Pharyngula

Posted by: Newfie | May 18, 2009 7:36 PM

"It's a larvae eat larvae world."

Ok, I've got it out of my system. :P

Posted by: Sven DiMilo | May 18, 2009 7:38 PM

Wow.
See Carl Zimmer's Parasite Rex for more amazing stories.

Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 18, 2009 7:39 PM

Eesh.

Nice to know that god made it all, for sure. Why invoke natural selection for survival strategies, when you can blame all of the evil of this world on god? Or Satan, depending on one's "theology," of course.

Then again, what is uglier than worms hanging out of a human's butt? Sometimes I think "god did it" is all about telling us that god is indeed a nasty a-hole, who'll be sure to roast you in flames while worms eat your guts if you don't bow before the prophets of the Dishonesty Institute.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/6mb592

Posted by: Qwerty | May 18, 2009 7:51 PM

That was gross. I'm not put off the snack I brought to work.

Posted by: Dru | May 18, 2009 7:56 PM

I watched this with a lovely girl the other night while we were stoned. It's beautiful to me in a way, and it brings back fond memories :-)

Posted by: Holbach | May 18, 2009 8:00 PM

Ah yes, one of the invented god using an intelligently designed predator to parasitize one of it's intelligently designed victim.

Posted by: Janis Chambers | May 18, 2009 8:02 PM

Holy shit... it not only bursts though it's skin but brain washes it into complete obedience to the point of suicide by starvation... God's a a##hole

Posted by: Ultima Thule | May 18, 2009 8:06 PM

Nightmares!!!

Thanks PZ

Posted by: Bob | May 18, 2009 8:07 PM

That's actually one of my favorite Darwin quotes: "I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars or that a cat should play with mice."

Posted by: Newfie | May 18, 2009 8:16 PM

I can't imagine how they managed to get that camera INSIDE the caterpillar. That just blows my mind.

yes, how could they CREATE those shots in this computer age?

Posted by: firemancarl | May 18, 2009 8:26 PM

@ #12 Holbach

Ah yes, one of the invented god using an intelligently designed predator to parasitize one of it's intelligently designed victim

Dude! EPIC WIN!

Posted by: Barry | May 18, 2009 8:27 PM

Reminds me of my undergrad days of living in a dorm. I was put in a room with this little moron business major, and we hated each other. One day I found that morning cloak butterfly caterpillars had made scores of chrysalises on the outside walls of the cafeteria. I collected about 80 of them, and taped them up on the dorm room wall. Then waited to collect the butterflies. But unbeknownst to me, every one had been parasitized by wasps. When I came back one afternoon, there was the little business major prick, sitting at his desk, wasps buzzing all around, and he was ready to go insane.

Posted by: JD | May 18, 2009 8:32 PM

I think I saw Feagletosh in there sloshing around. Ewww...skustin'!

Posted by: Ranger_Rick | May 18, 2009 8:44 PM

Thanks for finding another amazing lesson, PZ.

Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | May 18, 2009 8:57 PM

Humm. On my iPhone I read that as cheese burgers.

Posted by: Newfie | May 18, 2009 9:02 PM

FWIW, I don't think the interior shots were CG...they looked more like good model work to me.

same here.. but the mouth on the grub looked CGI

Posted by: Doug | May 18, 2009 9:15 PM

The parasites remind me of my ex-wife. No. I am not bitter.

Posted by: Lynn | May 18, 2009 9:30 PM

Oh.

From the title, I assumed that this post was going to be about new smart bras.

Posted by: Erin | May 18, 2009 9:35 PM

FWIW, I don't think the interior shots were CG...they looked more like good model work to me.

same here.. but the mouth on the grub looked CGI

I was thinking the interior shots in general looked like high-quality 70's Doctor Who aliens, while the grub's mouth looked like the mad scientist's from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

But then again, I think of almost everything in terms of how it relates to pop culture...

Posted by: mac | May 18, 2009 9:40 PM

Poor li'l catapillar has Stockholm Syndrome !

Posted by: Marshall | May 18, 2009 10:02 PM

ARRRGGHHH!!! How in the world did they get that tiny camera INTO the caterpillar?!

Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM | May 18, 2009 10:10 PM

Marshall, probably fiber optics.

Posted by: Anon | May 18, 2009 10:27 PM

I love parasitic wasps.

Because I hate, hate, hate tomato hornworms.

Posted by: Kalldoro | May 18, 2009 10:38 PM

That was disgusting and fascinating and disgusting. I was like watching a car crash. :P

Posted by: janellki | May 18, 2009 11:10 PM

That was absolutely fascinating! And a bit disgusting, but really rather fascinating. Personally I wish the clip was longer. I wanted to see them emerge from the cocoons!

Posted by: shamar | May 18, 2009 11:47 PM

I think that was definitely fascinating how the caterpillar spins more silk over them and protects them from predators. The larva's toxin is like the ultimate mind control drug....in fact, I'd love to study it and see if I could produce some kind of drug like that from it. That would be interesting!

Posted by: Pimientita | May 19, 2009 12:09 AM

OK...combine that with rabies and speed it up and you have a zombie apocalypse!!!

*off to write a book*

Posted by: Steve P. | May 19, 2009 12:40 AM

Why would any of you think the video is some kind of evidence for the non-existence of God. It's amazing what you all will come up with.

Why are any of you squeemish about the natural world? It is after-all natural and we are a part of it, right? So what's to be squeemish about?

What, was the catepillar in fear of the wasp infestation? Were the wasps evil parasites that horrifyingly dominated the catapillar in such a sadistic manner? Why the anthropomorphic interpretation of what is happening? The narrator takes the same tone, implying there is some horrendous activity going on. What, does the catepillar feel? Do the wasps have evil intentions?

Why not look at it from another perspective? The catapillar is cooperating with the wasp's needs. There are plenty of catapillars so a portion of them are given to the wasps for their survival.

Just like the rabbit. It produces several rabbitos, gives several to the snake, keeping a few for itself. The snake produce hundreds of little snakinos and gives the majority away to other hungry snakes, mongooses, and other animals, keeping a portion for its own legacy.

Insects produce thousands of offspring, the majority being given to the birds for their survival. But since insects produce thousands, the birds have enough. Some are left for the insects continuation.

Hey, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. I need some of yours and he needs some of mine. Win, win.

Sounds like a plan for success to me.

Posted by: rrt | May 19, 2009 1:03 AM

Jason: Virus?

Don Cates: I'm not a video expert, but to me the interior shots are far too high-quality. High-res, good lighting, the motion of the fluids looks a little too much like what I would expect at a larger scale (the sloshing in particular) and the larvae just don't look or move quite right to me. Just a bit too rubbery in the skin, the skin doesn't seem to fold right, and the movement seems off. The jaws also seem a bit off in the closeup vs. the shots of them actually chewing their way out.

I dunno, maybe all of that is artifacts of whatever technique they used, and obviously I've never seen genuine shots like this before to compare to. But my money's on models.

Steve P: I realize you're trolling, though I wonder if you aren't just a Poe...your comment sounds an awful lot like "A Modest Proposal." Or are you just trotting out the hoary old "atheists are nihilists so why do you find anything wrong with this?" argument.

Regardless, this can't be "fun" for the caterpillar, for whatever rudimentary feeling it may have. If species were somehow prone to helping other species completely selflessly (they aren't), there are better ways to help than this. And as explained, this is in no way voluntary for the caterpillar. And the entire context is problematic for you, since how is the caterpillar helping? By shielding the larvae throughout the process from hordes of other creatures looking to do very similar things to them.

But above all else, this happens across the animal kingdom, as you yourself point out. Sneering at ascribing emotions to caterpillars and wasps doesn't help much when we start talking about charismatic mammals and humans. And nevermind the nastier forms of parasitism...why would you defend Things Eating Things in general as an ideal model produced by a Loving God?

Posted by: Isabel | May 19, 2009 2:03 AM

Awesome Cordyceps video , Justin. Thanks for the link!

In the caterpillar movie, I didn't really understand where the mind-control virus came in. Apparently when the wasp laid her eggs?

Posted by: L.Minnik | May 19, 2009 3:48 AM

Isn't it more probable that the wasp larvae emit a chemical that makes the caterpillar behave a certain way, rather than some 'virus?' The same/similar chemicals that would normally make the caterpillar 'know' to spin a cocoon around itself?

