A parasitoid wasp manipulating the brain of a cockroach

The parasitoid wasp Ampulex controls the cockroach's behaviour for the benefit of its own offspring. The wasp's venom inhibits parts in the cockroach's brain which enable the cockroach to start walking on its own. This allows the wasp to walk the stung cockroach, much like a dog on a leash, into a prepared burrow where it will serve as live food for the wasps offspring. The docile cockroach does not leave its tomb even while it is being consumed, over several days, by the wasp's offspring. Adapted from The wasp Ampulex compressa, a predator of the cockroach Periplaneta americana by Wijnand Heitmans; University of Amsterdam, 1986. Gal et al., Current Biology 18(12), 877-882