Parasitic tapeworm influences behavior and lifespan of uninfected members of ant colonies
Tuesday, December 1, 2015 - 16:40
in Biology & Nature
Ants are quite often infected by parasites. For example, tapeworms use ants as intermediate hosts for a part of their development phase before they complete their life cycle in their main host. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have now discovered that such parasites not only change the appearance and behavior of infected ants but also have an effect on the behavior of uninfected members of the colony.