Smart Worms

A tiny worm can turn ants into berries. Well, not exactly; but scientists working in a Central American rainforest discovered a parasitic roundworm that makes ants' bellies turn red & swell until the ant looks like a fat, juicy berry — which looks delicious to berry-eating birds. The birds eat the ant "berries" & thousands of parasite eggs are distributed in the birds' droppings. The eggs hatch, the little worms latch onto ants, & the cycle continues.

animals

Websites

• The Great Beyond
  Parasite turns ants into tasty looking berries

Books

• Jungle bugs
  masters of camouflage and mimicry

Last updated by curious on Aug. 25, 2008

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While the Library has verified the information presented in these files in what it considers to be reliable and authoritative sources, it cannot take responsibility for nor guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.