“Zombie Ants” Discovered in Brazil

Scientists say a fungus takes over the insects’ brains and makes them move to an ideal location before killing them.

Formicidae beware! Scientists believe they have discovered four species of fungus in the Brazilian rainforest that colonize ants’ miniscule brains and then eat them from the inside out. The researchers, who hail from the U.K. and U.S., released their findings in the journal Plos ONE last week, and described how the fungus manipulates an ant’s brain so that it will die in an exposed place, which is where the fungus likes to grow, often forcing the insect to cling to plant structures with its jaws. The fungus then kills the insect, and begins growing out of its head.