1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey you, welcome to Stuff to Blow 3 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb. My name is 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: Julie Douglas. Julie, I want to pitch a movie idea 5 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: to you here. All right, this is a good summer movie. 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: Hold on, hold, I'm putting in my mouth. All right, 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: go ahead, all right, here's my elevator pitch. All right, 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,479 Speaker 1: all right, that the kids love parasites, they love movies 9 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: about parasites. How about this, No one do a sequel. 10 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: We call it parasite to hyper parasite, and it's about 11 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:38,319 Speaker 1: parasites that prey on parasites. M go on, kids, tell 12 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,599 Speaker 1: me more about it. Well, it's actually real. It's not 13 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: just an item of science pic. It sounds like hyper 14 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: parasite does, sound like it would be the sequel to 15 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: a parasitic movie. But it comes down to an interesting 16 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: question parasites. All right, there's a simple view of looking 17 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: at the world of parasites. You have us, normal organisms, 18 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: and then you have the organisms that prey on us, 19 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: the criminal element in the world right there. Speak Yeah, 20 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: they're stuck in our blood. They're they're they're getting into 21 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,119 Speaker 1: our cells. All these various heinous acts out there. Are 22 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: they getting away scott free or are the other parasites 23 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: that prey on them? And then and then how would 24 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: that work? Do those parasites have parasites as well, So 25 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: it's kind of like a parasite. This hyper parasite is 26 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: sort of like Dexter, the serial killer of serial killers, 27 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: though instead of killing to fulfill a need for I 28 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: guess sating the impulse to destroy and exacting a kind 29 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: of justice at the same time, these hyper parasites, I'm 30 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: gonna guess are doing this all for the energy force. Yes. Yeah, 31 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: it's it's easy to sort of to go to like 32 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: the Dexter example or like a roman Hood example or 33 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: Omar little example from the Wire where it's like, all right, 34 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: these are the thieves, but this guy's thieving from the thief. Uh, 35 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: these are the serial killers. This guy's killing the serial killers. 36 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: But but really, when you get get down to you 37 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: really look at the the economy aspect that we've talked 38 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: about this before, and cannibalism and animals where it all 39 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: comes down to the energy. All right, there's in nature 40 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: we have this this ecological pyramid at the bottom, the 41 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: very bottom level of the pyramid, you have vegetation that's growing, 42 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: depending largely upon solar energy. And then every level moving 43 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: up from that bottom level of the pyramid is some 44 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,239 Speaker 1: sort of organism eating another. You eat, something's eating the grass, 45 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: something's eating that, and something else is eating Matt swooping 46 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: in until at the very top, enthroned on this mountain 47 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: of bone and flesh, you have the apex predators, who 48 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: are just fortunate enough to to be above all of that, 49 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: at least until they, you know, get old or break 50 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: a leg and topple down the pyramid to where a 51 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: scavenger can rip them apart. So, I mean, it really 52 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: comes down. All this comes under the fact that nature 53 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: is this this hellish world of competition, and it's all 54 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: about the economy of energy, the energy required to pass 55 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: on your genes, and anybody and everybody in this pyramid 56 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: will eat another, one will steal energy if they are 57 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: able to, if there is any opportunity, and that's just 58 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: the brutal truth of it. It's like a it's like 59 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: some sort of a crime movie where there's like a 60 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: gym or a you know, a suitcase full of gold 61 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: or something and every criminal in the picture is uh 62 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: is screwing over the next one to get it, until 63 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: there's just nobody actually has possession of the football anymore. Well, 64 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: it's interesting as humans. On top of that, the heap 65 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: of bones. You know, we tend to look at parasites 66 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: is this, you know, it's this thing that might be 67 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,639 Speaker 1: invading me and causing disease. And I'm a host for this, 68 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: I'm at the top, I'm at the apex. How can 69 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: this be? And so when you hear about these hyper parasites, 70 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: is parasite on parasite action going on? You tend to 71 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: think of them, as you say, it's sort of like 72 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: these avengers. Yes, this robin hood bacteria is is on 73 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: my side. He's going after the thing that's after me. 74 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: So the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right right. 