UC Berkeley Press Release
Video: Ant parasite turns host into ripe red berry, biologists discover
Ants carrying nematode parasites act almost normal, but look like a different species. An ant's abdomen or gaster turns red and the ant holds it elevated, so that it resembles a ripe berry. Adult ants are not infected directly. Instead, ants are fed infected food as larvae and grow to adulthood as the nematodes hatch, mate and lay more eggs inside the gaster.
(Stephen Yanoviak/Univ. of Arkansas & BBC)
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