The Fungi That Turned Ants Into Zombies
The Fungi That Turned Ants Into Zombies
This fungus was actually manipulating ants’ movements, forcing them to do something they’d never ordinarily do, something strange, yet specific…
Thanks to Franz Anthony (https://franzanth.com) and Dr. João Araújo for the excellent reconstructions of Ophiocordyceps and ancient ants.
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References:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/evo.13489?saml_referrer
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219311649
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Creepy! This is much worse than when wasps paralyze certain hosts, spiders/caterpillars/etc., to lay their eggs and feed off the host.
Sounds like a fun guy…
imagine the headache those poor ants had
The fungus doesn’t brainwash them like "the Last of Us" fungi, but instead fires signals to the legs to make the ant move where it likes. The ant is essentially puppeteered to its death grip – and that somehow makes this horrible fate even worse.
Ayo nice TLOU reference
Meanwhile Texas is using phorid flies to make even more ant zombies…
Obrigado!
awesome timing, Costa Rican Cubes just posted a short video on his channel showing a Cicada, dead, being consumed by most likely by some type of Cordyceps
Wow this episode is so macabre…
I’m sure there was an episode of the X Files where humans get infected with a fungus and it erupts out of their throats. It scared the crap out of me as a 12 year old.
Really glad we are not targeted by that fungus
You can also see these zombified ants in an episode of Netflix’s Our Planet – a great docu-series which I’m sure you lot will love 😊
Gotta Love that Naughty Doc refeence at The end😂
Death grips would be a cool name for an experimental rap group
EWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last of us, huh? After an episode about cordyceps…
Just imagine how scary it would be if there were Ant versions of the clickers and bloaters from the Last Of Us.
If my body is discovered encased in amber and I have fungi sprouting from my butt, I would still rather have my browsing data wiped.
You’ll be missed for the month you guys are gone ❤️
Blake: And if you’re an old-school sci-fi fan like I am, then I know exactly what you’re thinking…
Me: That X-Files episode where the fungus manipulated Mulder and Scully’s minds!
Blake: …Xenomorphs!
Me: Oh… you meant *really* old-school
Yes! I thought xenomorphs before you even said it! 😂 I’m a need too lol
the Antz movie should have used this fungal infection as part of the plot
Wild that some ants farm fungi, and some fungi farm ants
Blake’s reactions are just so… so adorable!
Well at least they’re not biting other ant to make more zombie, so even if they affect people it won’t be like zombie behavior we know
Well, start removing genes one at a time from the fungus until the behavior is no longer seen?
When ants have a better pandemic responses than humans 🤡
Turns out, the fungi don’t actually infect the brain as we once thought. Researchers looked into how the fungus distributes itself in the ant’s body and found the brain is left alone. Instead, the fungus goes for the muscle tissues. You know how horrifying that is? The fungus is manipulating the ant’s muscles, while the ant is very much aware and trapped in a body it can no longer control, no matter how hard it fights.
8:04 I admire your restraint in withholding that reference until the end.
just like russians
I like the Last of Us pun.
3:22 – I find it funny that in this map Japan ends up with what looks a lot like 3-colored mochi
Okay, now I wanna see a zombie apocalypse movie played by ant actors.
So research has been done to figure out exactly how the bugs are controlled. (November 8, 2017), researchers at Penn State University released new information in regards to this. They found the fungus grow in between the muscle fibers ans it allows them to control the movements. No fungal matter was found in the brain of the ant so they speculate that the ants are just watching their bodies go into autopilot.
You ditched the (literally)
Thank you!
02:28 Such a precision mechanism. The ants are sent to die at a specific time of day and height off the ground. Nature inexorably executes.
Don’t let anti-vaxers see this video. A whole new set of conspiracy theories may emerge!
The First of Us?
Please tell me I’m not the only one who saw this and thought of The Last of Us
This is how you know that fungus is dumb. It tries to infect ants yet moves away from the colony.
the "Last of Us" … I see what you did there … lol …
Enjoy your summer break! 🙌🙂🌸
Something I often wonder about: Is it theoretically possible for a parasite to completely take over the body of a human-level intelligence? Science fiction style, not toxoplasmosis style where it mildly affects our behavior.
Can we use this to naturally kill leaf cutter ants that can defoliate a tree in 1 night because I don’t want to use an insecticide that paralyzes their nervous system and may cause Parkinson’s disease.
Enjoy your break!!!
I love that you all even made a Last of Us reference!
8:01 AHAHAHA
Science communicator and, as I found out today, pan LGBT+ advocate.
Stay awesome, Blake!
They’re not zombified. The sadness i feel over how pop science caters to the lowest common denominator.