75 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: But in fact, these hyper parasites are just these sort 76 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,839 Speaker 1: of brilliant criminal minds, because what the doing is they're 77 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: looking at, uh, these instances in nature in which other 78 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: parasites are really successful, and they're sort of riding on 79 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: the coattails of this. And as you say, they're going 80 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: for the big energy leap here. It doesn't happen anything 81 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: to do with avenging the host of that that the 82 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: parasite is taking advantage of. Yeah, I mean, it's an 83 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: old adage that for successful criminal their biggest enemy isn't 84 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,719 Speaker 1: law enforcement but other criminals. You know, if you have 85 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,840 Speaker 1: like an amazing grow house operation going, like somewhere in 86 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: Canada was reading les about, then you do. Uh, we're 87 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: reading articles about this a while back, and um, you know, 88 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: they get to the point where they don't have to 89 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: worry about about law enforcement. They've got that figured out. 90 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: But it's the it's the other criminals that are gonna 91 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: come and snatch your crops or or steal your money 92 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: or or something like that, and use your underground tunnels. Yes, 93 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: use your underground tunnels for whatever you use it for. 94 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: And if you're not smuggling through drugs and money, it's 95 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: just kind of it's annoying sometimes, That's all I'm saying. Uh, yeah, no, 96 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 1: I mean, I kid, but this is this parasite on 97 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: parasite examples that we see in nature. Fascinating stuff and 98 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: it's very chilling too at the same time. Can't help 99 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: but ant morphies it. Um, So we're gonna take a 100 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: look at a couple of examples here in nature. All right, 101 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: First up, we're gonna talk a little about wasps. Now, 102 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:20,039 Speaker 1: we've talked about wasps a lot, especially parasitic wasps. I'm 103 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: always talking about them. I wrote an article about how 104 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: wasps work on How Stuff Work several years ago, and 105 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: and I can't stop thinking about them ever since. I 106 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: hate to kill them, even if they're even if they're 107 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: a nuisance in the house, do you really respect them? 108 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: I respect them. They're they're brutal, but they're they're they're 109 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: honest in their brutality. And you know, and they haven't 110 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: sold out like the honeybee and taken on this, uh, 111 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: this sigrarian lifestyle. They are still out there living a 112 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: life more or less. Yeah, but the honey bees all like, yeah, 113 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: everything would collapse without me. You guys are just being 114 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: jerks out there and showing off. Well, all right, well 115 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: that's an argument for another day. Yeah, Okay, let's not 116 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 1: reignite that. Let's not reignite that. Believe we have an 117 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: episode on that, So go back and study that if 118 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: you want more on that particular debate. But parasitic wasps, Uh, 119 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: basically we're talking about the ultimate deadbeat moms. In a sense. 120 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: They don't want to raise that larva that raise that 121 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: egg as their own. So what do they do? They 122 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: plant inside another critter. It wakes up inside of its 123 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: food source, it's living food source. They suppress the host 124 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: immune system, they control its growth, it's metabolism, all for 125 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: their own benefit. Sometimes they even hijack the host organism, 126 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: such as the particular parasitic wass that we saw where 127 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: the larva takes over the ladybug. It makes it it's 128 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: zombie master while it grows into maturity. Um. But there's 129 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: even more to that. There are parasitic wasps that are 130 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: hyper parasitic. Yeah, and it all starts with g l vs. 131 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: We've talked about this before, which are green leaf volatiles. 132 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,799 Speaker 1: That's the chemical produced by a leaf that is munched 133 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: on by a caterpillar. Right, releases a signal to predators. Uh, 134 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,040 Speaker 1: and says, hey, you know there's there's a there's a 135 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: caterpillar on me and he's eating me lunch. Yeah, it 136 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: would be great if some some wasps were to come 137 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: by and plant some larva inside of this moocher y. 138 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: That's right, And so the caterpillar, you know, unbeknownst has 139 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: limited time here because pretty soon one of two different 140 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: types of wasps we're talking about the cotes at Rubicla 141 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: and the Cocheesia glomarata will heed that call from those 142 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: g l V chemicals and swoop down on the caterpillar. 