Fungus that controls zombie-ants has own fungal stalkerA specialized parasite fungus can control ants' behavior. But that fungus also faces its own deadly, specialized parasites.HarmonKatherine
The scientific journal, Plos ONE, published a study on March 2nd, 2011, in which scientific researchers from Brazil, the USA & the UK explain they started investigating after discovering dead carpenter ants with fungus growing out of their bodies. In the study, the researchers state: “This so...
A specialized parasite fungus can control ants' behavior. But that fungus also faces its own deadly, specialized parasites
Zombie-ant fungus is a species of parasitic fungus that infects ants and alters their behavior before killing them. The fungus is largely pantropical and primarily infects carpenter ants.
Scientists following seemingly drunk zombie ants, infected with a fungus in the species of Ophiocordyceps, found the fungi fill the ant's head with fungal cells and change the ant's muscles so the ant can grab a leaf in a death grip just when and where the fungus wants it. Here, a zom...
The newly-discovered zombie fungus will be of interest to photographers. The aforementioned Ophiocordyceps that haunts ants in Brazilian rainforests have been a magnet for scientific-minded photographers. In 2022, Roberto García-Roa won theBMC Ecology and Evolution image competitionwith an unsettling pho...
all the infected spiders were positioned on the roof or walls of the caves. These normally reclusive spiders had left their lairs or webs and migrated to die in exposed situations: essentially, mirroring the behaviour of ants infected by fungi of the genusOphiocordycepspreviously ...
The species mentioned in the show is Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which can infect ants and actually change their behaviour before it kills them. Infection causes them to migrate to a more humid environment suitable for the fungus, then bite into a plant with their mandibles and stay lodged ...
The fungus also appears to infect a related spider species, Meta menardi. According to the authors, the spiders appeared to have left their webs or lairs and migrated to die when exposed to the fungus. This behavior is similar to what is seen in ants who are infected by fungi from the...
But the way in which the fungus affects the arachnid’s brain is still a mystery, and a multitude of questions remain about the fungus’ evolutionary pathway and ecological impacts. “We know very well the ants, the wasps, and very few other examples. And now this is in a different famil...