Backyard Killer Strikes on UIUC Campus!

Written by: Nicholas Moy

The Eastern Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus) is a local wasp that doesn’t mess around.  Like any good mother, this Hymenoptera is just looking out for her young, however not many mom’s would go to such extreme measures.

A cicada killer. Photo by Lynette Schimming

A female cicada killer lives in a well-kept home, a burrow, that may extend multiple feet underground.  After conception the killer takes to the skies to stake out her first victim.  As the name implies, she is hunting for cicadas.  Once she has determined her target she quickly paralyzes it with its large stinger, and then grabs the cicada upside down using her legs.  Next is the hard part, taking care of the body; the long journey back to the burrow begins.  A cicada killer may drag the cicada by foot, fly the cicada, or even climb a tree and then fly in a gliding fashion toward the burrow if home is too far away.  Once home, the killer then drags the cicada into the depths of the burrow and stores the body in a pre-made cell. The soon-to-be mother lays her eggs on the secured cicada carcass, which will serve as the larvae’s food for the next two weeks.  The venom of the paralyzing sting keeps the cicada meal preserved for twice as long as normal, long enough for larvae to eat it and grow into prepupae for the winter.  This is another natural example of a mother that will do anything for her kin, even kill!

Assassins in the Insect World?

Author: Chirstina Silliman, Masters student, University of Illinois.

For their small size, there are many insects that can do humans quite a bit of harm or, at the very least, bug us. We know to steer clear of wasps, ants, mosquitos, ticks, and when they menacingly head our way.  What you may not know is that the insects themselves have quite a bit to watch out for as well! Not only are predators like spiders or frogs waiting to gobble up a passing fly, but there are other insects just waiting to grab up their own tasty meal. One of the most interesting (and overlooked) insects is the assassin bug.

An assassin bug drains it's prey

Cordyceps: The Mind Control Mushroom

Written by Rahul Naronha

You thought zombies and mind control existed only in science fiction? Guess what. You thought wrong. Here is your daily does of entomological nightmare fuel, courtesy of David Attenborough.

Cordyceps is a fungal genus that is perhaps the strangest of insect predators. Over the course of its evolution, it has adopted a very strange and unsettling method of reproduction. The process starts when a spore lands on an unsuspecting insect of the correct species (each cordyceps species preys on a single species of insect; we will focus on a species that preys on ants). The spore secretes enzymes that allow it to tunnel through the insect’s tough exoskeleton and enter the body, where it feeds on the soft innards. Once the fungus has obtained enough nutrients to reproduce, it initiates the most mind blowing part of its sinister plot.

In order to ensure that its fruiting body has the largest possible “blast radius” over which it can eject its spores, the fungus enters the ant’s brain and literally takes control over it. It directs the ant to climb higher and higher until it finally dies, at which point the fruiting body bursts from the back of the insect’s head and uses its high vantage point to spew out a deadly rain of fungal spores across the forest floor, infecting any unlucky ants that happen to be foraging below. To add insult to injury, some ant colonies have become aware of this gruesome fungal predator and if one of their members is determined to be infected, the poor guy is dragged from the nest and dumped far away to die alone.

Mind control is something which humans have only dreamt about, yet insects have been victims of it since long before science was invented. Damn, nature, you scary.