Now that would get your attention! But do not fear this is as interesting as it sounds!!!
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6420449.html
How on earth does it wander around for two weeks without a brain??!? Oh hang on! * thinks of Jade Goody *
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6420449.html
The flies “dive-bomb” the fire ants and lay eggs, and then the maggot that hatches inside the ant eats away at the brain. Later, the ant gets up and starts wandering for about two weeks, said Rob Plowes, a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin.
Although the ant exhibits zombie-like behavior, Plowes said he “wouldn’t use the word ‘control’ to describe what is happening. There is no brain left in the ant, and the ant just starts wandering aimlessly.”
About a month after the egg is laid, the ant’s head falls off and it dies — and the fly emerges ready to attack any foraging ants away from the mound and lay eggs.
Although the ant exhibits zombie-like behavior, Plowes said he “wouldn’t use the word ‘control’ to describe what is happening. There is no brain left in the ant, and the ant just starts wandering aimlessly.”
About a month after the egg is laid, the ant’s head falls off and it dies — and the fly emerges ready to attack any foraging ants away from the mound and lay eggs.
How on earth does it wander around for two weeks without a brain??!? Oh hang on! * thinks of Jade Goody *
pretty interesting though IMO.
