Parasites prevent ants from protecting coffee plants

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Azteca ants are voracious predators that live on coffee plants and aggressively defend their territories. That’s generally good for the coffee plants, which are protected in the process against all sorts of insect pests.

But the whole system goes awry when parasitic flies called phorids enter the picture. When they get the chance, the flies lay eggs in Azteca ants’ heads, but they also influence the ants’ behavior, with far-reaching results, a University of Michigan graduate student has discovered.

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