From So Simple a Beginning: The Evolution of Behavioral Manipulation by Fungi.

Parasites can manipulate the behavior of their hosts in ways that increase either their direct fitness or transmission to new hosts. The Kingdom Fungi have evolved a diverse array of strategies to manipulate arthropod behavior resulting in some of the most complex and impressive examples of behavioral manipulation by parasites. Here we provide an overview of these different interactions and discuss them from an evolutionary perspective.

Social, spatial, and temporal organization in a complex insect society.

High-density living is often associated with high disease risk due to density-dependent epidemic spread. Despite being paragons of high-density living, the social insects have largely decoupled the association with density-dependent epidemics. It is hypothesized that this is accomplished through prophylactic and inducible defenses termed 'collective immunity'.

Species-specific ant brain manipulation by a specialized fungal parasite.

Background: A compelling demonstration of adaptation by natural selection is the ability of parasites to manipulate host behavior. One dramatic example involves fungal species from the genus Ophiocordyceps that control their ant hosts by inducing a biting behavior. Intensive sampling across the globe of ants that died after being manipulated by Ophiocordyceps suggests that this phenomenon is highly species-specific.