Snail Zombies | National Geographic

snails zombies from your backyard
the body of this amber snail has been
invaded by Luke okhla Rhydian worms
turning it into a pulsating snail zombie
this is the bizarre result of the
microscopic worms journey from snail to
bird and back again after incubating in
the snail huge numbers of the parasites
larvae invade the snails eye stalks the
larvae become vividly colored and puff
up the usually slender eye stalks to
resemble pulsating caterpillars since
birds like this pied flycatcher can’t
resist these lures they pick at them and
end up ingesting the parasite at the
same time after all bird guts are these
worms ideal haven for reproduction
eventually the bird eliminates the new
worm eggs through defecation and the
snail laps up this poopy egg infested
snack YUM and so the cycle continues but
wait there are not one but two
fascinating twists to this story first
the snails mind is seemingly controlled
by the words the infected snail actually
crawls into plain view of birds as the
Sun rises something the snails never do
on their own it’s as if the worms
reprogram the snails brain for their own
nefarious purpose final fact some snails
that have been infected actually live
longer than those that haven’t I mean
how’s that for irony