08-19-2010, 04:23 PM
Amazing, really. I wonder what signal a fungus can possibly send to an ant that means "find the central part of a leaf and bite it, then stay there". Seems like an awfully specific instruction, especially considering it's something I would think the ant would not otherwise ever do.
Going under a leaf could possibly make sense if the fungus did something to make the ant sensitive to light (the ant is just trying to get away from light) but I don't get the latching on to the central vein.
Going under a leaf could possibly make sense if the fungus did something to make the ant sensitive to light (the ant is just trying to get away from light) but I don't get the latching on to the central vein.