The larva’s about to say goodbye to its old goth look and reinvent itself. It sheds its outer layer, legs and all, to reveal a ladybug pupa. An in-between stage where it can spend some time alone ...

Instead of dying, the ladybug survives as a wasp larva emerges from its abdomen and begins to weave a cocoon between the ladybug's legs. That's right: The ladybug is a zombie.

Then, the wasp larva breaks out through the ladybug's abdomen, without killing it, and begins spinning a cocoon between the ladybug's legs.

It turns out that the zombie ladybugs keep predators away from the wasps' vulnerable larva, increasing the likelihood that they survive to become full-fledged wasps.

Ladybug larva are often mistaken as pests by gardeners. But don't spray. These ugly bugs transform into those cute ladybugs that are good for the garden. contributed photo ...

Are ladybugs being overtaken by wasps? An entomologist is investigating a type of wasp present in Quebec that forces ladybugs to carry their larvae. These wasps lay their eggs on the ladybug's ...

Ladybugs Taken Hostage by Wasps Entomologists investigate a type of wasp in Quebec that forces ladybugs to carry their larvae. Nov. 19, 2009, at 11:49 a.m.

But the study also turned up another horrifying curiosity about zombie ladybugs: About 25 percent of the ladybugs survived the parasite process and went about their lives once the wasp larva was gone.