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Updated: May 20, 2026
08:10
A Visual Guide for Studying Behavioral Defenses to Pathogen Attacks in Leaf-Cutting Ants
Published on: October 12, 2018
Host specificity of parasite manipulation: Zombie ant death location in Thailand vs. Brazil
Communicative & Integrative Biology
|July 19, 2012
Abstract:
Recently we presented how Camponotus ants in Thailand infected with the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis are behaviorally manipulated into dying where the conditions are optimal for fungal development. Death incurred in a very narrow zone of space and here we compare this highly specific manipulation with a related system in Brazil. We show that the behavioral manipulation is less fine-tuned and discuss the potential explanations for this by examining differences in ant host and environmental characteristics.
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