Parasitized spider makes bed for its natural enemy, wasp larva

Friday, August 7, 2015 - 11:30 in Biology & Nature

An ichneumonid parasitic wasp seizes control of the parasitized spider and exploits its 'resting web' building behavior as seen before moulting, scientists have discovered. Researchers examining the threads’ force, found that the web produced through parasitic manipulation is more robust than the resting web. Given that the wasp induces a behavior inherent in the spider, revealing the molecular mechanism of the web manipulation is likely to contribute to the practical application of spider silk.

Read the whole article on Science Daily

More from Science Daily

Learn more about

Latest Science Newsletter

Get the latest and most popular science news articles of the week in your Inbox! It's free!

Check out our next project, Biology.Net