Fruit flies may seem as if they lead an uneventful life. They look for old fruit to lay their eggs. The maggots then hatch and graze on the yeast and bacteria that make the fruit rot.

In reality, however, these flies have to do battle with horrifying enemies. Tiny wasps seek out the maggots and lay eggs inside them. The wasps develop inside the still living flies, feeding on their tissues. When the wasps reach adult size, they crawl out of the dying bodies of their hosts.

The flies are not helpless victims, however. In the journal Current Biology, Todd Schlenke, an Emory University biologist, and his colleagues report a remarkable defense the insects use: To kill their parasites, the flies get drunk.

Continue reading “To Evict Parasite, Canny Fruit Flies Pick Their Poison” →

Joy Reidenberg’s trip from Dublin to New York in January 2009 was without a doubt the most embarrassing flight of her life.

Her skin gave off a foul stench, like a refrigerator that has gone days without power. She told the flight attendants she was sick, and they discreetly moved her to a seat by the lavatory. They told the other passengers that they were having a little trouble with the bathrooms.

In fact, Dr. Reidenberg was perfectly healthy. “The truth was too hard to explain,” she said: “ ‘Don’t mind me, I was inside a whale yesterday.’ ”

Continue reading “From Inside Lions and Leviathans, Anatomist Builds a Following” →