Paralysed 7-spot Ladybird!
A long read but worth it to understand what is going on in this image! I have never seen this before and had to seek advice from clever people on a FB Group related to Insects / invertebrates. Dinocampus coccinellae is a braconid wasp parasite of coccinellid beetles, including the spotted lady beetle, Coleomegilla maculata. D. coccinellae has been described as turning its ladybird host into a temporary "zombie" guarding the wasp cocoon. The mature female wasp seeks out adult female ladybirds, although they will sometimes oviposit into a male adult or larval instar. One egg is planted in the host's soft underbelly. The wasp larva hatches after 5–7 days into a first instar larva with large mandibles and proceeds to remove any other eggs or larvae before beginning to feed on the ladybird's fat bodies and gonads.
The wasp larva inside the ladybird goes through four larval instars in 18–27 days. Meanwhile, the ladybird continues to forage and feed until the wasp larva, when it is ready to emerge, paralyzes the ladybird before tunneling out. It pupates in a cocoon attached to the leg of the living ladybird, whose brightly colored body and occasional twitching reduce predation. A growing D. coccinellae wasp nestled in its cocoon is extremely vulnerable, and other insects will devour it. If one of these predators tries to eat it, the ladybird retaliates, scaring it off. The ladybird becomes the parasite's bodyguard, by protecting it from predators. However, wasp cocoons protected in this way develop into adults that produce fewer eggs, due to the energy demands of maintaining a living protector.
Ladybirds paralyzed, twitching, and attached to the cocoon of D. coccinellae have been compared to zombies by many writers.
So there you go. Not everything in the insect world is as it appears!!
Thanks for visiting my Flickr page. Happy to receive feedback / comments.
Paralysed 7-spot Ladybird!
A long read but worth it to understand what is going on in this image! I have never seen this before and had to seek advice from clever people on a FB Group related to Insects / invertebrates. Dinocampus coccinellae is a braconid wasp parasite of coccinellid beetles, including the spotted lady beetle, Coleomegilla maculata. D. coccinellae has been described as turning its ladybird host into a temporary "zombie" guarding the wasp cocoon. The mature female wasp seeks out adult female ladybirds, although they will sometimes oviposit into a male adult or larval instar. One egg is planted in the host's soft underbelly. The wasp larva hatches after 5–7 days into a first instar larva with large mandibles and proceeds to remove any other eggs or larvae before beginning to feed on the ladybird's fat bodies and gonads.
The wasp larva inside the ladybird goes through four larval instars in 18–27 days. Meanwhile, the ladybird continues to forage and feed until the wasp larva, when it is ready to emerge, paralyzes the ladybird before tunneling out. It pupates in a cocoon attached to the leg of the living ladybird, whose brightly colored body and occasional twitching reduce predation. A growing D. coccinellae wasp nestled in its cocoon is extremely vulnerable, and other insects will devour it. If one of these predators tries to eat it, the ladybird retaliates, scaring it off. The ladybird becomes the parasite's bodyguard, by protecting it from predators. However, wasp cocoons protected in this way develop into adults that produce fewer eggs, due to the energy demands of maintaining a living protector.
Ladybirds paralyzed, twitching, and attached to the cocoon of D. coccinellae have been compared to zombies by many writers.
So there you go. Not everything in the insect world is as it appears!!
Thanks for visiting my Flickr page. Happy to receive feedback / comments.