Tapeworm Extends Ant Lifespan and Rewrites Social Roles
A tapeworm parasite (Anomotaenia brevis) infects Temnothorax nylanderi ants via woodpecker droppings, causing infected workers to live up to ten times longer and be treated like queens by nestmates. The study reports queen-like changes in metabolism, immune function, and aging in the ants’ fat bodies, while brain signals don’t resemble the parasite’s peptides, suggesting the parasite influences host regulation rather than directly hijacking the brain. These findings, from gene-expression analyses of infected, uninfected, and queen ants, shed light on how infection alters physiology and social behavior; the lifecycle continues when birds ingest the infected ants.
