Editor's Summary
6 April 2006
Exit strategy
Slithering from the mouth of this frog is a gordian or horsehair worm. The adult worms are free-living but juvenile forms are parasites in the bodies of insects such as the cricket. Most parasites would be doomed if their host was eaten, but not this worm, which almost always escapes by the obvious route. A laboratory study of the efficiency of this survival strategy shows just how effective it is, though the escape needs to be executed within five minutes if it is to succeed.
Brief Communications: Parasitology: Parasite survives predation on its host
Fleur Ponton, Camille Lebarbenchon, Thierry Lefèvre, David G. Biron, David Duneau, David P. Hughes and Frédéric Thomas
doi:10.1038/440756a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (405K) | Supplementary information
