From losing control of body parts, to getting turned into soup to watch over babies, here
are 10 real life zombies found in nature….
10.
Caterpillars
Caterpillars in Brazil need to be on the lookout because if they are particularly unlucky,
they could find themselves being controlled by a completely different animal.
About 80 times a year, the parasitoid wasp, Glyp-tapanteles, lays its eggs directly into
young caterpillars.
These eggs soon hatch, and the larvae feed on the caterpillar’s bodily fluids, inside
the caterpillar, until they have fully developed.
They then eat their way out of the caterpillar like something out of alien, and latch onto
a branch or leaf, and then form a cocoon around themselves to turn into a wasp.
Now, after all of this you might think the caterpillar would be dead, but it’s not.
It’s weakened body starts to act as a bodyguard for the cocoons, seemingly controlled by the
invaders.
Rather than going about its usual day to day business, it stands over the cocoons to protect
them.
It only finally dies once the adult wasps hatch and they have no further use for it.
Experiments at the University of Viçosa found that this protection makes the wasps far more
likely to hatch safely.
The caterpillars have been seen to protect the cocoons from predators like stink bugs,
and found that the survival rate of protected cocoons was more than double that of unprotected
ones.
The caterpillars, though, suffer a far more painful fate.
It’s not entirely clear the point at which they actually die, but they definitely act
like zombies for the time between the larvae burrowing out of their bodies and hatching
from their cocoons.
9.
Fish Tongues
This next real life zombie isn’t an entire creature, but instead one particular organ-
a fish’s tongue.
The takeover happens when a group of creatures called Cyma-thoi-daes, that live in tropical
and subtropical waters, swim into a fish’s mouth through its gills, and start to eat
the tongue.
Once the organ is completely devoured, they form together to create a structure that replaces
it, facing outward, and begins to function as a tongue.
Sneaky right??
Of course, this affects the host fish’s ability to feed properly, and results in lower
blood counts in infected fish than uninfected ones.
If this all sounds too horrible, though, you’ll be pleased to know that they aren’t able
to do the same to humans- so you won’t need to be too concerned the next time you have
fish for dinner and wonder whether it has its real tongue.
8.
Carpenter Ants
Ants are found most places in the world, and there isn’t necessarily anything that immortal
about the carpenter ant.
Usually when they die, they stay dead!
This isn’t always the case in the jungles of Thailand, though, where their corpses are
known to keep moving- and it’s all because of a fungus!
The spores infect the ants without them knowing, and by the time it has taken hold it’s too
late.
In a matter of days the ant becomes the host.
The spores take over and the host feels a compulsion to climb as high as it possibly
can.
Just before it fully dies, the body becomes a zombie and clings onto its perch, high up
above.
By now, the fungus has matured, and begins to break out through the ant’s back, and
shower spores across a wide area on the ground for the cycle to start all over again.
This fungus, from the genus Ophio-cor-dyceps, can actually infect a number of species including
butterflies and cockroaches, but the effects are most obvious when seen in ants.
In some parts of Thailand, it affects so many ants that there are ant graveyards with hundreds
of lifeless bodies hanging off leaves and branches.
It’s as if “A Bug’s Life” were turned into a horror story.
7.
Japanese Tree Frogs
There’s another fungus called Batra-cho-chytrium dendro-batidis that affects the behavior of
animals in an attempt to help spread further.
This time instead of creating decrepit zombie-like creatures, it turns its hosts into sexually
appealing zombies.
The host in question is the Japanese Tree Frog, native to wetlands in Asia.
It was noticed that although the frogs were being infected by the fungus, they weren’t
dying off.
Instead the main difference that could be measured was that their mating calls changed.
They became faster and longer, which means that they become more attractive to potential
mates.
This increased attractiveness means that their host is far more likely to find a mate and,
therefore, have the ability to pass the fungus onto more hosts- thus ensuring the spread.
The fungus is one that’s spreading worldwide, and is linked with the premature deaths of
a number of frog species by causing their skin to decay, immune systems to fail, and
hearts to stop.
The Japanese Tree Frogs are one of the only species that don’t seem to suffer from the
deadly effects, they just get more beautiful it looks like, so researchers are trying to
learn from these zombie frogs.
Maybe they can find a way to help cure the affliction in other parts of the world.
And now for number 6, but first be sure to subscribe if you are new here!!
6.
Cockroach
Cockroaches are hardly the most popular creatures on the planet, but the idea of a Zombie Cockroach
may even make matters worse!
This, again, is caused by a parasitic wasp that uses the cockroach’s body to take care
of its young.
It starts when the wasp stings a cockroach, and uses its venom to paralyze the target.
This leaves the cockroach completely defenceless and unable to fight back as its body is dragged
into the wasp’s lair.
Once in place, its abdomen is implanted with the wasp’s eggs- all while still being alive.
The living, but motionless, cockroach’s body keeps the eggs warm and, as the larvae
mature, they hatch and eat their way out, with the roach only dying once the last one
has left and eaten the remains of its internal organs.
Within a month, the adult wasps fly away and all that is left is a rotting carcass.
Hopefully you aren’t watching this while you are eating something!
5.
