IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/beheco/v34y2023i6p960-968..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Expression of trematode-induced zombie-ant behavior is strongly associated with temperature

Author

Listed:
  • Simone Nordstrand
  • Brian Lund

Abstract

Parasite-induced modification of host behavior increasing transmission to a next host is a common phenomenon. However, field-based studies are rare, and the role of environmental factors in eliciting host behavioral modification is often not considered. We examined the effects of temperature, relative humidity (RH), time of day, date, and an irradiation proxy on behavioral modification of the ant Formica polyctena (Förster, 1850) by the brain-encysting lancet liver fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum (Rudolphi, 1819). This fluke induces ants to climb and bite to vegetation by the mandibles in a state of temporary tetany. A total of 1264 individual ants expressing the modified behavior were observed over 13 non-consecutive days during one year in the Bidstrup Forests, Denmark. A sub-set of those ants (N = 172) was individually marked to track the attachment and release of infected ants in relation to variation in temperature. Infected ants primarily attached to vegetation early and late in the day, corresponding to low temperature and high RH, presumably coinciding with the grazing activity of potential herbivorous definitive hosts. Temperature was the single most important determinant for the induced phenotypic change. On warm days, infected ants altered between the manipulated and non-manipulated state multiple times, while on cool days, many infected ants remained attached to the vegetation all day. Our results suggest that the temperature sensitivity of the infected ants serves the dual purpose of exposing infected ants to the next host at an opportune time, while protecting them from exposure to high temperatures, which might increase host (and parasite) mortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Nordstrand & Brian Lund, 2023. "Expression of trematode-induced zombie-ant behavior is strongly associated with temperature," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 34(6), pages 960-968.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:beheco:v:34:y:2023:i:6:p:960-968.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/arad064
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fernando Sarti Andriolli & Noemia Kazue Ishikawa & Ruby Vargas-Isla & Tiara Sousa Cabral & Charissa de Bekker & Fabricio Beggiato Baccaro, 2019. "Do zombie ant fungi turn their hosts into light seekers?," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 30(3), pages 609-616.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:beheco:v:34:y:2023:i:6:p:960-968.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/beheco .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.