The yeshivists who aren’t as bad

Parasitic wasps inject their eggs into a host, often accompanied by venom and a virus. Their larvae grow and emerge from the unwitting host — usually killing it. Some wasps control their host’s behaviour, effectively “zombifying” them to help the larva survive. (Jo Adetunji)

The yeshivists who aren’t as bad are worse. They are the ones who won’t rage against the idea of a man getting a job or who might reluctantly say something a tad positive about a very nice goy or who might raise an eyebrow at a more ridiculous comment from a rosh yeshiva. These not-quite-as-bad yeshivists are worse because they get you to lower your guard so yeshivish poison can seep into your kishkes. Without them, you'd run and find another way to be Torah observant. But they keep you around as they pretend to be cool. But in the end, they are just as elitist, just as hostile to any ideology other than their own, just as mocking and obnoxious, just as skilled at the putdown, just as foolish about shidduchim and marriage and secular interests and gentiles and Chassidim and Sefardim and every Torah topic there is. They are no different where it counts and like parasitic wasps take over your behavior and lead you to destroy yourself.  

More on the topic:

A new study in the Journal of Experimental Biology documents one such disturbing example of wasp larvae that takes control of their unfortunate spider hosts.

The Japanese scientists behind the study thought the host-parasite relationship between the wasp Reclinervellus nielseni (most wasps have only a scientific name) and its orb-weaver spider host Cyclosa argenteoalba could help us understand how parasitic organisms alter their host’s behaviour.

The adult wasps lay an egg on the outside of the spider’s body. The wasp larva hatches out and attaches itself to the spider’s abdomen, where it feeds on the fluids within, while the spider goes about its normal life. At a certain point though, the larva causes the spider’s behaviour to change. It’s as though the larva takes control of the spider and forces it to create the perfect environment for the wasp larva to transform (or “pupate”) into an adult.

Under normal circumstances, this species of spider spins two different types of web: a “normal orb web” that looks like a typical spider’s web with a spiral of sticky thread that is used for catching prey, and a “resting web” which lacks the sticky spiral that is spun just before the spider moults its old exoskeleton.

But the parasitised orb-weavers spin a web just before the wasp larvae transform into adults and kill the spider. This “cocoon web” looks very similar to the resting web. In fact, the wasp larvae had induced the spiders to build a modified resting web as it would create a safer environment for the larvae to pupate – just as a resting web creates the perfect conditions for the spider to moult.

To test their theory the researchers observed spiders building webs with and without wasps for company, they examined the structures of the webs and tested the strength of the silk fibres within them. The wasp cocoon webs had similar strength and structure as the regular resting web. They even had similar “decorations” of tiny fibrous threads which reflect UV light which may help to prevent other insects and larger animals disturbing the web, thus increasing the larva’s chances of pupating successfully. They also found that the cocoon webs have extra reinforcement to make them stronger, further increasing the likelihood of the wasp’s survival.

The spiders are forced to abandon their normal behaviour to create the cocoon web, either by altering their normal orb web or by creating one from scratch. The spiders then sit in the middle of the web motionless, until the larvae kill it.

The scientists suggest that this control over the spider could be caused by the wasp larvae injecting hormones into the spider which mimic hormones that control the spider’s moulting behaviour. In effect, the spiders have been drugged by the wasps into doing their bidding.

Mind-controlling wasps enslave zombie spiders to build them a perfect nest (theconversation.com)

In sum, the parasitic wasps inject the spider with chemicals that mimic its own hormones and cause the spider to build a web that is used by the wasp to grow other wasps that kill the spider. 

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Spider Molting

What is Molting in Spiders

Molting is a biological process in which spiders (and other invertebrates) shed their exoskeleton – the flexible outer covering of their body – and form a new, larger covering during their developmental stages.

Why do Spiders Molt

Spiders shed their skin simply to grow in size. They have an exoskeleton, which is quite strong due to the presence of various protein molecules, and a long-chain polysaccharide called chitin. Although this structure is flexible enough to allow the spider to move, it does not expand or grow as the spider’s internal organs do. Therefore, spiders need to form a new exoskeleton and shed the old one so that they can increase their size.

Spider Molting: What is it, Why and How Does it Occur, Video (spideridentifications.com)

 

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pupate /pyoo͞′pāt″/

intransitive verb

1.      To become a pupa.

2.      To go through a pupal stage.

verb

1.      Develop into a pupa.

 

 

A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages thereof being egg, larva, pupa, and imago. Wikipedia