It’s Halloween season, the liminal period when the general public seems to have a greater tolerance for stomach-churning content, so let’s talk about parasites, perhaps the most disgusting — and ...

Scientists have found examples across the animal kingdom that show how parasites manipulate their hosts' behavior. In a bid to reach maturity and breed, they often lead their hosts to experience ...

Pervasive parasitic infections reduce herbivory rates and can therefore trigger trophic cascades that impact plant communities, according to new research. This work helps fill a recognized knowledge ...

Bloodsucker, leech, tick – few things have a reputation worse than parasites. But these biological hangers-on also have a comic cultural history. In biology, a parasite is an organism that lives on or ...

The COVID-19 outbreak has put into stark relief the disruption parasites can cause, both in human society and ecosystems. Researchers have long sought to better understand the evolutionary importance ...

Whether it's finding a tick buried in your socks after a walk in the woods or yanking off a few leeches after a pond swim, parasites trigger revulsion in most of us. And forget about those worms in ...

For decades, scientists have observed a clear pattern across the natural world: biodiversity tends to be higher near the equator and lower toward the poles. Known as the latitudinal diversity gradient ...

Learn more about how parasites drive ecosystems, and see images and parasite-inspired anime characters in a SciFri SciArts article! The idea of a parasite—an organism that needs a host organism—has ...

A moose in Minnesota stumbles onto the road. She circles, confused and dazed, unable to orient herself or recognize the danger of an oncoming semitruck. What kills her is the impact of 13 tons of ...