Man finds bugs known as ‘Smurfs’ infected with deadly virus that turns them blue

A man from Dallas, North Carolina, US, aged 23, captured footage of unusual-looking woodlice that had turned blue. Typically, woodlice, which belong to the Isopod family, are dark brown in colour. In the video, six of the peculiar insects can be seen scuttling across Joshua’s hand. One of them quickly rolls into a ball, and the others crawl across his hand before falling back onto the grass. The bugs are infected with an invertebrate iridescent virus that can affect a variety of creatures, resulting in the blue colouration of Isopods.

However, the bugs soon die after becoming infected. Joshua stated that he found them easily in his yard, including some in the grass and others beneath items in the yard. He was taken aback because he had never found that many in such a brief period, which prompted him to film the video. He also mentioned that the iridovirus infection causes them to turn a bright blue colour.