# Zombie ants



## oaktree (Mar 28, 2011)

> The fungus species can infect an ant, take over its brain, and then kill the insect once it moves to a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores


 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...ence-brazil/?source=link_fb20110303zombieants

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652714/?tool=pmcentrez

I think it is pretty cool.


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## Sukerkin (Mar 28, 2011)

Good lord!  I had heard of this but had never read anything in detail about it.  Sci-fi scenario or what?!


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## fyn5000 (Mar 28, 2011)

> I think it is pretty cool.



Not so cool for the ants! :xtrmshock

Fyn


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## shesulsa (Mar 28, 2011)

Freaky ****, man.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 28, 2011)

That is one smart fungus


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## Blade96 (Mar 28, 2011)

i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary

i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.


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## Touch Of Death (Mar 28, 2011)

Blade96 said:


> i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary
> 
> i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.


Interesting sentiment... I think you would also be questioning God if the insect world went unchecked.
Sean


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## RandomPhantom700 (Mar 28, 2011)

Quick, someone call Mulder and Skully!  

In all seriousness, intriguing and fairly creepy stuff.  I love Nat. Geo.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 28, 2011)

Blade96 said:


> i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary
> 
> i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.


 
The answer you seek is here 



> Monty Python - all things dull and ugly
> 
> All things dull and ugly,
> All creatures short and squat,
> ...


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## Blindside (Mar 28, 2011)

This is one of the reasons why I became a wildlife biologist, nature is often way way stranger than fiction.  Very cool.

On a bit of trivia, do you know fungi in general are more closely related to animals than plants?  It is one of the reason it is hard to treat things like athletes foot and other fungal infections.


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## teekin (Mar 28, 2011)

see I think this stuff is Totally COOL! I really want to dig into the neuro-chemistry of this and find out the How and Why of the working mechanism. I see this and just think, " hmmmmm, is there a phamacology application here?" Love the chemistry behind this kind of thing. it's so beautiful that I DO see the hand of God.

Lori


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## granfire (Mar 28, 2011)

think it can be used to make kids clean their rooms?

Then again, the rooms are already prime fungal breeding grounds...


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## oaktree (Mar 28, 2011)

Grendel308 said:


> see I think this stuff is Totally COOL! I really want to dig into the neuro-chemistry of this and find out the How and Why of the working mechanism. I see this and just think, " hmmmmm, is there a phamacology application here?" Love the chemistry behind this kind of thing. it's so beautiful that I DO see the hand of God.
> 
> Lori


 
Well Michael Jackson used it once and the results came out like this:




 


> The Cordyceps fungus contains various known and untapped bioactive metabolites, and is being investigated as a new source of natural drugs with immunomodulatory, antitumor, hypoglycemic and hypocholesterolemic functions.[9]
> Six bioactive naphthoquinone derivatives isolated from _C. unilateralis_, namely
> 
> erythrostominone
> ...


 
I thought this was pretty cool:


> _C. unilateralis_ has been known to destroy entire ant colonies. In response, ants have evolved the ability to sense that a member of the colony is infected; healthy ants will carry the dying one far away from the colony in order to avoid fungal spore exposure.[2


 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_ant




> _C. unilateralis_ has been known to destroy entire ant colonies. In response, ants have evolved the ability to sense that a member of the colony is infected; healthy ants will carry the dying one far away from the colony in order to avoid fungal spore exposure.[2


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## Empty Hands (Mar 28, 2011)

Blade96 said:


> i heard about that those mind controlling parasites they scary
> 
> i wonder why a god would wanna create this sick stuff.



Because no god did?


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## crushing (Mar 28, 2011)

oaktree said:


> Well Michael Jackson used it once and the results came out like this:


 
That video was not what I had expected.  The thread was about a fungus, which made me think of yeast, then when I saw "Michael Jackson", I was thinking of the other famous Michael Jackson.


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## Amoroque (Mar 28, 2011)

I guess the movies about Zombies aren't so far fetched after all.   

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.


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## oaktree (Mar 28, 2011)

crushing said:


> That video was not what I had expected. The thread was about a fungus, which made me think of yeast, then when I saw "Michael Jackson", I was thinking of the other famous Michael Jackson.


 
Interesting Michael Jackson (writer) died August 30th and Michael Jackson was born August 29th. I thought the thread was about zombies.


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## Nomad (Mar 28, 2011)

Weird... on my ipad, the plants always kill the zombies... though come to think of it, there is a mushroom that makes the zombie turn and attack other zombies.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 28, 2011)

To kill Zombie ants 



> If you have a gun, shoot 'em in the head. That's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat 'em or burn 'em. They go up pretty easy. --- Night of the Living Dead (1968)


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## crushing (Mar 28, 2011)

Xue Sheng said:


> To kill Zombie ants


 
I just saw _Night of the Living Dead_ for the first time Saturday night.


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## Blade96 (Apr 1, 2011)

Xue Sheng said:


> The answer you seek is here



hehehe 



Blindside said:


> On a bit of trivia, do you know fungi in general are more closely related to animals than plants?  It is one of the reason it is hard to treat things like athletes foot and other fungal infections.



so thats why even after several rounds of meds i couldnt cure the yeast infection i got in 2009 from my strep throat antibiotics.

Its gone now but it sure was a bugger to kill.


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## granfire (Apr 1, 2011)

crushing said:


> I just saw _Night of the Living Dead_ for the first time Saturday night.



Was that 'Saturday Night Unlive' then?


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