Clan Titan

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I was learning about behavioral sciences today in class; the easy section of our book when we came across this image about a parasite that made the ants commit suicide in order for the flukes get to its other hosts and continue its life cycle. But that's about all it said, so I googled it.


I wonder what exactly causes this and how the parasite controls the ant's nerves; even if they are much simpler than ours.


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I've never heard about this before, but it sure is neat.

There was a different kind of parasite I've seen before- except it was in a video. A person recorded an ant committing suicide in a pool, and it drowned. However, the ant kept moving even after it died, and out of the butt of the ant wiggled this long, black wire that could have been laid over 20 ants head to butt and still had some room for a few more.

Scares the crap out of me. What would we do if we were controlled by a parasite in such a way as that? Would we even realize what we were doing?

*shudder*

I'd hate for something like that to come out of my butt.........ewwww.......

Tarathilien wrote:I'd hate for something like that to come out of my butt.........ewwww.......

then dont look in the toilet

i remember seeing something about this on the discovery channel when i was seven... needless to say i didnt go into my pool for a couple of years till i either forgot about it or figured that those small parasites have no effect on us aside of that of making us sick like the flu. but far from that there are a few parasites that i worry about now and try to stay away from places that they may occur naturally

It's amazing how many little things crawl inside and outside of you constantly; mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, and neutralism. There's no reason for being afraid of them or anything. The worst they can do is kill you. Usually.

Um.


But then again they're nothing to be afraid of; just cook your food all the way and boil your water long enough and you'll be fine. Most of the time they're just eating the bits of you as you die; like bed bugs, or helping your body.

I still think they're cool.


James; think you could find this video online? I'll try looking it up though.

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Looking around google I found a lot of neat ones.

Check this out; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMfkMGF-UCQ
It grows out of their heads ^_^


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pivi3X3 ... ed&search=
One with the hosts of birds and snails; more mind control.

If you want to be scared though you can watch this one on a parasite in human stomachs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoDJuO1i ... ed&search=

I might be able to find it. I think I saw it on http://www.ebaumsworld.com but I might have seen it on another site, which I don't want to link because it's an 18+ site that has become a whore to 18+ material as of the last half year or so. If I can't find it on ebaum's then I'll look on the other site myself, but feel free to help looking on ebaums.

There is this one, but it's with a cricket and not an ant.

Cricket parasite

Well, I guess it was a cricket. That's the video.