova, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Akinola Emmanuel, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Sebastiaan Vleugels, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Abhishek Goel, Heidi Stolt, Nicole Sund, Karlee Finch, Mario Mejia and Denise A Pitts.

[Theheadgiver]

Ive never seen such a dark part of life be animated in such a happy way

[minecraftmatthew]

I’m surprised this hasn’t been used more in horror films; imagine a giant wasp that parasitises humans.

[persephonestudy]

Well, I got educated and traumatized at the same time. Thank you!

[gantagavin]

Imagine being parasited by a parasite that is parasited - the horror and awe!

[poulomi__hari]

Why do we fear aliens, when our insects are this scary.

[Bxll_Bxll]

There goes today’s sleep
I’ve never seen stuff so gruesome animated into such a cute thing

[l.n.]

Amazing animation as always, combined with an interesting, yet unsettling topic. The best way to learn is to pair them together! And people are more likely to remember creepy topics if they have such a great animation to accompany them too.

[YoungGandalf]

Thank God there isn't a species of wasp that parasitizes humans.

[jonbilgutay]

I use to wonder why these types of wasps haven't driven their host prey extinct. It turns out, in addition to predators and parasites of their own, the host immune system can sometimes fight off the larva.

[kimcissell]

Every second year I have purchased Trichogramma wasps to control the webworms in our trees. The wasps are tinier than a gnat. They do a wonderful job. They've also spread out so that our neighborhood is now webworm free. No chemicals needed.

[LuddyFish_]

I've always had a fascination for parasitism in biology because of how strangely it works despite how disturbing it is.

[dissonanceparadiddle]

The caterpillar example is the most horrifying one of them all.

[peggyharris]

I never imagined, not ever, feeling sorry for a cockroach.

[parisunltd]

This new Antman and the Wasp trailer looks really good!

[sidPalma]

I fell asleep to this video last night only to be woken up about a couple of hours later by a nightmare involving a huge insect, the size of a human child, trying to open my window. Thank you.

[snapeseveres]

This was more shocking than most horror movies! Kudos to the animators for ruining my dreams!

[mantidream]

As horrific as the process is, parasitoids are actually pretty good pest control. Due to their reliance on a singular host species for reproduction, they pose less risk of becoming invasive, and effectivly target the intended pest.

[micahbush]

My personal favorite is the parasitic wasp of the tomato hornworm; with a few of them around, I never have to worry about checking tomato plants for hornworms.

[AMAZINGWORLDYOU]

That tiny world out there never felt so scary.😳

[Zentusichernun]

Also, the jewel wasp has to precisely plsce the egg on the roach's body because for a small larva the roach presents something like an impenetrable armor. The only way in is through a small point on his chest. Jewel wasps are artisans of torment.