Fungus That Turns Ants into Zombies – Webtekno

The limitless face of nature appears before us with a scenario hidden deep in tropical forests: Zombie ant mushrooms… These mushrooms strange and frightening features, It drags an ordinary ant into a deadly scenario.

The story of ants turning into zombies, how surprising and mysterious nature can be It shows. Let’s explain what ant fungi that zombify these tiny insects can do.

The zombie ant fungus targets some ant species.

The zombie ant fungus, whose real name is “ophiocordyceps unilateralis” and generally lives in tropical forests, is, as the name suggests, It targets ants. It scatters its spores into the environment and drops them on the exoskeleton of ants. Only a few of the ant colony become infected.

The disturbing scenario starts from here. Spores that adhere to the skeleton germinate and grow into the ants. enters the bloodstream. It develops very quickly and progresses towards the ant’s internal organs and brain. Like a science fiction movie…

The spreading infection does not kill the ant instantly.

The fungus spreads inside the ant, keeping it alive and using it as a tool. It changes behavior by affecting the nervous system, As we know, it zombifies. The ant begins to do things it would not normally do, and thanks to these movements, the spread of fungal spores increases.

For example, the ant that normally lives on the forest floor, It climbs tree branches or plant stems under the influence of the fungus. After climbing to a certain height, it locks onto a leaf with its jaws. Preparation for death begins here.

What is called a “death bite” occurs.

An ant that locks itself by sinking its jaw into a leaf vein due to the effect of the fungus. waiting for death in this position and the fungus now takes over the entire body of the ant.

After a few days, a stalk containing the spores of the fungus grows out of the ant’s body. Another spore-spreading cycle begins. New ants become infected and they too become zombies.

It is also very important to understand the place of all these in the ecosystem.

zombie ant mushrooms, keeping the ant population under control Besides, it reveals how interesting nature can be sometimes. Moreover, it is still not solved how fungi can control ants in this way, but research continues.

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