Wasps take shelter in zombie ladybugs
This sordid tale isn’t fiction for many ladybugs that fall victim to the parasitical wasp Dinocampus coccinellae. Now, a new study reveals why the wasps use ladybugs as incubators. It turns out that the zombie ladybugs keep predators away from the wasps’ vulnerable larva, increasing the likelihood that they survive to become full-fledged wasps.
The research in the journal Biology Letters, finds that this protection comes at a cost: Larva that cocoon themselves to a living ladybug, as opposed to a dead one or to none at all, can expect fewer eggs of their own when they emerge as wasps. This suggests that the same resources the wasps use to develop their eggs are also used to control the zombie ladybug.
