Biological Warfare: Parasitic Wasp Uses A Virus To Control Its Host

Any depth of understanding of biology and ecology is accompanied by this inevitable conclusion: parasites rule the world. They're the "man behind the curtain" as fans of Oz would put it. They are the directors and stage managers of the grand production that is life on this Earth, nature's finest puppeteers, and that we think we have any modicum of control over any species' physiology in comparison (including our own) is downright laughable. The latest reminder of our inadequacy when it comes to manipulating biology comes from a fresh paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. In it, scientists describe how the parasitoid wasp, Dinocampus coccinellae, is able to manipulate its host, the ladybug Coleomegilla maculata: it uses