A Succinea snail that has been infected by a zombifying parasite
shutterstock/JoostP
Rise of the Zombie Bugs
Mindy Weisberger (Johns Hopkins University Press)
A snail, eyestalks pulsing with coloured stripes, leaves the safety of the shade and oozes its way onto an exposed leaf, where it catches the beady eye of a bird. The larger animal mistakes those eyestalks for delicious caterpillars and pounces; in the process, it accidentally gobbles up the parasitic worms infesting the Succinea putris snail.
This poor mollusc is far from alone: worms, wasps and other creatures that manipulate their hosts’ behaviour are common in the…