143 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: Now that's where the stinging and the implanting comes into play. 144 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: The eggs are deposited using that ovipositor as a stinger, 145 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: which of course is an egg laying organ. All wasps 146 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: that are out there stinging those are female wasps. And 147 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: so what you have is you have a caterpillar which 148 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: is now reduced to the status of a wasp incubator. 149 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: Now that in itself is sort of Ninja level waspery. Yeah, 150 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: if that's worried, but I'm gonna go ahead use it. 151 00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: But that's that's nothing compared to this hyper paris sidic 152 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: wasp that comes into play. Yes, this particular wasp was 153 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: studied by Eric Polman of Waganagan University in the Netherlands, 154 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: and that this particular hyper parasoid uh Lazibia Nana or 155 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: l Nana as we shall henceforth college, which I'm now 156 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: thinking about a Nana like nana wasp. Yeah, well, in 157 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: a sense, you know that the nana is bringing the larva. 158 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: So what l nana does is it sniffs out the 159 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: particular distress calls of the plant that is being chewed 160 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,079 Speaker 1: on by larva that are hijacked by these particular These 161 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: are two particular wasps. That's right, because now that chemical 162 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: uh signal has been changed yet again because is different 163 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,840 Speaker 1: in inside the caterpillar that has been hijacked. So the 164 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: signal that is going out from the plant is no 165 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: longer saying hell if I'm under attack from caterpillars, that's 166 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: saying help, I'm under attack from a caterpillar that has 167 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:55,079 Speaker 1: also been hijacked by a wasp. Yeah, so al nana 168 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 1: comes along and says, well, don't mind if I do. 169 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: They're here. This daycare center has already been a stabbed 170 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 1: wished saves me the trouble. So what I'm gonna do 171 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: is in the lay one of these eggs in every 172 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 1: wasp grubber pupil I can find, and when they hatch, 173 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: they're not only going to eat the host caterpillar, They're 174 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: also gonna eat any other daycare attendees inside of that organism. 175 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: It's really brilliant right, because, as you say, the other 176 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: wasps have done the work. All they have to do 177 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: is swoop in deposit and it's a very successful way 178 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: of trying to get that food source easily. Of course, 179 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: they do have an enemy, these hyper parasites, these wasps, 180 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: and that would be another hyper parasitoid. Usually this is 181 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: other females of the same species. And sometimes a caterpillar 182 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:46,959 Speaker 1: may host two, three, maybe even four tiers parasites within it. 183 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: It's tough. It's tough being a caterpillar. Uh And but 184 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: again this really drives home just what a violent battle 185 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: royal life on Earth really is. It's just any anybody 186 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 1: who can will try and get larva inside of that caterpillar. 187 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: It's kind of like with the whole the l like 188 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: spying thing that came out, you know recently, we're you know, 189 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: talking about the US eavesdropping on phone calls over the world, 190 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: and people are outraged by it. And you know, I'm 191 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: not saying that there's not a certain amount of acceptable outrage, 192 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: but I couldn't help to think, well, you know, this 193 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: is what countries do. Countries are kind of awful and spying. Everybody, 194 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: hasn't everyone been reading the same books and seeing the 195 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: same James Bond films that I have over the years, 196 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:29,719 Speaker 1: they would know that. So it's kind of the same 197 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: thing in the animal world. Anybody that can and has 198 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: the ability to will get in there and steal some energy, 199 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: steal the opportunity and wasper grade at this. I mean, 200 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: there are other species of wasps that will also slip 201 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: their young into a into another wasp nest and let 202 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: it to grow to maturity there, and then the same thing. 203 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: It'll it'll jump, it'll leap frog over the other young 204 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: and then eat them and then emerge from the washing. There. 205 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:58,719 Speaker 1: There's just wonderful evil creatures on nature. It's beautiful. It 206 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: is all right, let's take a quick break and when 207 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,360 Speaker 1: we get back, we are going to talk about the 208 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: zombie And all right, we're back. Now you've heard us 209 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: talk about court a steps before. Um, these are the 210 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: fun guy that we discussed in our Zombie Outbreak episode. 