Bacteria live inside bacteria in mealybug

The ability of life forms to co-opt each other has taken a novel twist: Scientists have provided the first proof that a bacterium takes up long-term residence inside another bacterium. Both the host and the tenant, in turn, dwell inside a mealybug, which passes the bacteria on through its own eggs.

Electron microscope image of a developing mealybug egg shows one bacterial species (a) encapsulating another (b).