If you never thought you’d feel bad for cockroaches, consider this: The green jewel wasp can perform brain surgery on a cockroach, turning it into a living zombie.

The tropical wasp injects venom that blocks octopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with alertness and movement. Once the roach is its slave, the wasp plants its own larvae inside the roach’s body, and the larvae eat the roach from the inside out. [via]

(Thanks to Colin for the link.)