Zombie Ants and Dracula Tears

Ants have the capability to change into real-life zombies when a parasitic lancet liver fluke will get “behind the wheel” of their brains.

Africa’s nice wildebeest migration and Mexico’s “dwelling mountain” of fluttering butterfly wings are simply two of nature’s many wonderful and enjoyable phenomena. However, particularly applicable for this time of 12 months, nature holds some scary wonders, as effectively.

One in every of them is ants who change into real-life zombies. A tiny, parasitic flatworm, referred to as the lancet liver fluke, can take over the mind of an ant, inflicting it to cling to blades of grass in opposition to its will. This mind-controlling worm may even press grass-grazing herbivores and snails into the state of affairs as different unwitting actors. Now, researchers are revealing extra in regards to the mind-bending powers of this ghastly parasite, a member—in line with a paper printed by the Australian Society for Parasitology—of essentially the most considerable type of life on Earth.

On the human aspect of horrifying spectacles is Vlad III, referred to as Vlad the Impaler, who was a Fifteenth-century, navy chief and prince of half of what’s now referred to as Romania. He was so terrifying that he’s thought to have impressed the creation of writer Bram Stoker’s literary vampire, Depend Dracula. Now, a scientific examination of the letters of Vlad III is giving new insights into his nature (his atmosphere and his well being), suggesting that he in all probability had respiratory and pores and skin circumstances that might have brought on him to cry literal tears of blood.

Dressed within the Halloween colours of black and orange, monarch butterflies create a spectacle of nature when thousands and thousands of them collect to overwinter within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage website, in Michoacan, Mexico. ©Fernando Romo

The zombie brains of ants

A small flatworm can flip ants into zombies, say researchers from the College of Copenhagen’s Division of Plant and Environmental Sciences in a current paper printed within the Oxford College Press science journal Behavioral Ecology. And the parasitic worm’s skill to regulate the ant is much more crafty and complex than beforehand believed.

Lancet liver flukes have an advanced, nearly insane life cycle, which begins with the hijacking of an ant’s mind. The fluke then causes the unsuspecting ant to climb up and clamp its highly effective jaws onto the highest of a blade of grass, making it extra prone to be eaten by grazers, corresponding to cattle, deer or sheep. Impressively, the parasite may even get the ant to crawl again down the blade of grass when it will get too sizzling.

Getting the ants to go excessive up within the grass when cattle, deer or sheep are grazing within the cool morning and night hours, after which down once more to keep away from the solar’s lethal rays, is sort of sensible. To learn the way the flukes mastermind this technique, the researchers tagged a number of hundred contaminated ants within the Bidstrup Forests close to Roskilde, Denmark. They then noticed the contaminated ants’ habits in relation to humidity, mild, temperature and time of day. It was clear that temperature affected ant habits. When it was cool, the ants had been extra prone to be connected to the highest of a blade of grass. When it acquired hotter, the ants relinquished the grass and crawled again down.

Most of Denmark was initially lined by forests, however after centuries of uncontrolled felling and clearance for agriculture, simply 2 to three% of the nation was lined by forests by 1800. Since adoption of the Danish Forest Act in 1805, forest clearance has been banned and tree-planting efforts had been initiated.

Right here’s essentially the most fascinating half: a number of hundred parasites invade the ant’s physique. However just one makes its solution to the mind, the place it will possibly affect the ant’s habits. The remainder of the liver flukes conceal themselves within the ant’s stomach, wrapped in a capsule which protects them from the host’s abdomen acid. Animals contaminated with many liver flukes can undergo liver harm because the parasites transfer across the host’s liver and bile ducts. In the meantime, the liver fluke that took management of the ant’s mind dies. You may say that it sacrifices itself for the others which are ready for the ant to get them into their subsequent host.

In abstract, listed below are the gamers within the distinctive life cycle of the liver fluke:

1) The zombie ant: A liver fluke infects an ant’s mind, inflicting the ant to clamp onto a blade of grass in order that its subsequent host—a cow, deer, sheep or one other grazer— eats it. In the meantime, a big flock of flukes awaits transmission within the ant’s stomach.

Liver flukes use ants to get into the intestines of grazers—corresponding to cows—the place they grow to be adults and lay eggs, that are then excreted into the atmosphere within the grazer’s feces.

2) The grazer: As soon as the grazer ingests an contaminated ant, it turns into contaminated with liver flukes, too. The liver fluke that took management of the ant’s mind dies within the host’s abdomen acid. The capsule within the ant’s stomach that protected the bigger flock dissolves as soon as within the host’s gut. Right here, the liver flukes discover their means by the bile ducts into the host’s liver, the place they suck blood and grow to be grownup flukes that start to put eggs, that are then excreted through the host animal’s feces.

3) The snail: As soon as the fluke eggs have been excreted, they lie on the bottom ready for a snail to crawl by and devour the feces. Inside the snail, the eggs grow to be larval flukes that reproduce asexually, multiplying into a number of thousand.

