Like a mindless zombie controlled by a menacing overlord, the spider scampers back and forth, reinforcing its silky web. Not long from now, the subservient arachnid will be dead, its web transformed into a shelter for the spawn of the creature that once controlled it, according to a new study.
No, this isn't science fiction; it's the somewhat terrifying (but very real) tale of the orb-weaving spider Cyclosa argenteoalba and the parasitic wasp Reclinervellus nielseni, two species that carry out a strange relationship in Hyogo prefecture, Japan.
...
That's why R. nielseni doesn't just direct its host to build a resting web; it instructs the spider to build a superstrong resting web, one chock-full of reinforced threads that hold the web — and the wasp-filled cocoon at its center — in place for long stretches of time, the researchers found.Using a tensile machine, Takasuka and his colleagues tested the breaking forces (how much force a material can handle before breaking) of the radius and frame silks used to construct a so-called "cocoon" web and found that they were at least 2.7 times greater than the breaking forces of the silks that made up both the orb and the resting webs of C. argenteoalba.
The researchers suspect the wasp larva releases a hormone into the spider that mimics the signal to molt. With precedents in nature, perhaps the Zombie Apocalypse isn't so far-fetched after all.
Original Submission
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @12:03PM
When WASPs controlled mindless nigger farmhands? The old days sure did suck. Now where's that emancipation proclamation for spiders? God damn God.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday August 07 2015, @12:13PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday August 07 2015, @12:36PM
Right, so you could weaponize the fungus for human hosts, drop it on your enemy's population centers, and wait for chaos to ensue.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday August 07 2015, @12:47PM
Be it for the only reason I'm yet to see humans secreting web spiders for the wasps progeny.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday August 07 2015, @03:45PM
I see you've never eaten natto [wikipedia.org].
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday August 07 2015, @04:00PM
Indeed, I haven't. But somehow I have a hunch the slime in natto isn’t produced by humans, am I wrong?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday August 07 2015, @04:11PM
Oh, it's not about how it goes in.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday August 07 2015, @01:11PM
Or you could just use anthrax or smallpox. Much more infectious, much harder to contain. Who gives a fuck if it turns people into "zombies", particularly since all cordycepts does is motivate ants to seek high ground to disperse spores when it dies.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @12:33PM
I see them every day. I could shoot some video and digitally remove the iPhone and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Bot on Friday August 07 2015, @01:27PM
stupid spider!
sry gtg now, have work to do so I earn money so I pay taxes. Oh, wait.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Friday August 07 2015, @02:08PM
"[The] cocoon web has to endure falling debris, the elements and animal strikes for a long time — at least four to five times longer than [a] resting web," Takasuka said.
That's why R. nielseni doesn't just direct its host to build a resting web
The second line is in the summary, but doesn't make sense without the preceding line from the article.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Informative) by rob_on_earth on Friday August 07 2015, @03:08PM
There are many examples of these type of controlling behaviors.
I love finding this bookmark when I am bored and going through the last few months of new additions.
http://dailyparasite.blogspot.co.uk/ [blogspot.co.uk]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 08 2015, @08:07AM
And even more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mind-altering_parasites [wikipedia.org]
Lovely!