By the time the adult wasps emerge, their bodyguard will have starved to death. As the wasps develop, the caterpillar fiercely defends them from predators. Nos EUA existem 15 dessas ninhadas de cigarras peridicas: 12 com ciclo de vida 17 anos e outras trs com ciclo de 13 anos, o que faz com que, quase todos os anos, em alguma parte do pas, um desses grupos esteja emergindo. It reinforces the wasp cocoons with its own silk, then it stops feeding and stands guard over the wasp pupa. As cigarras peridicas, como a Magicicada Septendecim ou Pharaoh Cicada, so exclusivas dos Estados Unidos e ocorrem nas regies centro-oeste e leste do pas. The caterpillar not only survives this ordeal, but begins behaving against its own interest. When the wasp larvae are ready to pupate, they eat their way out of the caterpillar and begin spinning their cocoons.
Somehow, these larvae know not to eat the caterpillar’s vital organs, and the caterpillar continues its life unaware of its situation. Once the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae feed on the caterpillar’s insides. The annual or Dog Days cicadas are so-named because they. There are many species of parasitic wasps, but some Braconid wasps have evolved to turn their hosts into zombie bodyguards! The adult wasp finds freshly hatched caterpillars and deposits dozens of eggs inside. The only thing I can think of that locusts and cicadas actually have in common is that locusts were sent to punish the Pharaoh, and periodical cicadas have a call that sounds like Pharaoh, Pharaoh There are two types of cicadas, and they emerge at different times of the year. (“Wasps Parasiting Caterpillar” by Ton Rulkens is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)Īny discussion of zombie insects would be remiss without a mention of wasps.