Hey friends,
Over the years I have shared all kinds of crazy parasites with ya. The one I am about to share reminded me of the tongue-eating louse, which you probably know of as it's been an all time viral sensation. If not, just check the link above, it's one nasty fucker.
So, today we have a parasite with a similar concept.
Meet, Macrocheles rettenmeyeri a mite that attaches to army ants. Specifically, they live on the feet of one particular species of ant (Eciton dulcius) and pretty much act like an extension of the foot, whilst sucking the blood of the ant.
The new hind legs look like the ants’ tarsal claws and take over their function when the ants form chains. source
Within the colony, some mites are known to suck on the ant hemolymph. Macrocheles rettenmeyeri is a parasitic mite found with E. dulcium. It is remarkable because it functionally replaces the ant’s distal tarsal segment. The mite attaches itself to the membrane of hind leg pulvilli and its curved hind legs serve as the ant’s claws without affecting the host’s behavior source
This is a photo of how the world's worst...shoe looks like
And another one:
And finally a pic of a regular leg vs a parasitized one. I guess the ants gain some height as well 😂
Unfortunately, these mites seem to be quite rare and there's really not much more info available out there.
It's just makes me wonder what kind of evolutionary pathways led to this crazy adaptation 😂😂😂👟👟👟
Evolution is fun
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