The Ultimate Body Invaders

In the world of Nature, every organisms are trying very hard to win the game of survival. In order to win the game, some come up with an extraordinary method---to invade another kind and manipulate the host to create a condition favoring the survival of the invaders, while putting the hosts in great danger. The following are 5 ultimate body invaders that adopt the unique mechanism to ensure the survival of their species. 

Cordyceps 

Cordyceps invaded host. 

Cordyceps are fungi from the genus ascomycete fungi, among which there are a lot of different species. The fungus parasites on insects and different species parasites on different hosts. As the cordyceps fungus infects an insect host, its mycelium (fungus part) replaces the host's body tissues. The fruiting body of the fungus will eventually puncture the host body and protrude out to allow the release of ascospores (spores). Many of the times, during the development stage, the fungus manipulate its host such as controlling the insect to climb up a plant and attaches itself there before it dies, ensuring optimal dispersal of the spores of the fungus. Some cordyceps genus are proven to have medicinal properties.  

Paragordius tricuspidatus

Parasitic worm emerging out of cricket.

Paragordius tricuspidatus is well-known for manipulating behaviour of its cricket host. The eggs of this parasitic worms are laid at the river edges where the crickets reside. The microscopic size eggs are ingested by accident by the crickets, and hatch within. The larvae of the worm get nourishment from the host and grow, eventually filling the entire body cavity of the cricket. They can grow up to 10 - 15cm in lengths.  Upon maturation, the parasitic worms are ready to exit the hosts, the worms will induce an abnormal behavior to the cricket hosts --- to jump into the water. Most of the crickets will drown, while some will survive and lead a normal life after the excision of the parasites. After which, the worms will slither out and find its mating partners. The manipulation in behaviours are believed to be cause by a release of proteins that affect the Central Nervous System (CNS) of the crickets.  

Dinocampus coccinellae

Paralyzed ladybug guarding cocoons

Dinocampus coccinellae is a species of wasp that parasites on Ladybug. The female wasp lays one egg in the soft abdomen of the ladybug. After the egg hatches, the larva starts to consume the ladybug's eggs, then the gonads and the body of their host. However the ladybug host is still alive. When the parasites are ready to emerge, they paralyze the ladybug and tunnel out of its body. Then the parasites pupate in a cocoon attaching to the leg of the living ladybug, The ladybug's occasional twitching ward off any potential preys of the parasites,  making the ladybug the "bodyguard" of its parasites. A few days later, the wasps will emerge from the coccoon. 1 out of 4 ladybugs will recover from the paralysis and come back to health after all the cocoons have emptied.  

Leucochloridium paradoxum

Snail with infection.

Leucochloridium paradoxum, a kind of parasitic flatworm, infects a snail and alters the original behaviors and appearance of the snail; after which increasing the chances of the snail being eaten by a bird which is the next and final host of the parasite. To do so, the parasite resides into the translucent eye-stalks (preferably left one) of the snail, altering the normal eye-stalks into yellow-greenish stripes, inducing caterpillar mimicry. Birds do not usually snack on snail, however the altered eye-stalks of the snail, resembling a caterpillar results in birds mistakenly consuming the infected snails. The parasites also cause the snail to be more visible to the birds by making the snails stay under the sunlight instead of hiding in the shade.   

Myrmeconema neotropicum

Normal ants.

Infected ant with red gaster raise up high to mimic wild-berries. 

Myrmeconema neotropicum is tetradonematid nematode parasite that induce berries mimicry in tropical ants. The parasites mate and lay eggs inside the gasters (the hindmost abdomen) of the ants. The infected ants will develop bright red, egg-filled gasters that resemble red berries available in tropical forest. The parasites also cause the weakening of the exoskeleton linking the gasters to the rest of the body of the infected ants. The infected ants will walk with their gasters raise up high, allowing birds to mistaken them as wild berries and pick up the gasters which detach easily from the ant.The parasite eggs will be passed in the birds' dropping and later collected by the tropical ants again.  

The Extraordinary Pet

Let's have a discussion on Praying mantis! The reason is, praying mantis is one of my all-time-favourite insects! =) Praying mantis is one of the few insects which can turn and rotate its tiny head very much like a human does. It can turn its head left, right, and even nod its head! Praying mantis is a predator, it preys on living insects, depending on its size. The larger ones can even prey on small lizards or even birds and etc.

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They use their strong and spikey forearms to catch their preys. Once caught, they will not loosen their grip, and eat the preys alive. They may sound scary, but they are friends to farmers, their food is usually pests.

The one I am going to talk more about on is the Green Praying Mantis. It resembles a ninja a lot in nature.

Firstly, it is a master in camouflage, the body color it has allow it to blend into the surroundings without being noticed. Secondly, praying mantis' best skill is to ambush. It will usually hide at a corner and wait patiently for its chance. Thirdly, it has a ninja's agility to strike at the speed of lightning at high accuracy!

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Here are some of my personal experiences with Praying mantis.

In the past, I used to have a green praying mantis as a family pet. At that time when I caught it in the bushes, it was still a baby mantis I think. We kept it in a glass tank with ample space for it to move around. Most of the time, we let the mantis move around our house under our supervision.

The interesting thing was that the mantis liked to follow our movement. For example, it would follow our fingers, turned its head to look at us whenever it spotted us, and it even followed us when we walked! It liked to be stroked gently on its head and back.

Praying mantis will molt in its life cycle. For our poor mantis, due to our lack of experience in handling. We failed to provide it with a stick that it could stand on during molting. As a result, its legs were deformed during the molting process. We discovered that only on the next day. It was a great pain to see it living the rest of its life with deformed legs, and could no longer run as fast as before. =(

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It gets rid of the flies in our house. We would provide it with pre-caught-flies if it failed to capture its prey after several attempts. Praying mantis is fun to look at and it is simply adorable. It may look like a little alien, but it is one insect that you can raise like any other house pet! (dogs, cats, hamsters) Having a dog as pet is not special, raising a Praying mantis is extraordinarily unique and a great experience!