Dr. Eniko Csata

The structure of social insect colonies where many similar individuals are living together makes them attractive for many organisms, mutualists, social parasites and various pathogens alike. Some ant parasites became iconic species due to their smartness in manipulating host behavior or because of their aesthetic beauty (myrmecophilous butterflies offer a good example for both), but the ecology of less charismatic ant pathogens and parasites, unfortunately, such as microscopic fungi, is still not well studied, consequently it is less understood. My research focuses on host-parasite interactions and especially the bizarre interactions among fungi and their ant hosts.