Dinocampus coccinellae

File:Ladybug w larva.jpg

File:Ladybug2.jpg

In 1802, Schrank first described a female adult of this species as "Lady-bird killer 2155. Deep black, eyes green; head, front legs, and apex of the petiolate abdomen mussel-brown." (A petiolate abdomen is one whose basal segment is stalk-like, that is, long and slender.) Nearly all D. coccinellae are female offspring of unfertilized eggs, although males are also occasionally found.{{cite journal|last=Davis |first=Dexter S. |author2=Sarah L. Stewart |author3=Andrea Manica |author4=Michael E. N. Majerus |title=Adaptive preferential selection of female coccinellid hosts by the parasitoid wasp Dinocampus coccinellae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) |journal=European Journal of Entomology |year=2006 |volume=103 |issue=1 |pages=41–45 |doi=10.14411/eje.2006.006 |doi-access=free }} The male, when observed, has no ovipositor and is slimmer and darker than females.{{cite journal|last=Geoghegan|first=Irene E.|author2=Tamsin M. O. Majerus|author3=Michael E. N. Majerus|title=A record of a rare male of the parthenogenetic parasitoid Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank) (Hym.:Braconidae)|journal=The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation |year=1998 |volume=110 |issue=5–6 |pages=171–172 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30013421}}

The mature female wasp seeks out adult female ladybirds, although they will sometimes oviposit into a male adult or larval instar.{{cite journal |last=Shaw |first=Scott Richard |title=A new Mexican genus and species of Dinocampini with serrate antennae (Hymenoptera; Braconidae; Euphorinae) |journal=Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |year=1988 |volume=95 |issue=3–4 |pages=289–298 |doi=10.1155/1988/98545 |doi-access=free }} One egg is planted in the host's soft underbelly. The wasp larva hatches after 5–7 days into a first instar larva with large mandibles and proceeds to remove any other eggs or larvae before beginning to feed on the ladybird's fat bodies and gonads.

The wasp larva inside the ladybird goes through four larval instars in 18–27 days. Meanwhile, the ladybird continues to forage and feed until the wasp larva, when it is ready to emerge, paralyzes the ladybird before tunneling out.{{cite news|title='Save our ladybirds' plea|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/607064.stm|access-date=24 June 2011|work=BBC News |date=17 January 2000}} It pupates in a cocoon attached to the leg of the living ladybird, whose brightly colored body and occasional twitching reduce predation.{{Cite journal|author1=Fanny Maure |author2=Jacques Brodeur|author-link2=Jacques Brodeur |author3=Nicolas Ponlet |author4=Josée Doyon |author5=Annabelle Firlej |author6=Éric Elguero |author7=Frédéric Thomas |year=2011 |title=The cost of a bodyguard |journal=Biology Letters |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=843–846 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2011.0415 |pmid=21697162 |url=http://portal.stlib.cn/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=fa106bd3-6373-436e-9b1b-0bfae29cc5b8&groupId=12305 |format=PDF |pmc=3210670 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808050616/http://portal.stlib.cn/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=fa106bd3-6373-436e-9b1b-0bfae29cc5b8&groupId=12305 |archive-date=2014-08-08}} A growing D. coccinellae wasp nestled in its cocoon is extremely vulnerable, and other insects will devour it. If one of these predators tries to eat it, the ladybird retaliates, scaring it off. The ladybird becomes the parasite's bodyguard, by protecting it from predators.{{Cite news|title = Meet Natures Nightmare Mindsuckers|last = Zimmerm|first = Carl|date = November 2014|work = National Geographic}} However, wasp cocoons protected in this way develop into adults that produce fewer eggs, due to the energy demands of maintaining a living protector.{{cite news|title=Ladybird made into 'zombie' bodyguard by parasitic wasp|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13860891|access-date=23 June 2011|work=BBC News |date=23 June 2011}}

Ladybirds paralyzed, twitching, and attached to the cocoon of D. coccinellae have been compared to zombies by many writers.{{cite web|last=Braconnier|first=Deborah|title=A real-life zombie story in the life of bugs|url=http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-real-life-zombie-story-life-bugs.html|publisher=PhysOrg |access-date=25 June 2011}}{{cite news|last=Pappas|first=Stephanie|title=The case of the wasp and the zombie ladybird|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43487686|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626215456/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43487686|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 26, 2013|access-date=25 June 2011|work=NBC News|date=21 June 2011}} After 6–9 days, the wasp emerges from the cocoon. Remarkably, some 25% of ladybirds revive and emerge from paralysis once the cocoon has been emptied. The paralytic effect has been proposed to be associated with an RNA virus, Dinocampus coccinellae paralysis virus.{{citation|vauthors=Dheilly NM, Maure F, Ravallec M |title=Who is the puppet master? Replication of a parasitic wasp-associated virus correlates with host behaviour manipulation |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |doi=10.1098/rspb.2014.2773|display-authors=etal |volume=282 |issue=1803 |pages=20142773 |pmid=25673681 |pmc=4345448|year=2015}}{{citation|url=http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavior/2015/02/wasp-virus-turns-ladybirds-zombie-babysitters|title=Wasp virus turns ladybirds into zombie babysitters|author=Anonymous|journal=Science|doi=10.1126/science.aaa7844|year=2015}}

Dinocampus coccinellae can itself be parasitised by Gelis agilis, a hyperparasite that is known for its mimicry of ants. The wingless females of G. agilis oviposit into D. coccinellae cocoons; the egg immediately hatches and consumes the developing wasp. Cocoons hosting G. agilis usually take twice as long to emerge.{{Citation needed|date=July 2016}}

Because one large aphidophagous ladybird can consume up to 5,500 aphids in a year, any ladybird parasite represents a potential threat to agriculture.{{cite web|last=Bruce|first=Anne|title=Parasitoid wasp threatens Scottish Seven Spot ladybird|url=http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/art98/ladybird.html|publisher=Microscopy UK|access-date=23 June 2011}}

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{{Portal|Insects}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Dinocampus coccinellae|Dinocampus coccinellae}}
• {{Wikispecies-inline|Dinocampus coccinellae|Dinocampus coccinellae}}
• [http://www.bertpijs.nl/blog/archives/tag/sluipwesp Photos of Dinocampus coccinellae by Bert Pijs]

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Category:Braconidae

Category:Insects described in 1802

Category:Mind-altering parasites