211 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 1: This is one where we we pretended we put on 212 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: a little radio play here in which Atlanta was was 213 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: taken over by a zombie outbreak zombie apocalypse, and we 214 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: uh decided in this particular episode that we were gonna 215 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: pin the zombie hood on a court a step. This 216 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: is a fungus that takes over a creature uh, generally 217 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: an insect uh. And while I'm exclusively insects, and it 218 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 1: takes over their bodies, turns them essentially into a zombie 219 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 1: and and hijacks their responses and what makes them do 220 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: something like go to a particular area, climbed to the 221 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: top of a leaf, or or go into and form 222 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: a mass grave somewhere so that they can continue to grow. Yeah, 223 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: and it also creates very clumsy movements by that insect. 224 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: Because again, what they're talking about here with the Cortceps 225 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: is this toxin which is taking over from the body 226 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: and creating this sort of strange machinations. Now, um, largely 227 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: this the zombie ant fungus is a story of Afio Cortceps, 228 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: this parasitic fungus, and the campo and a tiny carpenter 229 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: ants that infects. But of course there's another player in here, 230 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that in a moment. But what 231 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: we're talking about here is, you know, one day, nearing noon, 232 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 1: you have this carpenter ant, let's say, in the rainforest 233 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: in Brazil, veering off course, right, Um, it's leaving the 234 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,600 Speaker 1: dry tree canopy and then it descends into the humid 235 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: force floor and it's staggering over debris and plants, and 236 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: David Hughes, he's an assistant professor of entomology and biology 237 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: at Penn State, describes it as a kind of drunkard swalk. Okay, again, 238 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:58,680 Speaker 1: we're talking about this toxins taking over the brain here, 239 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: and even convulsion occurring. And then the ants, by the way, 240 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: who have been dissected at the stage of infection, reveal 241 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: heads already full of these fungal cells. Okay. Then the 242 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: ant clumsling makes its way to the main vein of 243 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: a leaf and it chops down, which is just weird. 244 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: Ants don't normally do this, they don't chop onto leaves, 245 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 1: but unfortunately here it does this, and it's mandible walk 246 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: into place as the ant dies, because now what's also 247 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: happening is that it's beginning to atrophy, like smuscles are 248 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: beginning to atrophy within the ant, and so that means 249 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: that those mandibles are not going to pry themselves open 250 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 1: at all. It's locked into place, and the death grip 251 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: is there, and a couple of days later this ant 252 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: actually dies, and what happens The fungus sprouts out of 253 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: its head and deliver spores down onto the ground. Yeah, 254 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: and it's a it's a real killer. You know, this 255 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:56,440 Speaker 1: is the kind of thing that can wipe out an 256 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,200 Speaker 1: ant colony. The ants, of course there have to have 257 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,319 Speaker 1: evolved respond wants to this if they see signs that happening, 258 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: and they kind of a d rigorous grooming regime takes 259 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,560 Speaker 1: place where they're just they're taking extra care of who's 260 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 1: who's acting a little funny, exact and weird get him 261 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: out of there. Yeah, I mean, it's it's a very 262 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: dramatic thing playing out here. If you if you look 263 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: at it like this, you know, I mean, if this 264 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: happened among our population, Um, can you imagine us trying 265 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: to actually take that person out of the group, or 266 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: the ways in which it would behave we'd say, why 267 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: why do you keep wandering into traffic? That's weird behavior, right. Yeah. So, 268 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: as it turns out, as Hughes in a two thousand 269 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: and twelve study highlighted, there is a high preparasite involved here. 270 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: There's not just a matter of this particular court to 271 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: set wiping out these different ant colonies looking at examples 272 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: of it, and found that some of these colonies actually 273 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: survived rather well. There were still a lot of dead bodies, 274 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: a lot of dead soldiers, a lot of carnage, but 275 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: they but in some cases they had a much better 276 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: uh survival rate. And the reason he discovered is a 277 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: hyper parasitic fungus that effectively castrates the courtist fungus. It 278 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: reduces the viability of its sport producing organs to six 279 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: