🦠 A tapeworm that infects worker ants (Temnothorax nylanderi) reprograms them at the molecular level — turning their metabolism queen-like and extending their lifespan from 2 years to 20. Infected workers receive MORE social care than the actual queen. The parasite hijacks the ant's own longevity genes, not by mimicking them, but by tapping into existing biological programs. #science #biology #parasitology #ants #nature

phys.org/news/2026-07-tapeworm…

Tapeworm hijacks worker ants, giving them queen-like metabolism and longer lives

A tapeworm fundamentally changes the lives of ants: Workers of the species Temnothorax nylanderi infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis live several times longer than their uninfected nestmates.

^{Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Phys.org)}