A fascinating exploration of the awe-inspiring, weird, and unsettling ingenuity of evolution
On a barren seafloor, the pearlfish swims into the safety of a sea cucumber’s anus. To find a meal, the female bolas spider releases pheromones that mimic a female moth, luring male moths into her sticky lasso web. The Glyptapanteles wasp injects a caterpillar with her young, which feed on the victim, erupt out of it, then mind-control the poor (and somehow still living) schmuck into protecting them from predators.
These are among the curious critters of The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar, a jaunt through evolution’s most unbelievable, most ingenious solutions to the problems of everyday life, from trying to get laid to finding food. Join Wired science writer Matt Simon as he introduces you to the creatures that have it figured out, the ones that joust with their mustaches or choke sharks to death with snot, all in a wild struggle to survive and, of course, find true love.
These are among the curious critters of The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar, a jaunt through evolution’s most unbelievable, most ingenious solutions to the problems of everyday life, from trying to get laid to finding food. Join Wired science writer Matt Simon as he introduces you to the creatures that have it figured out, the ones that joust with their mustaches or choke sharks to death with snot, all in a wild struggle to survive and, of course, find true love.
Giant and Colossal Squid
Giant African Land Snail
Water Bear
Velvet Worm
Whip Spider
Carpenter Ant and the Ophiocordyceps Fungus
Anglerfish (female)
Ocean Sunfish
Hagfish attacked by a Kitefin Shark
Surinam Toad
Axolotl
† Irish Elk
Aye-Aye
Pangolin
Lowland Streaked Tenrec
cover design: Roseanne Serra | book layout design: Sabrina Bowers
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