Posted by: Robert Dobbs | May 19, 2009 3:59 AM

The wasp infestation turns on an artifact maternal instinct. This instinct then runs its course as it does in many other species, i.e. protection of ones own young. This would explain how a virus or chemical interaction could "control" so many different behaviors by only making one modification.

Posted by: Cannonball Jones | May 19, 2009 4:21 AM

I know I've been beaten to it but can I just repeat that Parasite Rex is one of the most entertaining popular science books I've ever read. It's worth it just to see the reactions of friends and colleagues when you read them some of the juicier passages :-)

Posted by: JRSmith | May 19, 2009 5:28 AM

@#62 L.Minnik
Certain parasitoid wasps replicate a specific mutualistic virus that helps lower their host's immune system.

Perhaps that's not the best way to put it...

Certain parasitoid wasps are actually wasp/virus chimeras, as the virus genome is actually part of the wasp genome!
Google polydnavirus.

Posted by: JRSmith | May 19, 2009 6:00 AM

@ Robert Dobbs
Some parasites do take advantage of manipulating a host's maternal instinct. For example, sacculina barnacles get their crab hosts, both male and female, to take care of the exposed part of the barnacle like it's the crab's eggs.
But butterflies don't usually protect their young, and a butterfly caterpillar is like a non-reproducing child, so I doubt there's much maternal instinct to take advantage of in this case.

Posted by: Alise | May 19, 2009 6:43 AM

What's awful is that the first thing that I thought of when I watched the video was Malcolm in the Middle:
Hal: You know those nature shows where a wasp paralyzes a caterpillar, then injects it full of larvae? It stays alive for weeks, completely aware, feeling every little bite as the larvae devour it from the inside. I sat in a cubicle every day envying that caterpillar, cause at least he got to be on TV.

Freaky stuff!

Posted by: Alex Whiteside | May 19, 2009 7:40 AM

Suddenly, I just can't stop screaming.

Posted by: lurker42 | May 19, 2009 9:11 AM

Wow. I worked in a lab studying parasitoids, but the caterpillars never *survived* the ordeal to care for the wasp larvae.

The "grossest" thing I saw was a preserved specimen. It was essentially a caterpillar-shaped tube filled to the brim with hundreds of tiny chalcid (I think) wasps ready to burst out.

Freaky, for sure.

Posted by: Matt Heath | May 19, 2009 10:13 AM

@John Scalon: The button should pop up if you hover the cursor over the image.

Posted by: jellay | May 19, 2009 11:38 AM

@ Steve P.

A VERY poor attempt at science indeed. You need to go back to highschool biology.

You try to describe symbiosis, which parasitism differs from by its very definition. What does the caterpillar get from this infestation?? Parasitism means that only one party gains.

And to suggest that everything is balanced and all species can afford being predated on by having more offspring is ludicrous! If there are too many parasitic wasps at one point, the caterpillars they infest will simply die out! Which is precisely what happens in nature. Successful predators don't suddenly quit at a limit, they will try to eat everything they can. That's how species become extinct.

Insects and reptiles that have numerous offspring don't aim to feed the predators around them, they are trying to survive themselves in greater numbers! They are forced into this arrangement, they don't enter it willingly - most of their young are savagely ripped apart and consumed by things that are dangerous to them - doesn't sound like paradise to me.

If you still have an image of an all-benevolent natural world where animals are happy to be eaten from the inside out, you're a lunatic. You will find reality is nothing like that.

Posted by: Kraid | May 19, 2009 4:28 PM

So, erm... am I the only one who also checked out the striptease dance linked at the end of the video?

On a cerebral level, the parasitism video is much cooler, of course.

Posted by: dwarf zebu | May 19, 2009 7:45 PM

I love parasitic wasps.

Because I hate, hate, hate tomato hornworms.

It's far better to have a family of mockingbirds with a voracious brood to feed; my dad's tomato plants are always clean as a whistle!

Posted by: wmdkitty | May 21, 2009 12:49 AM

NIGHTMARE FUEL!!! *whimper*