Parasitic worms sniff out their victims as 'cruisers' or 'ambushers'

(PLOS) It has been speculated that soil-dwelling parasitic worms use their sense of smell to find suitable hosts for infection. Research published on Aug. 14 in PLOS Pathogens comparing odor-driven behaviors in different roundworm species reveals that olfactory preferences reflect host specificity rather than species relatedness, suggesting that olfaction indeed plays an important role in host location.
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news