Aren't they symbiotic if they're doing this rather than parasites?
Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
11–20 of 82 posts
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#12It reminds me of this story. Basically, a healthy host is in the parasite's best interest... https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/magazine/the-parasite-und...
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#13There's a Futurama episode that anticipated this. Fry eats an egg salad sandwich from a truck stop restroom vending machine and acquires a parasitic worm infection that gives him super powers.
Simpsons did it.
Futurama foretold it.
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#14Some interesting parallels to us. Sounds like the infected ants could be described as their colony's "job creators".
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting. If that were true, you would see a sudden youthfulness in CEOs, like regaining lost hair.
But they will be basically stoned, and won't care about working anymore, so they'll be ex-CEOs.
Unless the people around them behave like the uninfected ants and just worship them 24/7.
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#16Have they tried introducing these worms into drosophila or even mice? I’d be curious what the effect would be. Also what effect does it have in the birds that carry it?
On the first question, my guess is that it activates queen like behavior on a default ant. So it's not actually giving it powers beyond its species, just reconfiguring the particular setup.
What if it's a male ant?
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the first question, my guess is that it activates queen like behavior on a default ant. So it's not actually giving it powers beyond its species, just reconfiguring the particular setup.
What if it's a male ant?
According to Wikipedia, in larger colonies most ants are sterile, wingless females:
"Larger colonies consist of various castes of sterile, wingless females, most of which are workers (ergates), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialised groups."
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#18>"The tapeworm-laden ants didn’t just outlive their siblings, the team found. They were coddled while they did it. They spent their days lounging in their nest, performing none of the tasks expected of workers. They were groomed, fed, and carried by their siblings, often receiving more attention than even the queen—unheard of in a typical ant society—and gave absolutely nothing in return."
I wonder if there is a human equivalent tapeworm that the Kardashians have ingested?
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#19Aren't they symbiotic if they're doing this rather than parasites?
It's weird. Symbiotic to the ant; parasitic to the hive.
But then the ant isn't the reproductive unit.
Re: Ant parasites that prolong the life of their host
#20It reminds me of this story. Basically, a healthy host is in the parasite's best interest... https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/magazine/the-parasite-und...
Same with a virus. A virus doesn't want to kill the host. A deadly virus is an unsuccessful virus