Behavioral betrayal: How select fungal parasites enlist living insects to do their bidding

Abstract

“The retention of the power of locomotion is of great importance in so far as the spread of the disease is concerned. It enables the insects not only before the abdomen has ruptured, but even after the fruiting layer has been exposed and, during the time the conidia are being discharged, to wander over the trees and distribute the spores in a far more efficient manner than would be possible if death of the host resulted before the fruiting stage of the fungus was reached-as is usually the case.”-Dr. Alan G. Dustan observing active host transmission by Entomophthora erupta-infected Lygus communis, 1923 [1].