point five. Yeah, this is amazing because you have this 280 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: other fungus that's basically taking notes and stalking the opio 281 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: court asps. And according to Katherine Harmon writing for Nature, 282 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: Sandra Anderson, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, they 283 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: found a different breed of that fungi growing over the 284 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 1: ant corpse in the emerging fungus stock, and by covering 285 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: that fungus in the stock, it effectively sort of sterilized it. Yeah, 286 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: that basically, this hyper parasitic fungus comes in and says, hey, 287 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: what you got going there? It seems like a pretty 288 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: good operation. I just want enough to to wep my beak, 289 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: so let me let me take over this particular ant 290 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: this particular pile of ants, and oh, yeah, you're not 291 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: gonna be spreading your franchise anymore because this is my 292 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: business now. Is that kind of your good guys a 293 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: little bit fellas? Yeah, I like it. Yeah, it's good. Um. Yeah. 294 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,520 Speaker 1: So it is a good example of how the waste 295 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: management guys kind of come in and say, I like 296 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: what you're doing here. Yeah, all right, we're going to 297 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: look at a five tier example of hyper parasites in 298 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: action from Vanderbilt microbiologists Seth borden Stein, who may sound 299 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: familiar because we just did an episode on the Hall 300 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: of Genome and borden Stein was very much involved in 301 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: one of the studies there. Yeah, because he was looking 302 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: at the sony a wasp, which were featured here as well, 303 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: and he was looking more at their microbiota, their gut 304 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 1: microbes and how they made it. But here he's looking 305 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:37,760 Speaker 1: really at what I think of as the tree Ducan 306 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: of the hiper parasite world. Because, as you said, this 307 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: is a five tier operation going on. Yeah, and it's 308 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: and it's again it's very much in a sort of 309 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: a like a like a no Country for Old Man 310 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: kind of scenario where one guy's got some money. Somebody 311 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: else comes and kills them all and takes the money, 312 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: and then somebody else is trying to kill him, and 313 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: everybody's trying to get that get that commodity, get that energy, 314 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: get that money, and the case. This is how it goes. First, 315 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: blowflies infest a bird's underside with blood sucking larva. Next 316 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: larva drop off, they fall to prey to parasitic wasps. 317 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:14,639 Speaker 1: Then these wasps carry a parasitic bacterium called Wabaccia, which 318 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: has evolved to modify its host reproductive system. And then 319 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: the bacteria in turn are subject to their own invasion 320 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: from a tiny virus is known as bacteria phages, which 321 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:34,640 Speaker 1: hijack Walbackia is cellular machinery to expand their own population. Okay, bird, blowfly, wasp, Wolbachia, 322 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: and then the bacterio fage. Just you can see how 323 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,360 Speaker 1: it gets smaller, is it as it goes down? Right? Yeah? 324 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: As we go down that list. Yeah, And Wolbachia is 325 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:47,000 Speaker 1: really interesting on its own, right because it hijacks the 326 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 1: wasp immune system and it's still being studied. But that 327 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 1: it all breaks down along these lines, all right. It 328 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 1: kills infected males. It feminizes infected males as they develop 329 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:01,880 Speaker 1: as females or infertile pseudo females, and induces partheo genesis 330 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: the reproduction of infected females without males, and it makes 331 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: the sperm of uninfected males incompatible with the eggs of 332 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: uninfected females or females infected with a different Wolbachia strain. Yeah, 333 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 1: Wolbachia is serious stuff. We talked about it and river 334 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: Blindness our episode on that and and humans. I thought 335 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: this was fascinating nematodes that that when humans contract these nematodes. 336 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: The nemotodes actually contain the Wolbachia bacteria and they have 337 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,040 Speaker 1: something called neutrophills, and these are specialized white blood cells 338 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: that are unable to attach to the worm itself, but 339 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: it forms a ring around the bacteria and it tacks it. 340 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: So then you have something called eosinophils, which is basically 341 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 1: like a cleanup crew that would come in. You know, 342 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,880 Speaker 1: if you have this this nematode and it can't get 343 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: to the worm because these neutrophiles are essentially cloaking it. 344 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 1: I mean it has I think that's a fascinating sort 345 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: of power that this has, this wolbachia, because then it's 346 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,440 Speaker 1: modulating the host immune system response. It's just sitting there 347 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: in the body, undetected at least in humans. Yeah, and 348 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:06,880 Speaker 1: borden Stein is really interested in wall back here because 349 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: he believes that one day we might be able to 350 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 1: add some genes to the wall back here and use 351 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,639 Speaker 1: it to control insects the vector human disease diseases like 352 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: malaria and den gay fever. Yeah, and this is really 353 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: important because it really is one of the most successful 354 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: parasites in the animal kingdom um in It evolved one 355 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: million years ago, so this is a pretty significant presence. 