just a thought.
there are fungus out there that get on/in to ants. it changes how they behave, then they attack the other ants in the colony.
any thing other than ants affected like this?

robadob said:

just a thought.
there are fungus out there that get on/in to ants. it changes how they behave, then they attack the other ants in the colony.
any thing other than ants affected like this?

Hi Rob, long time no chat.

Those zombified ants are weird aren’t they?

first saw them on an Attenborough documentary.

Caterpillars:

http://australianfungi.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/35-cordyceps-gunnii.html

Attenborough

yes just watching..

:) hi pete

The cordyceps fungus attacks various different insects and other arthropods like this spider. But I don’t know if it alters the spider’s behaviour (apart from killing it :))

Yes I think there is a parasite that infects the Golden Orb Weaver spider. The spider seeks water and can be seen doing strange, almost suicidal things on this mission.

Although it’s a protozoan, not a fungus, toxoplasma gondii can affect the behaviour of its host.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate, intracellular, parasitic protozoan that causes the disease toxoplasmosis.

Found worldwide, T. gondii is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals. In humans, it is one of the most common parasites; serological studies estimate that up to a third of the global population has been exposed to and may be chronically infected with T. gondii, although infection rates differ significantly from country to country. Although mild, flu-like symptoms occasionally occur during the first few weeks following exposure, infection with T. gondii generally produces no symptoms in healthy human adults. However, in infants, HIV/AIDS patients, and others with weakened immunity, infection can cause serious and occasionally fatal illness (toxoplasmosis).

T. gondii has been shown to alter the behavior of infected rodents in ways thought to increase the rodents’ chances of being preyed upon by cats. Because cats are the only hosts within which T. gondii can sexually reproduce to complete and begin its lifecycle, such behavioral manipulations are thought to be evolutionary adaptations to increase the parasite’s reproductive success, in one of the manifestations the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins attributes to the “extended phenotype”. Although numerous hypotheses exist and are being investigated, the mechanism of T. gondii–induced behavioral changes in rodents remains unknown.

[…]

A number of studies have suggested subtle behavioral or personality changes may occur in infected humans, and infection with the parasite has recently been associated with a number of neurological disorders, particularly schizophrenia. However, evidence for causal relationships remains limited.

FWIW, a video game, The Last of Us , is based on the premise of a cordyceps fungus that attacks humans, “taking away their higher brain function (and with it, their humanity), and causing the infected to become hyper-aggressive”.

Mmm toxo.

Another parasite that alters its hosts behaviour: the emerald cockroach wasp (Ampulex compressa).
How to make a zombie cockroach

The wasp, which lives in tropical regions of Africa, India and the Pacific Islands, relies on cockroaches for its grisly life cycle. But unlike many venomous predators, which paralyse their victims before eating them or dragging them back to their lair, the wasp’s sting leaves the cockroach able to walk, but unable to initiate its own movement.

The wasp then grabs the cockroach’s antenna and leads it back to the nest. The cockroach walks “like a dog on a leash”, says Frederic Libersat of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, who led the research and has previously described the wasps’ behaviour in detail. Once home, the merciless wasp lays an egg on the docile cockroach’s belly, and the larva, once hatched, devours the hapless insect

PM 2Ring said:

Another parasite that alters its hosts behaviour: the emerald cockroach wasp (Ampulex compressa).
How to make a zombie cockroach

The wasp, which lives in tropical regions of Africa, India and the Pacific Islands, relies on cockroaches for its grisly life cycle. But unlike many venomous predators, which paralyse their victims before eating them or dragging them back to their lair, the wasp’s sting leaves the cockroach able to walk, but unable to initiate its own movement.

The wasp then grabs the cockroach’s antenna and leads it back to the nest. The cockroach walks “like a dog on a leash”, says Frederic Libersat of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, who led the research and has previously described the wasps’ behaviour in detail. Once home, the merciless wasp lays an egg on the docile cockroach’s belly, and the larva, once hatched, devours the hapless insect

:) thats mad as

Speedy said:

Yes I think there is a parasite that infects the Golden Orb Weaver spider. The spider seeks water and can be seen doing strange, almost suicidal things on this mission.

Horse hair worm AKA Nematomorph.

They’re a parasitic worm hosted by a range of invertebrates around that size. I’ve seen some pretty big ones from cockroaches. When they reach sexual maturity they drive their host to water where they burrow out of the side of their dying host and leave in search of romance and adventure.

I’ve also heard of a parasitic barnacle that was like a brain slug for crabs.