喜歡玩惡靈古堡嗎？來看看動物界裡真正的僵屍吧。

作者：Jessica的老公│2010-02-02 01:33:24│巴幣：4│人氣：3023

OK，這一篇是來自
Scienticfic American 的文章，
主題是介紹～『動物界的僵屍』，
內容很嚇人也很不可思議喔，
同樣地，每段後面為其翻譯，
原文部分我也放上來了。
喜歡玩『惡靈古堡』的朋友們，千萬別錯過本篇。

A CATERPILLAR BODYGUARD

Why would a caterpillar protect wasp cocoons from invaders? The wasps (of the genus Glyptapanteles) are controlling the caterpillar. "Just before the wasp [larva] emerges from the caterpillar, it produces a toxin that causes the caterpillar to be a bodyguard" for the wasp larvae, explains David Hughes, a research fellow at the University of Exeter. "It doesn't allow the caterpillar to do all the other normal caterpillar stuff, like walk away" to escape, he adds.

Researchers are still not sure how the caterpillar is engaged in this final duty. "It's a behavior that's induced by a parasite that is not even in the host anymore," says Edward Levri, an associate professor of biology at The Pennsylvania State University. Other caterpillars have been forced to create cocoons for parasitic wasp larvae that emerge from them, he adds. "The caterpillar is almost dead, and then its last goal in life is to create a cocoonlike house" for the vulnerable wasp larvae. As he points out, "if [the larvae] aren't covered up by the web, another parasitoid will inject eggs into them," initiating another meta-level of parasitism.

毛蟲當保鏢

為什麼毛蟲要去保護黃蜂（種屬Glyptapanteles）的卵繭呢？答案是，黃蜂控制了毛蟲嘍。在埃克塞特大學的研究員，大衛休斯指出，就在黃蜂幼蟲從毛蟲身上冒出後，它將產生一種毒素，導致毛毛蟲成為黃蜂幼蟲保鏢。他補充說，在這種情況下，受控制的毛蟲將無法表現出正常毛蟲的行為，甚至包括最基本的行為如，『逃生』。

研究人員還不能確定毛蟲如何從事這最後的責任。在賓夕法尼亞州立大學的愛德華 Levri生物學副教授指出，這是一個寄生蟲不在宿主體內，但又能受寄生蟲誘發的行為。其他毛蟲將被迫形成繭以利寄生蜂幼蟲寄生。他補充說，毛蟲幾乎是死了，它苟延殘喘的最後目標，是為弱小的寄生蜂幼蟲，建立一個類似繭的家。正如他所指出，如果寄生蜂幼蟲沒有毛蟲製造的繭保護，其他種類的寄生蜂就會將他們自己的卵注入進去，並取而代之。

A COCKROACH PAWN

In a well-documented example of external parasite control, an emerald cockroach wasp (Ampulex compressa) enslaves a much larger cockroach (Periplaneta americana). The wasp injects a neurotoxin into the cockroach's brain. This toxin kills off the roach's ability to control its own movement but doesn't paralyze it entirely. The wasp is then able to grasp the roach's antenna and lead it into a nest before laying an egg in the live cockroach's body.

Permanently incapacitated, the cockroach is unable to escape and is eaten from the inside by the growing wasp larva.

（小強：『OH NO～～～～～請溫柔一點，不要這樣粗魯嘛。』）
蟑螂便當

已有許多充分證據指出，寄生蟲可以在宿主體外進行控制，例如，翡翠蟑螂黃蜂可以奴役一個大蟑螂（美洲大蠊）。黃蜂將一種神經毒素注入到蟑螂的大腦，這種毒素摧毀蟑螂本身控制自己的運動能力，但蟑螂並非完全癱瘓。此後，在黃蜂於其體內下蛋前，黃蜂彷彿掌握蟑螂的天線，準備讓其變成幼蟲的巢。

到最後蟑螂將永遠的殘廢，無法逃脫，並逐漸被日益增長的黃蜂幼蟲從內部吃掉。

CRICKET-ICIDE

Crickets can't swim, but the harrowing hairworm (Spinochordodes tellinii) doesn't care about that detail. After growing inside of a cricket's body and feasting on its insides, the hairworm will inexplicably compel the cricket to throw itself into a body of water, where the ruthless body snatcher can emerge and enter the aquatic phase of its life cycle.

