The Parasite That Lures Mosquitoes to Humans
Malaria can alter the behavior of insects that spread it.
Here are some things parasites will do to survive.
The hairworm makes infected crickets commit suicide in water so it can find a mate. Parasitic barnacles invade the bodies of crabs, sterilize them, and then trick them into caring for baby parasitic barnacles. Toxo makes rats so fearless that they run straight to cats, whose feces spread the parasite.
In other words, parasites sometimes possess not just the bodies of their hosts. They seem to possess their minds.
Malaria, which, spread to humans through mosquito bites. A that female mosquitoes infected with a certain stage of the parasite are more eager for blood. And conversely, humans infected with malaria seem to emanate signals that .
