Almost a Title
As service to our readers, we occasionally pick up news headlines that we think would make good movie titles. Last time out, it was Shape-Shifting Robot Nanotech Swarms on Mars. A little long, perhaps, but very high-concept. It's easy to picture that as part of a double feature at a drive-in on a hot summer night.
Now how about this headline from Boing Boing (courtesy of GeekPress):
Wasp performs roach-brain-surgery to make zombie slave-roaches
Clearly, that is far too long for a movie title. But I think we can cut it right down to the core:
Zombie Slave-Roaches
That's pretty good, but I think it might now be a little on the short side. Those ZSR's need a good verb or prepositional phrase to complete them. How about:
Zombie Slave-Roaches from Outer Space
Or maybe:
Zombie Slave-Roaches Attack!
Or possibly even:
Zombie Slave-Roaches in Love
Hmmm...
Well, we'll keep working on it.
Oh, anyway, the actual story is fascinating, in a nature-is-ruthless kind of way. Check this out:
Ampulex compressa is a wasp that has evolved to tackle roaches, insert a stinger into their brains and disable their escape reflexes. This lets the wasp use the roach's antennae to steer the roach to its lair, where it can lay its egg in it.
Yikes. Sigourney Weaver, call your agent.
Comments
I caught this related story on the Damn Interesting website the other day:
Body-Snatching Barnacles and Zombie Crabs
"Upon finding a host crab, a female Sacculina [barnacle] will crawl over the crab's surface until she finds a chink in the armor: a joint. She then ejects her protective shell, reducing herself to a gelatinous blob, and invades.
Inside the host, the parasite grows long, root-like tendrils throughout the crab's body, eventually emerging as a bump on the its underside. During this process she renders the crab infertile, and creates a small opening in the crab's back that will allow a male Sacculina to make residence there. Soon the crab is filled with millions of Sacculina eggs and larvae, and like a zombie, the crab cares for these eggs and larvae as though they were its own, losing all interest in mating. When a male crab is infected, the parasite alters its physiology and behavior to be female, to better care for the Sacculina's young.
The parasite basically rewires the crab for its own ends, and the crab becomes a helpless vehicle, expending its energy caring for the young organisms that will move on to inflict themselves upon other crabs."
Yikes!
Attack of the Sex-Changed Zombie Crabs!
Don't miss the gross picture at the linked site.
Posted by: Stephen Gordon![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blog.speculist.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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February 6, 2006 10:02 AM