The other day, I was in Safeway—buying Diet Dr Pepper, naturally—when I heard the guy up ahead of me say something to his friends that I was positive I must have misheard. Specifically, what I heard him say was "and there's this really awesome parasitic wasp that drives its victims like cars." Now, I like parasitic wasps. I am, one might say, unduly fascinated by parasitic wasps. So I tend to assume that when I hear other people bring them up in conversation, I'm hearing them wrong.
I began shamelessly eavesdropping...and wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, he was talking about insect parasitism! Yay! As the conversation swung toward blood flukes, I interjected to note that blood flukes were probably largely responsible for the evolution of gendered reproduction. He looked, in a word, delighted.
What followed was the largest, rowdiest, happiest discussion of parasite behavior I have ever been involved with outside of a group of my friends. All five of the people involved had read Parasite Rex, and parthenogentic reproduction came up, gleefully.
I think I may have met my male equivalent from a nearby parallel dimension.
There is also a parasite (I'm forgetting which one) that causes frogs to grow extra limbs, which makes them easier for storks and egrets to catch and eat (where the second stage of the parasites life happens in the birds's intestinal tracks.) The frogs catch it from coming in contact with the birds's poop.
geeky
June 30 2010, 18:34:31 UTC 7 years ago
There is also a parasite (I'm forgetting which one) that causes frogs to grow extra limbs, which makes them easier for storks and egrets to catch and eat (where the second stage of the parasites life happens in the birds's intestinal tracks.) The frogs catch it from coming in contact with the birds's poop.
June 30 2010, 21:16:10 UTC 7 years ago