How roaches avoid becoming "zombies" during wasp attacks

Vanderbilt University professor Ken Catania has studied how American cockroaches can successfully fight emerald wasps.
(Vanderbilt University)

A researcher from Vanderbilt University may have discovered how American cockroaches can avoid their own "zombie apocalypse".

Ken Catania, a biologist and school teacher, filmed the interactions between cockroaches and their predators – emerald wasps – and studied their interactions.

"It's a kind of well-known interaction in biology circles and beyond," Catania told Fox News.

An emerald gem will temporarily paralyze the front legs of an American cockroach and "pulls his sting through the cockroach's throat into his brain," essentially "zombifying," he explained.

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"When the venom takes effect, the cockroach becomes passive and can be dragged by its antenna into a hole where the wasp lays an egg and then seals the exit with debris," he wrote in a study published online Wednesday in and Evolution. "" The cockroach has the ability to walk, run or fly if properly stimulated, but it does not try to escape as it is slowly consumed alive by the developing wasp larva. "

According to Catania, adult American cockroaches were often "caught off guard by the wasp" during the fighting. In situations like these, where a cockroach is caught off guard and has no time to defend itself, the survival rate is only about 14%.

The Ken Catania study revealed different survival rates for interactions involving emerald wasps and American cockroaches.
(Catania Laboratory)

The Catania study revealed different survival rates for interactions between emerald wasps and American cockroaches. In the course of his research, he discovered that insects could use certain tactics to avoid a horrible fate.

When American cockroaches go into a guard position, they can hit their attackers, he said. The cockroach "will hit the wasp in the head again and again."

Catania said he had heard of cockroach defensive tactics by the way, but they had not been studied so far.

"It takes several strokes to convince the wasp that there is a cockroach easier to target," he said. Cockroaches, he explained, have hind legs with "really intimidating thorns", comparing them to "a spiked club that you use for self-defense".

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According to his study, American cockroaches adults who have adopted an "overwater" stance have survived 63% of the time. These insects hit the wasps and managed to escape the movements of the wasps.

"People often say how important it is to be fast if you are prey," Catania said. "Here, two thousandths of a second make the difference."

Catania believes that his discoveries could be useful for several reasons.

"It's not only fascinating to understand how the world works and predator-prey interactions," but could also be useful for educational purposes, he said.