• Poogona [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    16 hours ago

    There’s a type of ant parasite (a type of fluke I think?) that is classified as a “social parasite” because it takes advantage of ant eusociality. It infects a host ant and makes it smell and look more like a queen, and the other ants start to tend to it like they would a queen, meaning that they get overworked and sometimes even choose to care for the infected individual at the expense of their actual queen.

    Edit: and the species’ name? Capitalensis inheritorae just kidding