6 ms·

"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi

81 points by llambda 15y ago

chc 15y ago
The only really new part here is that there are several species of what was previously thought to be one fungus. IIRC, the fungus produces a compound similar to LSD that causes the ant to climb onto a sunlit leaf and clamp on with its mouth. The fungus then grows inside the ant and reproduces.
- angrycoder 15y ago
  So nothing to worry about until the fungus decides it likes brains more than sunlight?
  - gcb 15y ago
    what? the reason it makes the ant climb high is because when it grows it actually rips open the ant and eventually burst millions of spore to rain over the colony.
- raganwald 15y ago
  And IIRC, snail flukes do a similar thing: When they are ready to move from their snail host, they migrate into its eye stalks, which turn bright colors. The infected snail loses its fear of open spaces and climbs onto a branch or leaf, where a passing bird spots what looks like juicy worms and pecks off the stalks. The fluke is now in the bird's digestive system, and it starts manufacturing eggs. The eggs are embedded in the new host's guano, which falls to the ground. A passing snail eats the guano and becomes infected with flukes, starting the cycle anew. Update: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw Some varieties use three or more hosts. Dawkins describes one parasite that infects snails, birds, and sheep in turn.
  - kamikazi 15y ago
    That was a remarkable video. Thanks for posting it.
- ranit8 15y ago
  This video shows ants and other insects attacked by Cordyceps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8
JHorovitz 15y ago
There's a beautiful segment in planet earth about this. I believe its the jungle episode from season 1.
- fletchowns 15y ago
  First thing I thought of. It's quite a wild little segment. A worker ant has to carry the infected ant away from the rest of the colony. Eventually the infected ant dies, and this alien looking fungus sprouts of of his head. The fungus then releases a bunch of spores (meant to infect other ants) so it's a good thing he was dragged away from the colony! The whole Planet Earth series is absolutely amazing, do yourself a favor and watch them all if you haven't.
ubojan 15y ago
wow, this reminds me of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis, one third of the world's human population is infected. This parasite interferes with brain chemistry and alters both function and behavior.
WildUtah 15y ago
This explains my ants from the Google AI Challenge.
zerostar07 15y ago
Most impressive are some Jedi parasitic wasps that turn roaches and spiders to real zombies, doing really weird stuff like making the spider build a web for them http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neuroethology_of_Parasitoid_Wasps http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neuroethology_of_Parasit...
suprgeek 15y ago
Killing off Fungi was one of the reasons humans evolved to keep their body temp at 98.6 F. Any warmer and we would be feeding nearly non-stop. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.ht... This helped Mammals as whole win over other species that are a lot more susceptible to fungi. Looking at all the nasties out there, I am very glad we followed this evolutionary path.
- dhruval 15y ago
  Before we start getting to smug about our sense of free will, let me just point out that there are widespread human brain parasites. One example is Toxoplama Gondii, which infects roughly 1/3 of the world's population. Studies have shown relationships between everything from increased car accidents to Bipolar disorder. Some have even suggested its distribution across regions affects human culture. http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/toxoplasma-gondii-culture-sex-ratio http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/toxoplasma-gondii-cultu...
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
robterrell 15y ago
Reminds me of a nice exhibit in the Museum of Jurassic Technology.
- gus_massa 15y ago
  Link: http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/foundation_collections/stink_ant/stinkant.html http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/foundation_collections/stink_ant...
julian37 15y ago
Reminiscent of the interesting life cycle of the lancet liver fluke, which also alters the behavior of ants: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicrocoelium_dendriticum#section_8 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicrocoelium_dendriticum#sect...

81 points by llambda 15y ago

chc 15y ago

The only really new part here is that there are several species of what was previously thought to be one fungus. IIRC, the fungus produces a compound similar to LSD that causes the ant to climb onto a sunlit leaf and clamp on with its mouth. The fungus then grows inside the ant and reproduces.

angrycoder 15y ago
So nothing to worry about until the fungus decides it likes brains more than sunlight?
- gcb 15y ago
  what? the reason it makes the ant climb high is because when it grows it actually rips open the ant and eventually burst millions of spore to rain over the colony.
raganwald 15y ago
And IIRC, snail flukes do a similar thing: When they are ready to move from their snail host, they migrate into its eye stalks, which turn bright colors. The infected snail loses its fear of open spaces and climbs onto a branch or leaf, where a passing bird spots what looks like juicy worms and pecks off the stalks. The fluke is now in the bird's digestive system, and it starts manufacturing eggs. The eggs are embedded in the new host's guano, which falls to the ground. A passing snail eats the guano and becomes infected with flukes, starting the cycle anew. Update: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWB_COSUXMw Some varieties use three or more hosts. Dawkins describes one parasite that infects snails, birds, and sheep in turn.
- kamikazi 15y ago
  That was a remarkable video. Thanks for posting it.
ranit8 15y ago
This video shows ants and other insects attacked by Cordyceps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8

JHorovitz 15y ago

There's a beautiful segment in planet earth about this. I believe its the jungle episode from season 1.

fletchowns 15y ago
First thing I thought of. It's quite a wild little segment. A worker ant has to carry the infected ant away from the rest of the colony. Eventually the infected ant dies, and this alien looking fungus sprouts of of his head. The fungus then releases a bunch of spores (meant to infect other ants) so it's a good thing he was dragged away from the colony! The whole Planet Earth series is absolutely amazing, do yourself a favor and watch them all if you haven't.

ubojan 15y ago

wow, this reminds me of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis, one third of the world's human population is infected. This parasite interferes with brain chemistry and alters both function and behavior.

WildUtah 15y ago

This explains my ants from the Google AI Challenge.

zerostar07 15y ago

Most impressive are some Jedi parasitic wasps that turn roaches and spiders to real zombies, doing really weird stuff like making the spider build a web for them http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neuroethology_of_Parasitoid_Wasps http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neuroethology_of_Parasit...

suprgeek 15y ago

Killing off Fungi was one of the reasons humans evolved to keep their body temp at 98.6 F. Any warmer and we would be feeding nearly non-stop. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.ht... This helped Mammals as whole win over other species that are a lot more susceptible to fungi. Looking at all the nasties out there, I am very glad we followed this evolutionary path.

dhruval 15y ago
Before we start getting to smug about our sense of free will, let me just point out that there are widespread human brain parasites. One example is Toxoplama Gondii, which infects roughly 1/3 of the world's population. Studies have shown relationships between everything from increased car accidents to Bipolar disorder. Some have even suggested its distribution across regions affects human culture. http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/toxoplasma-gondii-culture-sex-ratio http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/toxoplasma-gondii-cultu...

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

robterrell 15y ago

Reminds me of a nice exhibit in the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

gus_massa 15y ago
Link: http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/foundation_collections/stink_ant/stinkant.html http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/foundation_collections/stink_ant...

julian37 15y ago

Reminiscent of the interesting life cycle of the lancet liver fluke, which also alters the behavior of ants: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicrocoelium_dendriticum#section_8 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicrocoelium_dendriticum#sect...