{"id":118927,"date":"2023-09-19T11:12:41","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T11:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/?p=118927"},"modified":"2023-09-19T11:12:41","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T11:12:41","slug":"mind-control-parasite-turns-ants-into-zombies-and-forces-them-to-get-eaten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leviolonrouge.com\/world-news\/mind-control-parasite-turns-ants-into-zombies-and-forces-them-to-get-eaten\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Mind control parasite\u2019 turns ants into zombies and forces them to get eaten"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists have discovered a mind-controlling parasite \u2013 the likes of which is something straight out of a zombie movie.<\/p>\n

The parasite, known as lancet liver flukes, has taken over the minds of ants, holding the insects hostage and forcing them to do their bidding. The microscopic organisms infect the ants during their first stages of life. It then takes over the creature's brain to spread the infection to its next host. It does this by forcing the ant to act as a sacrifice to larger predators.<\/p>\n

The parasite ensures the ant is offered up as food to animals such as deer and cows, according to new research in the journal \u2018Behavioural Ecology\u2019. The publication added that the climbing is induced by the parasite specifically during dawn and dusk to avoid the heat of the midday sun.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, Brian Lund Fredensborg, co-author of the paper and associate professor of organismal biology at the University of Copenhagen, said: "We found a clear correlation between temperature and ant behaviour. We joked about having found the ants' zombie switch.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Speaking to Newsweek, they added: "The successful completion of the life cycle requires that the grazing mammal eats infected ants. Forcing the ants to the tips of grass blades increases the chance that the ant is eaten by the deer.<\/p>\n

"The point of making the ant climb the grass at dawn and dusk is to synchronize zombie ant behaviour with the grazing activity of the deer who primarily eat at dawn and dusk. It makes really good sense that the ant is 'released' during the midday hours where the chance of getting eaten is less and where the damaging effects of sun rays may kill the infected ant sitting on the grass and thereby also killing the parasite itself."<\/p>\n

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