Spider
The Plesiometa argyra is a spider that’s native to the Americas between the US and
Brazil.
Like most spiders, it spends its day spinning webs to catch its prey but it, too, can fall
prey to a parasitic wasp that causes it to behave in a self destructive way.
This tends to happen in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, where the parasitoid wasps that live
in those regions use it to look after their young.
Like a zombie babysitter.
They first sting the spider, and lay eggs on its abdomen.
The eggs hatch and larva emerge that begin to suck the spiders blood through small holes,
without the knowledge of the host, who continues on with its normal spider activities.
Once the larvae have grown enough to be ready to pupate, they inject a chemical into the
spider, and this is where things get really weird.
This causes the spider to go into a frenzy, and begin to build a web that’s completely
different to any other that it has spun.
Once complete, it sits motionless in the middle of the web, allowing the larva to moult, and
then slowly kill the spider by injecting poison and sucking the remaining nutrients from it.
Then it builds a cocoon that hangs from the center of the web.
The larvae turns into a wasp, and then goes to look for another spider to repeat the process.
It’s a particularly gross way for the spider to die, and involves it behaving in a brain
dead fashion, just as if it was an actual zombie.
4.
Pill Bug
Pill bugs, also known as Potato bugs or Roly Poly bugs, are a type of Woodlouse that is
able to curl into a ball in a process called conglobation.
While they may seem cute and harmless enough, they can be taken over by another creature
and behave in very unusual ways.
The parasite they would most likely fear the most, if they knew any better, is called acanthocephalan.
It lives in the intestinal tracts of starlings (a type of bird).
This positioning is crucial, because it means that every time the bird poops, parasites
go out with it.
Bird poop happens to be one of the pill bug’s favorite foods, so they eat it quite happily,
not knowing that at that very moment it is too late.
Once they are infected, the parasite takes control of the bug’s brain, and makes it
behave in strange ways.
One of them is making the roly poly openly reveal its location to predators.
Starlings, seeing a snack, swoop in and eat the unsuspecting Pill bug, and are, in turn,
infested by the parasites again who move into their intestinal tracts and begin the whole
process over from the beginning.
3.
Plants
It’s not just living animals that can be taken over by other things, it happens to
plants too.
Usually plants are the ones that use insects to help them procreate, but in some instances
there are parasites that can take over a plant’s function for their own uses.
Phytoplasmas, for example, are bacterial plant parasites that need insects called leafhoppers
to help propagate and transport to new plants.
To do this, they have developed an ingenious method that causes the plants they inhabit
to change dramatically.
First, it stops the plant from growing flowers and, instead, grows leaves.
These make them far more appealing to leafhoppers to land on, and lay their eggs.
This has the side effect of making the plants sterile and unable to reproduce, but the bacteria
don’t worry about that since they will soon be able to hitch a ride on an insect and find
somewhere new.
The introduction of the bacteria essentially turns plants into zombies, because they start
acting in the way that the bacteria wants, and slowly start to die as a result.
2.
Green Crab
The Green Crab of the Eastern Atlantic Ocean lives a fairly typical life for a crab- unless,
that is, they come into contact with a Sacculina barnacle.
These are body snatching parasites that are part of a group of species that infect various
crustaceans and crayfish, and they do it in a particularly brutal way.
As a larva, the female Sacculina finds a crab and starts walking over it until it finds
a joint or other weak spot.
Then it waits until the crab sheds its skin, then moults and injects itself into the crabs
flesh.
It lodges itself around the crabs reproductive organs and, as a result, prevents the crab
from moulting or being able to reproduce.
The Sacculine then opens a hole in the crab to attract male barnacles through and, once
fertilized, releases the eggs inside the crab where it gets confused and the poor crab thinks
it is carrying its own eggs..
The crab from then on becomes obsessed with taking care of the barnacles within it, and
eventually gives birth to the eggs, never realizing that its own were destroyed long
ago.
Once inside a crab, the Sacculina will remain for the rest of its life and continue the
mating ritual- seeming no different than a tumour, but with tendrils that extend around
the body to control the crab, and take the nutrients that it needs.
1.
Humans
The human zombies in movies are usually walking dead people.
While there are no records of this actually happening, it is possible for humans to be
influenced by other creatures without realizing it, which is as close to mythical zombies
as our species ever gets.
If you've been following my channel you probably already know what I'm going to tell you right
now!
One common way that this happens- so much so that there’s a high chance you may even
have it- is because of your cat.
Pet cats are often hosts to a parasite called Toxoplasma Gondii, which also likes to take
up residence inside humans.
If they manage to get to you, they burrow themselves into your brain and can affect
your feelings and behaviour, and are even thought to be linked with some schizophrenic
conditions.
This microbe can also cause Toxoplasmosis in fetal brains, which is why it’s so important
that people don’t change kitty litters while they are pregnant.
There’s a reason for this change in behaviour, and that’s because the parasite needs to
return to a cat to be able to reproduce.
The effects have been seen in mice by making them more susceptible to being caught, but
in humans the personality changes are thought to make you more likely to get in close proximity
to cats- whether to stroke or play with them- and allow the parasites to make the jump.
Are you sure you really love cats THAT much??
Thanks for watching….