Parasitic ants parasitize other ants using aggression and deception. Aa Aa Aa Among my fondest memories are the summers that I spent studying the ants of Elk Island National Park in western Canada.

Variation in the style of ectoparasitism is illustrated by the different lifestages involved and differing effects on the hosts by parasitic ants and eucharitids. Considerable variation in behavior ...

Socially parasitic ants can serve as protective symbionts for their fungus-growing hosts in the face of attacks by predatory raiding species. “This is really intriguing,” said evolutionary biologist ...

where ants become exposed to another fungal parasite that takes over their bodies and spreads to other ants. Once the spider reaches an ideal spot, the fungus kills its host and releases spores ...

“Actually, we can hypothesize that they keep the forest in balance,” he added, pointing to the case of the zombie ant fungi. Scientists have documented the lethal parasite regulating the ...

Diversity of life history traits in the formicine ants. In clockwise direction ... which practices dependent and temporary social parasitic colony founding; (C) Formica gynocrates, representing ...

Dissected ant and where you can see the encapsulated parasites (white oval structures) spilling out of the hind body. Photo: Brian Lund Fredensborg Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not ...

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More information: Ryoya Tanaka et al, Switching escape strategies in the parasitic ant cricket Myrmecophilus tetramorii, Communications Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-07368-y Provided by ...

"Colony size in ants varies from seven to 14.8 million. Can ecological factors, such as the number of predators, the climate, or even the number of parasites of an ant species explain this?" ...