protect your throat, and strike repeatedly at the head of the attacker,

November 3, 2018 6:45 PM

Cockroaches deliver karate kicks to avoid being turned into “zombies” [YouTube] “"The cockroach has a suite of behaviors it can deploy to fend off the zombie makers," says Catania. "This starts out with what I call the en garde position, like in fencing." It's also known as "stilt standing." From that position, the roach can track an approaching wasp with its antenna and elevate its body, the better to aim a swift, hard kick at the wasp's head and body. The roach uses its leg almost like a baseball bat. If it puts up enough of a fight, "The wasp usually figures out there's a smaller and less-defensive cockroach out there to be had," he says.” [via: Ars Technica]
posted by Fizz (13 comments total)

Awesome post about zombification in nature; reminds me of the controversial Wade Davis book The Serpent and the Rainbow, although that is ethnobotanical zombification.

Also, congratulations on your 1500th Metafilter post, fizz. ❤️
posted by nightrecordings at 7:02 PM on November 3, 2018 [7 favorites]

at your head, at your head
at your head, they are kicking
posted by 7segment at 7:05 PM on November 3, 2018 [6 favorites]

This so much easier when you have six legs...
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:20 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

Where can I get a few dozen of these wasps? People in New York need these wasps.
posted by vrakatar at 7:26 PM on November 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

Wasp vs cockroach is one of those fights where it's hard to know who to root for.
posted by zompist at 7:31 PM on November 3, 2018 [7 favorites]

I've been rooting for the cockroach since noticing that the wasp was wearing a little MAGA hat.
posted by flabdablet at 8:43 PM on November 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

nature is gross
posted by ryanrs at 12:01 AM on November 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

That's a little bit frightening. I hope the cockroach has expert timing.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 4:20 AM on November 4, 2018 [6 favorites]

Yo, you best protect ya neck!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 6:25 AM on November 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

Wasps who want to zombify you,
Give them a boot to the head.
posted by kewb at 6:55 AM on November 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

Little cockroach brains
are safer for the wielding
of back leg Lucille.
posted by flabdablet at 8:33 AM on November 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

I always root for the human-adjacent species. Rat, cockroach, pigeon; they have learned and adapted and become part of the broader human biosphere. Where we go, we go together, from now until the end of time.
posted by Scattercat at 3:16 PM on November 4, 2018

We share our houses
with the species we root for;
hooray for bedbugs!
posted by flabdablet at 3:23 PM on November 4, 2018