356 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: So you're probably thinking, that's it, right, It can't get 357 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: any nuttier than this. Yeah, we surely we've reached the 358 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 1: tiniest Russian doll and this uh, this parasitic relationship, Oh no, 359 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 1: because there's one single parasitic gene that exists out there. 360 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: We're talking about transposon, yes, transposable elements TE or retro transposons. 361 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: It's a DNA sequence that can change its position within 362 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: the genome, sometimes creating or reversing mutations in altering the 363 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: cell's genome size, Yeah, they have been. These transposones have 364 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: been and discovered inside viruses that infect other viruses, which 365 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: in turn affect ambas that in fact human beings and 366 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 1: borde Stein says, I think it's difficult to see where 367 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: one organism begins and another one ends. We are only 368 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: beginning to appreciate how intertwine these layers of organisms are 369 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: in large flora and fauna, which again we come back 370 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: to that whole holo genome sort of question, like where 371 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: what is what is the barrier between one organism and 372 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:28,159 Speaker 1: then in the next to what extent are all organisms? 373 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,200 Speaker 1: As we think that all individuals really just a ship 374 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 1: with a crew, right, Yeah, you've got your mitochondrial DNA, 375 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: you've got genes, you've got bacteria, you've got have a 376 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: genetics going on, Just conglomerates of organisms just walking about 377 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: and going about their business and then trying to consume 378 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: other organisms in the process. It makes me feel like 379 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: I'm dripping like some sort of genetic material off of me, 380 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: or actually I am sumping little microbes off myself right now. Yeah, 381 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: I mean, really, this whole episode should dry of home 382 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,120 Speaker 1: the fact that we're all kind of gross. We're called 383 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 1: these big piles of bacteria, and then the whole world 384 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: is just this nasty battle royal of parasites engaging with 385 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 1: each other, parasites and predators. And then pray actually makes 386 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: you feel a little bit good about the human species sometimes, 387 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: I mean just a little right, Yeah, too cous to 388 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: a certain extent, we kind of rise above that, or 389 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: at least tell ourselves that we've risen above it. Yeah, 390 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:29,360 Speaker 1: all right, why don't you take us on out, Robert Lamb, 391 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: I think you got something for us. Yeah. This is 392 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,679 Speaker 1: just a little bit from Victorian mathematician August de Morgan 393 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: which ties in nicely with today's topic. He said, great 394 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,919 Speaker 1: fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bitem, and 395 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,959 Speaker 1: little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitem. And 396 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: the great fleas themselves, in turn have greater fleas to 397 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: go on, while these again have greater still and greater 398 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: still to go on. Here you go, so that you 399 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 1: have it. Parasites, hyper parasites, hot parasite on parasite action 400 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 1: as promised, have something you'd like to throw in on 401 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: this another example of hyper parasites in action are just 402 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,639 Speaker 1: your general response to this. This view of the world 403 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,399 Speaker 1: as this violent battle royal of criminal elements. Let us 404 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: know we'd love to hear from you. You You can find 405 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: us in all the usual places, the mother Ship and 406 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,159 Speaker 1: stuff to Bow you mind dot com. We're also on Tumbler, Facebook, Twitter, 407 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: Google Plus, we're mind Stuff Show on YouTube and Julie. 408 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,160 Speaker 1: If they want to send us an old fashioned email, 409 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 1: how might they go about it? Oh? Well, it's really 410 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,880 Speaker 1: quite easy, Robert. All you have to do is send 411 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: an email to you blow the mind at discoveries dot 412 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 413 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: Does it How stuff works dot com