Top 10 Zombie Parasites

Auf TopTenz gibts eine spannende Top 10 zum Thema Zombie Parasiten.

Zwei Beispiele:

5.  Leucochloridium

Related to tapeworms, Leucochloridium inhabits the body of a snail but must complete its life cycle in the body of a songbird. Birds don’t find snails to be particularly appetizing and wouldn’t normally notice them lurking in the shadows, but the parasite is able to reverse the snail’s behavior so that it seeks the open sun, and more disturbingly, it warps the snail’s appearance to resemble something tastier. Leucochloridium’s colorful, pulsating “brood sacs” grow within the snail’s eyestalks, transforming them into what resemble fat, striped caterpillars or maggots. Birds spot the lure from the air, rip the snail’s face off, and end up spreading the parasites around in their droppings. The snail, meanwhile, will grow back its tentacles to repeat the grim process again and again.

2.  Pseudacteon

Though related to the harmless fruit flies breeding in the world’s neglected fruit bowls, Pseudacteon flies have a far more sinister appetite. The female lays her egg in the body of a living ant, and the tiny maggot will eventually move into the ant’s head to devour its brain. This won’t kill the victim, but will cause the ant’s (technically dead) body to wander aimlessly for days on end, until the ant’s head simply drops off from its body. The maggot will use the severed head as a pupation chamber, transforming into a new fly and finding itself a mate.