
"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi - llambda
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110303-zombie-ants-fungus-new-species-fungi-bugs-science-brazil
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suprgeek
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.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101222121610.htm)
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
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-
cultu...](http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/toxoplasma-gondii-culture-sex-
ratio)

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chc
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.

~~~
raganwald
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>

Some varieties use three or more hosts. Dawkins describes one parasite that
infects snails, birds, and sheep in turn.

~~~
kamikazi
That was a remarkable video. Thanks for posting it.

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

~~~
fletchowns
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.

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zerostar07
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_Parasit...](http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neuroethology_of_Parasitoid_Wasps)

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ubojan
wow, this reminds me of <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.

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

~~~
gus_massa
Link:
[http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/foundation_collections/stink_ant...](http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/foundation_collections/stink_ant/stinkant.html)

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WildUtah
This explains my ants from the Google AI Challenge.

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julian37
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#sect...](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicrocoelium_dendriticum#section_8)

