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Hookworm Graduation Card
Eggs of Ancylostoma duodenale in stool develop into infective larvae in warm, moist soil. The larvae penetrate the skin of the bottom of...


Malaria Graduation Card
The malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium , has a complex two-host lifecycle. In both hosts, the parasite must use and migrate through...


Copy of Why would a worm turn an ant into a berry?
Part Three: Untangling the Mystery of Red Gaster Ants By Dr. Kyle Lesack The ability of certain parasites to modify the appearance or...


Copy of Why would a worm turn an ant into a berry?
Part Two: In a Fortuitous Turn of Events By Dr. Kyle Lesack Parasitism of Cephalotes atratus by Myrmeconema neotropicum In a fortuitous...
Why would a worm turn an ant into a berry?
Part One: Introduction to Parasitism and Host Manipulation By Dr. Kyle Lesack Nature provides countless examples of ingenious adaptations...


Dating app
One tongue-eating louse, Cymothoa exigua, was described in our Halloween comic: Free-swimming, juvenile Cymothoa exigua males attach to...


Apicomplexan Fireworks
Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite that infects animals. Cyst forms wait in the muscle tissue of intermediate hosts to be...


The Zombie Ant
The lancet liver fluke, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, has a three-host lifecycle. Eggs in feces hatch and infect a snail. There, the larvae...


Halloween
Eggs of Leucochloridium paradoxum present in bird droppings hatch and penetrate through the skin of a succineid snail (Succinea spp.,...


A New Understanding
Sacculina carcini parsitizes crabs, mostly the green crab Carcinus maenas (1). It is most commonly found in Europe, but has also been...
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