CATERPILLAR COMMITS SUICIDE

My wonderful little sister shared this video with me.  I suppose it is really meant to be funny but there is something more sinister and natural going on.

I am going to guess that this is an example of host manipulation.  A phenomenon that occurs when a parasitized organism’s behavior is altered by the parasite.  Usually, the goal is to make it more likely to be eaten by some predator.  That predator, like this frog, is the parasite’s final host and the only host where the parasite can reproduce. The other, the caterpillar, is the intermediate host, a host that serves as, well, an intermediate, sometimes helping the parasite get into its final goal.  WOW, I’m so glad all that money towards my Biology education is finally paying off :)