VERIFIED FACT
Dodder vines can pass insect-attack warning signals between connected plants.
Why this sounds fake
Parasites seem like one-way thieves, not bridges that can carry useful warnings between their hosts.
A parasite usually sounds like bad news for every host it touches. Dodder complicates that picture. Because it physically connects to multiple plants, it can form living bridges between them. In PNAS experiments, herbivore attack on one host triggered defensive changes in other dodder-connected hosts that had not been attacked. The connected plants were not chatting with intentions, and the parasite was not being generous. But the physical bridge still moved useful warning information through the network. One plant's attack could prime another plant's defenses through a parasitic vine.
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