Simone Nordstrand Gasque

• Master of Science, Parasitology
• PhD at Wageningen University & Research

Neuroparasitism concerns the hostile takeover of a host's nervous system by a foreign invader, in order to alter the behaviour of the host in favour of the parasite. One of the most remarkable cases of parasite-induced host behav-ioural manipulation comprises the changes baculoviruses induce in their caterpillar hosts. Baculoviruses may manipulate...

Cassyni seminar about our upcoming article in Open Biology

Parasite-induced modification of host behavior increasing transmission to a next host is a common phenomenon. However, field-based studies are rare, and the role of environmental factors in eliciting host behavioral modification is often not considered. We examined the effects of temperature, relative humidity (RH), time of day, date, and an irradi...

In this poster that was presented at the ICOPA 2022 conference in Copenhagen, I showed some findings we have made during my PhD project. When and where different mutants of AcMNPV infects Spodoptera exigua central nervous systems (CNSs) and the immunoreactivity of the major neurotransmitters in uninfected S. exigua CNSs. Our conclusions and postula...

In this poster I give an overview of the objectives I am focusing on, in one of the projects during my PhD-thesis at the department of Virology (WUR). Further more, some of the results obtained from previous projects and ongoing projects is depicted and explained in more detail. We are focusing on constructing a brain model of the 3rd instar of S...

The present note reports the first authenticated record of Neoneurinae wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitizing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Denmark. This is based on a first instar larva of a probable species of Elasmosoma (Ruthe) developing in the body cavity of a worker ant, Formica polyctena (Förster 1850), in the Northern part of Bids...

Dicrocoelium dendriticum, the lancet liver fluke, is one of the best examples of parasite-induced host behaviour manipulation. The parasite elicits a behaviour in the second intermediate ant host which is alien to an uninfected ant. A D. dendriticum infected ant will lock its mandibles to a piece of vegetation (tetania) and remain there for the tim...

Brian Lund Fredensborg and I, explained parasitic manipulation of host behaviour in a magazine used as inspiration for the teaching of biology in schools in Denmark. We covered some of the most amazing examples from nature, and with emphasis on the parasites that turn ants into zombies in Denmark: Dicrocoelium dendriticum and Pandora formicae. A fe...

Natural enemies (including vertebrate and invertebrate predators, arthropod parasitoids and microorganisms) can be very harmful in insect production systems. We provide an overview of main biological characteristics of significant groups of natural enemies, for example concerning microorganisms in their way to infect insects. Such biological traits...