The lancet liver fluke, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, has a complicated life cycle that begins with the hijacking of an ant's brain.
The unsuspecting ant climbs up and clamps its powerful jaws onto the top of a blade of grass, making it more likely to be eaten by grazers such as cattle and deer.
"Getting the ants high up in the grass for when cattle or deer graze during the cool morning and evening hours, and then down again to avoid the sun's deadly rays, is quite smart. Our discovery reveals a parasite that is more sophisticated than we originally believed it to be," explains Associate Professor Brian Lund Fredensborg, who conducted the study together with former graduate student Simone Nordstrand Gasque, now a Ph.D. student at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
They then observed the infected ants' behavior in relation to light, humidity, time of day and temperature. It was clear that temperature had an effect on ant behavior. When the temperature was low, the ants were more likely to be attached to the top of a blade of grass. When the temperature rose, the ants relinquished the grass and crawled back down.
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