Parasite triples ants' lifespans.

A tapeworm called Anomotaenia brevis infects Temnothorax nylanderi ants and pumps antioxidants and other proteins into their bloodstream, which may help them live three times longer than their uninfected peers. The tapeworm's proteins account for a substantial portion of the ants' hemolymph, and some of them have no known equivalent in other organisms. Infected ants are treated like royalty, and their uninfected peers do the worker's chores, carry them around, feed them, and groom them for the rest of their days. However, the uninfected ants die much earlier, and workers give their queens less loving care as they tend to the infected, which may spell trouble for the colony.