4) The slime ball: To exit the snail and transfer on to their subsequent host, the larval flukes trigger the snail to cough, thereby expelling them in a lump of mucus. Ants are interested in the ball of mucus and devour it; and in doing so, ingest the fluke larvae. And, the cycle begins once more.

Snails choose up the saga. They devour the grazer’s feces. Then, contained in the snail, the eggs grow to be larval flukes that reproduce asexually, multiplying into a number of thousand. They’re expelled when the snail coughs.

The underestimated energy of parasites

There are lots of different examples of parasites that alter animal habits. They in all probability have a better hand within the meals chain than you assume.

Traditionally, parasites have seldom been the topics of focus, due partly to the truth that they’re fairly troublesome to review. Nonetheless, the hidden world of parasites encompasses a major a part of biodiversity; and by altering a bunch’s habits, they assist decide who eats what in nature, making them vital for us to know. This new research sheds mild on a particularly underrated group of creatures.

The tiny liver fluke is widespread in Denmark and different temperate areas worldwide. Whereas researchers now know that temperature determines when the parasite will take over an ant’s mind, they hope that persevering with investigations will reveal how and which cocktail of chemical substances the parasite makes use of to show ants into zombies.

The actual Romanian prince, Vlad III, served as a mannequin for writer Bram Stoker’s fictional character, Depend Dracula.

The surviving secrets and techniques of Vlad Draculea

And what would Halloween be with out a point out of Dracula, the well-known vampire? Whereas a historic determine could have been the genesis for the fictional depend, he’s principally a product of Bram Stoker’s and Hollywood filmmakers’ imaginations. There’s, nevertheless, at the very least one pure, scientific purpose for one of many many myths surrounding Depend Dracula: though there isn’t any actual proof to recommend that he drank blood, he probably did cry bloody tears.

The legendary, historic determine’s official title was Vlad III, Voivode (Prince) of Wallachia; and he lived within the southern area of what’s now Romania within the mid-1400s. Though we suspect that Vlad III was not an actual vampire, he was feared for his ruthlessness. Some estimates place his loss of life toll at greater than 80,000 individuals, many dying by impalement, incomes him his nickname of Vlad the Impaler. He was additionally known as Vlad Draculea, which interprets to “the son of the dragon.”

Although greater than 500 years have handed since Vlad’s reign, some artifacts of his have survived, together with a number of letters he penned at completely different factors all through his life. With technological advances, molecules and proteins current on these paperwork and different relics can now present scientists with a singular understanding of the well being of the notorious Vlad Draculea, in addition to the atmosphere he lived in.

Identified in historic paperwork as Wallachia, southern Romania had a susceptible place that considerably influenced its historical past. Bordered by the Carpathian Mountains within the north and the Danube River within the south, the area was situated on the Ottoman border. Fixed assaults and sieges came about for hundreds of years, and most medieval fortifications had been destroyed in the middle of time. That’s why at the moment you’ll see many extra outdated church buildings right here than defensive fortifications.

To uncover the letters’ secrets and techniques, researchers used a specialised plastic movie referred to as EVA, or ethylene-vinyl acetate, to extract any proteins or small molecules from the papers with out damaging them. These extracts had been then analyzed with mass spectrometry, permitting the scientists to characterize hundreds of various peptides. Of those, the researchers centered on these with essentially the most superior deamidation, a type of protein degradation that happens with age. Probably the most degraded proteins had been probably the oldest, and, subsequently, the almost certainly to be from Vlad III, in comparison with newer, less-degraded proteins that might have originated from different individuals dealing with the letters extra just lately. A complete of 16 proteins had been of human origin, referring to respiratory, blood and pores and skin.

Reporting within the American Chemical Society’s publication Analytical Chemistry in August 2023, the researchers say that the information they acquired means that Vlad III may have suffered from respiratory points and doubtlessly a situation referred to as hemolacria, which might have brought on him to cry tears of blood—fairly becoming for a spooky character.

Different proteins recognized by the scientists point out that he may even have been uncovered to sure, plague-related micro organism and even pesky fruit flies.

Bela Lugosi was a Hungarian–American actor, finest remembered for portraying Depend Dracula within the 1931 horror film basic “Dracula.” Vampires (within the method of Lugosi) stay one of the vital common costumes for Halloween.

The moody psychological photos of Halloween

Right here’s what I’m picturing now, on this Halloween 2023: I see a bit, cartoon worm on the outsized management panels of an ant’s mind. Like some mad scientist with a maniacal smile, he’s feverishly switching levers to the on and off positions.

Then, I conjure up a moody and monstrous royal from the far previous, sitting at his dreary desk and penning offended letters, dampened often by the crimson, viscous liquid that drips from his eyes like tears.

Now that I’ve set the stage, I’d wish to want you all a haunting Halloween,

Sweet