"It was amazing to see hundreds of crickets at night totally under the control of the parasite inside and jumping into the water," says Frederic Thomas, a scientist at the Genetics and Evolution of Infectious Diseases research group in Montpellier, France, who described the phenomenon in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

蟋蟀殺手

蟋蟀不會游泳，但使蟋蟀痛苦的金線蟲（Spinochordodes tellinii）並不屌他。當金線蟲在蟋蟀的身體中長大後，開始在其體內享受盛宴。令人費解的是，金線蟲將迫使蟋蟀自己投水自盡，如此一來，這些無情兇手就能夠現身並且進入生命週期的水階段。

在法國蒙彼利埃，身為進化遺傳學和傳染病研究小組的弗雷德里克托馬斯指出，這是令人驚異的現象，在夜間，可以看見數以百計的蟋蟀，全在寄生蟲內部控制下跳躍入水。

A FUNGUS AMONG US

Ants infected with a spooky breed of fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) have been shown to march to that parasite's orders. Usually tropical treetop-dwellers, these infected Camponotus leonardi ants will climb down to low leaves that are just in the right spot for the fungus to thrive (at very specific orientation, temperature and height), then chomp onto a leaf vein with a so-called "death grip".

The ant then dies as its innards are metabolized by the fungus inside. Eventually, the invader sprouts from the ant's body and releases spores that drift to the ground, creating a silent circle of certain death for any other ant that passes through it

圍繞在我們身邊的黴菌

當螞蟻感染了如同鬼魅般的真菌（Ophiocordyceps unilateralis），將顯現出如同被寄生蟲命令一般的行為。通常生活在熱帶樹頂的弓背萊奧納爾迪螞蟻，在受感染後將爬降到高度低的樹葉，剛好就是適合真菌繁衍的地方（位於非常明確的方向，溫度和高度），然後緊緊咬住一條葉脈，做出所謂『最後一抓』”。

然後，真菌以死去螞蟻的內臟作為其新陳代謝所需。最後，釋放孢子漂移到地面，而當任何其他螞蟻穿過沾附到時，又會形成另一個一沉默的死亡循環。

A BERRY SCARY ANT

Ants do their best to avoid being snatched up as snacks. Their dark coloring can help them blend into their surroundings and prevent would-be predators from spotting individual targets in a nest. For a parasite that seeks to find its way back into a bird host, however, this arrangement needed some alteration.

The nematode parasite (Myrmeconema neotropicum) manages to turn Cephalotes atratus ants' gasters (enlarged part of the abdomen) the color of local red berries—the kind that birds eat—and also impel the false berry-baring hosts to venture away from the colony, making them easier prey. When the exposed victim is snatched up by a bird, the latter is infected with the parasite. After the bird digests its tainted treat, it passes along the parasite passenger in its droppings, which stand waiting to infect other unsuspecting ants.

一種像漿果的嚇人螞蟻

螞蟻為了盡力避免被當成點心吃掉。他們利用黑暗的體色幫助他們融入到周圍的環境，並防止可能成為掠奪者（鳥類）的目標，也不讓捕獵者跟著個體尋跡摸到巢穴。然而，聰明的寄生蟲，設法讓自己重新回到其鳥類宿主。但是，這個巧計需要動一些手腳。

寄生的線蟲（Myrmeconema neotropicum）將試圖轉變Cephalotes螞蟻腫大腹部的顏色，成為當地鳥類愛吃的漿果的顏色，紅色。也促使這些腹部變紅的螞蟻（假漿果），自動跑離蟻窩，更容易被鳥兒狩獵。當暴露的受害者由鳥吃走後，也就帶原了寄生蟲。鳥消化後，又將寄生蟲隨糞便排出，等待感染其他不知情的螞蟻。

CAT AND MOUSE

A parasite that lives to change mouse behavior may also be altering the way humans act. The parasitic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii thrives by cycling through feline and rodent hosts. When it infects mice, the brain-dwelling parasite makes them more daring and, in particular, less afraid of the scent of cats (so it can get passed back to the feline hosts when they eat the infected, emboldened rodents).

The chemical changes brought on by the parasite appear to have some of the same effects on humans, who can be infected by ingesting parasite eggs from cat feces. Research by Kevin Lafferty, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, has found that the parasite can cause women to act more moralistically, and men less so. And "when looking at human societies, those traits correlated pretty well with the prevalence of T. gondii infections," Levri says. Other research has shown a higher incidence of risky behavior in people who are infected.