Until recently, the practice of self-medicating was thought to be restricted to humans and primates. Turns out that a type of caterpillar, the woolly bear, takes “drugs” too.
Researchers from the University of Arizona found that the caterpillars eat leaves from the senecio plant, which is full of alkaloids, in order to rid themselves of a stomach parasite. Left untreated, the parasite would feed on the internal organs of an infected caterpillar, slowly killing it.
(Source: Popular Science and National Geographic)
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