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Posted by denys envy on Aug-12-2009 15:52:

Holy sh!t - Zombie Ants!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience...21iaWVhbnRzY28-

LiveScience.com livescience Staff

livescience.com � 2 hrs 23 mins ago
In a bizarre parasitic death sentence, a fungus turns carpenter ants into the walking dead and gets them to die in a spot that's perfect for the fungus to grow and reproduce.

Scientists have no clue how the fungus takes control of the brains of ants so effectively. But a new study in the September issue of the American Naturalist reveals an incredible set of strategies that ensue.

The carpenter ants nest high in the canopy of a forest in Thailand, and they trek to the forest floor to forage. The fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, prefers to end up on the undersides leaves sprouting from the northwest side of plants that grow on the forest floor, the new study showed. That's where temperature, humidity and sunlight are ideal for the fungus to grow and reproduce and infect more ants.

Once infected by the fungus, an ant is compelled to climb down from the canopy to the low leaves, where it clamps down with its mandibles just before it dies.

"The fungus accurately manipulates the infected ants into dying where the parasite prefers to be, by making the ants travel a long way during the last hours of their lives," said study leader David P. Hughes of Harvard University.

After the ant dies, the fungus continues to grow inside it. By dissecting victims, Hughes and colleagues found that the parasite converts the ant's innards into sugars that help the fungus grow. But it leaves the muscles controlling the mandibles intact to make sure the ant keeps its death grip on the leaf.

The fungus also preserves the ant's outer shell, growing into cracks and crevices to reinforce weak spots, thereby fashioning a protective coating that keeps microbes and other fungi out.

"The fungus has evolved a suite of novel strategies to retain possession of its precious resource," Hughes said.

After a week or two, spores from the fungus fall to the forest floor, where other ants can be infected.

Making nests in the forest canopy might be an evolved ant strategy to avoid infection, Hughes figures. The ants also seem to avoid foraging under infected areas. This too might be an adaptive strategy to avoid infection, but more study is needed to confirm it, he said.

How the fungus controls ant behavior remains unknown. "That is another research area we are actively pursuing right now," Hughes said.
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alright, i'm officially scared.

Posted by Halcyon+On+On on Aug-12-2009 15:54:

Wow, fucking rad. I guess there is actually a parasitic insect that jams its face-probe into the brains of other critters and controls them like puppets. I want to be that animal.

Posted by denys envy on Aug-12-2009 16:05:

quote:
Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
Wow, fucking rad. I guess there is actually a parasitic insect that jams its face-probe into the brains of other critters and controls them like puppets. I want to be that animal.

you mean... you mean you aren't that animal?

Posted by R.j. on Aug-12-2009 16:20:

2012

Posted by Ygrene on Aug-12-2009 16:28:

I ain't saying it's a zombie plant, but it ain't messin with no live ant.

Get dead ant, go 'head get dead
Get dead ant, go 'head get dead

Posted by Halcyon+On+On on Aug-12-2009 16:56:

quote:
Originally posted by denys envy
you mean... you mean you aren't that animal?

Keep walking.

Posted by SuspicionVandit on Aug-12-2009 17:01:

Kerrigan

Posted by denys envy on Aug-12-2009 18:05: