In a startling new discovery, Researchers at the Rice University have detailed the involvement of a particular type of wasp and a varying smaller wasp variety that involves zombie-like characteristics.
The "crypt gall wasp" is the victim in this equation and it gains its name from the act of tricking live oak trees into creating small enclosures like "crypts" in their stems. This particular kind of wasp then uses these "crypts" to raise its young.
Researchers have found that he young "crypt gall wasps" eventually gnaw their way out of the oak tree "crypts". However, it turns out that a different kind of wasp intercepts this process for purposes of its own. In this turn of events, the hijacker of the trees (i.e. the crypt gall wasp) is subject to manipulation by another wasp.
Gall wasps are also known as Bassettia pallida. They mature within the crypt formed in the tree's stem and once they attain full maturity, they tunnel their way to freedom. This process is achieved by gnawing through the wood, making their way to the outside world.
The second kind of wasp is known as the "crypt-keeper". The invader lays its eggs into the gall wasp's crypts, infecting the wasps causing the offspring to tunnel their way out of the tree earlier than needed. The gall wasp proceeds to tunnel a hole that is only a little smaller than its head. This results in its head getting stuck in the hole, blocking its exit and any other creatures from the outside to enter.
After this happens, the invading crypt-keeper wasp devours the trapper gall wasp's innards, hence, feeding itself while maturing in safety. After consuming its host, the crypt-keeper escapes through the dead gall wasp's head and out into the open via the opening it manipulated the victim into burrowing.
How the crypt-keeper wasp manages to manipulate its host into tunneling through the tree early on is unknown to researchers as of now.
