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| Topic | Zombie ants are horrifying. It is worse than a zombie movie. trigger warning |
| WingsOfGood 02/17/22 1:35:40 PM #1: | TIL that the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (zombie fungus) doesn't control ants by infecting their brain. Instead it destroys the motor neurons and connects directly to the muscles to control them. The brain is made into a prisoner in its own body Over the course of a week, it compels the ant to leave the safety of its nest and ascend a nearby plant stem. It stops the ant at a height of 25 centimetersa zone with precisely the right temperature and humidity for the fungus to grow. It forces the ant to permanently lock its mandibles around a leaf. Eventually, it sends a long stalk through the ants head, growing into a bulbous capsule full of spores. And because the ant typically climbs a leaf that overhangs its colonys foraging trails, the fungal spores rain down onto its sisters below, zombifying them in turn https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/surn08/til_that_the_fungus_ophiocordyceps_unilateralis/ ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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