Bizarre Interactions and Endgames: Entomopathogenic Fungi and Their Arthropod Hosts

Invertebrate pathogens and their hosts are taxonomically diverse. Despite this, there is one unifying concept relevant to all such parasitic associations: Both pathogen and host adapt to maximize their own reproductive output and ultimate fitness. The strategies adopted by pathogens and hosts to achieve this goal are almost as diverse as the organisms themselves, but studies examining such relationships have traditionally concentrated only on aspects of host physiology. Here we review examples of host-altered behavior and consider these within a broad ecological and evolutionary context. Research on pathogen-induced and host-mediated behavioral changes demonstrates the range of altered behaviors exhibited by invertebrates including behaviorally induced fever, elevation seeking, reduced or increased activity, reduced response to semiochemicals, and changes in reproductive behavior. These interactions are sometimes quite bizarre, intricate, and of great scientific interest.