P
PHRAG
Guest
I was talking to Zach earlier about evolution and I tried, with ineptitude, to explain the life cycle of the Dicrocoelium lanceolatum to him. I found some good information on the organism and thought you all might be interested.
The Lancet Fluke, or Dicrocoelium lanceolatum (order Trematoda) infects mammals such as sheep, goats and rabbits. The fluke deposits eggs which are carried from the host mammal in the animal's waste. These eggs are transferred onto the vegetative material eaten by snails, mostly Helicella or enid snails. In the snail's digestive gland, the eggs hatch into the first and second larval generations. The irritation caused by the larvae in the snail's digestive process causes the snail to secrete a mucus ball. This mucus ball is infected with the larval fluke and is an attractive foodsource for ants. The fluke larvae matures in the abdomen of the ant, eventually moving to the brain of the ant "zombifying" it. The "zombie ants" climb up to the leaves of vegetation eaten by mammals such as sheep, goats and rabbits and attach themselves to the leaves by biting down and hanging there. They will hang there until they starve to death, or are eaten by another host mammal. The digested ants infect the host mammal with the Lancet Fluke which matures and lays more eggs.
This is a summarized, and likely plagiarized (go easy on me) description of the lifcycle taken from this website...
http://www.weichtiere.at/Mollusks/Schnecken/parasitismus/dicrocoelium.html
I hope you find this as fascinating as I do. Feel free to post more information about critters and plants with interesting habits.
The Lancet Fluke, or Dicrocoelium lanceolatum (order Trematoda) infects mammals such as sheep, goats and rabbits. The fluke deposits eggs which are carried from the host mammal in the animal's waste. These eggs are transferred onto the vegetative material eaten by snails, mostly Helicella or enid snails. In the snail's digestive gland, the eggs hatch into the first and second larval generations. The irritation caused by the larvae in the snail's digestive process causes the snail to secrete a mucus ball. This mucus ball is infected with the larval fluke and is an attractive foodsource for ants. The fluke larvae matures in the abdomen of the ant, eventually moving to the brain of the ant "zombifying" it. The "zombie ants" climb up to the leaves of vegetation eaten by mammals such as sheep, goats and rabbits and attach themselves to the leaves by biting down and hanging there. They will hang there until they starve to death, or are eaten by another host mammal. The digested ants infect the host mammal with the Lancet Fluke which matures and lays more eggs.
This is a summarized, and likely plagiarized (go easy on me) description of the lifcycle taken from this website...
http://www.weichtiere.at/Mollusks/Schnecken/parasitismus/dicrocoelium.html
I hope you find this as fascinating as I do. Feel free to post more information about critters and plants with interesting habits.
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