By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | October 31, 2018 12:18pm ET
A wasp that preys on cockroaches turns them into mind-controlled zombies by stinging them in the brain, and roaches were thought to be all but defenseless against this zombifying attack.
But it turns out that cockroaches have a defensive move that can protect them from becoming members of the walking dead.
Scientists recently discovered that roaches lash out at their would-be zombie-makers with powerful karate-like kicks to the attacking insect's head. Their strategy doesn't kill the wasp, but it's usually enough to send them looking for an easier victim, according to a new study. [Zombie Animals: 5 Real-Life Cases of Body-Snatching]
Zombification in this wasp-cockroach scenario is a little different than that suffered by human zombies in pop culture. The human "undead condition" usually seems to spread through bites; as in certain contagious diseases, an infusion of tainted bodily fluid passes on the "infection," turning the victim into an animated corpse with a taste for brains
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