Learning of this phenomenon, I thought I was clicking on an article offered by the Onion News Network… Nope. National Geographic. Yeah, I know, Nat-Geo–it’s borderline sensationalism–that magazine that is well-known amongst 12 year olds as the porn stash highlighting un-photoshopped models in undeveloped nations. Believe it or not, people still roam naked in many cultures, so we can probably give National Geographic that stamp of legitimacy.
Digressing. Zombie ants. Not even kidding. Our obsession with zombies will only flourish like the attacking fungus.
There is evidence of jungle ants in many world regions that have become “zombies,” after being infected by a fungal spores that continue to reproduce within an ant’s nervous system. As a matter of fact, many scientists suggests that such a phenomenon has occurred for millions of years.
At first, there is no change in ant behavior when infected. After several days of normal activity, the usually predictable ant will become erratic in behavior–wandering from the worker lines.
This fungus will cause the ants to wig out, convulse and fall from the tree canopies within the warm, humid forests. When they fall to the leafy ground covering below, the shaded area and cooler temperatures make for an ideal environment for the growth of the fungus within the ant.
The fungus quite literally controls the ant into chomping its mandibles on leaves, and then separates the nerves controlling the mandible. Ultimately, the fungus gives the ant lockjaw, onto a leaf, where the ant will literally hang out and be killed by a poison that is released by the fungus. The really weird thing–the kill always takes place at solar noon.
After the kill, the fungus continues to increase in size within its deceased host, creating an antler-like structure out of the ant’s head. These are known as stroma–the stroma release spores that are picked up by other ants, and the cycle continues. The process takes between 2-3 weeks.
Is that not some freaky stuff? C’mon. That is both fascinating and a little scary. This fungus is smarter than the ant–growing to a certain size, implementing its strategy, then making the convenient kill?
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