7/28/2019 Zombie Bees: They're Real and They're Here

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Why do you suppose there are more cases of "zombie bees" in western states than in

other parts of the United States?

It's possible that A. borealis has only a dapted to recognizing honey bees as hosts in areas

along the West Coast. If so this tendency might be spread to other areas as honey bee

colonies are moved from state to state.

On the other hand, parasitism of honey bees may be happening throughout the range of

the y and has simply gone unnoticed. We founded the ZomBee Watch project to enlistcitizen scientists in helping us discover where parasitism of honey bees is occurring across

North America.

- Dr. John Hafernik

Dr. John Hafernik is a

Professor of Biology at San

Francisco State University

and Trustee and President of

California Academy of

Sciences. He discovered

zombie bees and started

their research.

Interview with Dr. John Hafernik

When the bees are being hosted, is it possible for

them to sting people or animals? If so, what types

of side eects could potentially occur?

As long as they are aliv e, infected honey bees can stillsting and should be handled with care. Infected bees

are no more aggressive than healthy bees and will not

attack people or animals unless provoked. The eectsof a sting are no dierent than that of a healthy bee.

The Zombie Fly itself only parasitizes insects and doesnot lay eggs on or in humans. As far as we know it does

not transmit any diseases that are contractible by

humans.

I understand that the inhabited bees are attractedto light. What attracts them to light? Are they more

attracted to light than normal (uninhabited) bees?

Most ying insects that are active at night orient

towards light. Their attraction to nearby to lights is is

probably the result of confusion with a more distantlight source like the sun or moon which they would use

as a navigational reference point. The parasite may be

causing the bees circadian rhythm genes to turn on atthe wrong time making the bee active at night. Once

active they would orient to light.

The Phorid Fly, Apocephalus borealis, is native to

North America and has been known to host otherinsects. With that being said, why do you suppose

that there has been so many bees being aected by

the Phorid y only recently?

It is possible that the y has undergone recentbehavioral or genetic changes that have resulted in arecent host shift to honey bees A new host might lack

the defenses that have evolved in native hosts thathave had a longterm evolutionary association with the

parasite and be more severely aected.

On the other hand, parasitism may have been going

ever since the honey bee was brought to North

American from Europe. Because it is not obvious that ahoney bee is infected by the parasite and infected

honey bees often leave their hives to die, beekeepers

and bee researchers may have overlooked its presencein honey bee colonies. Beekeepers we have worked

with were unaware that their hives were infected untilwe sampled bees their hives.

ZOMBIE BEESTHEYRE REAL, AND THEYRE HERE

Who would ever have thought we would see the day that zombies

would walk the Earth (or y in this case)? Recently, bees in

western United States are being infected by the A. Borealis Phorid

y also know as t he zombie y. This causes the bees to go into a

delirious state and then leave the hive in groups during t he night.

Sources :

Dr. John Hafernik, the Zombee Watch Website, Piotr Jawor-

ski via Wikimedia Commons, Plos One Website.

Creat e

dbyT

aylorM

organ

Phorid Fly Life Cycle

Adult Phorid

Flies

Larvae

inside Bee

A. Borealis

Pupae

Mature

Larvae

Adapted from ZombeeWatch.org

Larvae emerge frombetween the thorax

and the head of the

bee.

The larvae eat the bees

muscle tissues and grow

to maturity.

As many as 15 larvae can

emerge from one bee.

A range from 4 to 12 canbe found eating the bees

ight muscles at once in

this area.

Some theories

suggest the bee acts with

disorientarion because the

larvae attack its nervous

system.

The Phorid y lays its

eggs into the abdomen

of the bee.

The Adult PhoridFly rst lays its

eggs into theabdomen of the

bee and the larvaemove to the thorax

where they eat thebees tissues and

grow.

The larvae stay

small while

traveling through

the abdomen.