These brain worms turn ants into death-seeking zombies
Look inside the head of a doomed ant overtaken by a mind-controlling parasite
Look inside the head of a doomed ant overtaken by a mind-controlling parasite
Look inside the head of a doomed ant overtaken by a mind-controlling parasite
In a recently published study in the journal , scientists looked inside the head of ant overtaken by gruesome, mind-controlling parasites.
The parasite, the lancet liver fluke, is a flatworm that jumps between different animal species to complete its life cycle. The parasite begins in egg form, attached to the dung of grazing animals like cattle or deer. Snails will eat the infected feces and dispel the worm larvae as little slime balls that ants then gobble up.
Inside the ant, the worms turn deadly. Ants usually get multiple worms at once, and most stay inside the ant바카라 게임 웹사이트s abdomen. One worm, however, will takeover the ant바카라 게임 웹사이트s brain, commanding it to essentially seek death. At dusk, ants usually return to their nests, but the infected zombie ants climb blades of grass and other vegetation and hold on to a plant by its jaws until it gets eaten. Once it gets eaten, the parasite can then lay eggs in its new mammal host and begin its dark cycle anew.
Though biologists have known about this morbid relationship for years, micro-CT scanning has allowed scientists to visualize the relationship clearer than ever before. Micro-CT scans combine microscopy and X-ray imaging to illustrate the inner world of tiny objects in intense detail.
The new scans show as many as three worms could be fighting for control inside one ant바카라 게임 웹사이트s brain, though only one will take over the host. The parasites latch onto the ant바카라 게임 웹사이트s brain tissue and target the region associated with motion and mandible control.
Thank you, imaging technology, and let바카라 게임 웹사이트s hope the parasites won바카라 게임 웹사이트t evolve to take over human minds any time soon.
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