Written by Rahul Naronha
You thought zombies and mind control existed only in science fiction? Guess what. You thought wrong. Here is your daily does of entomological nightmare fuel, courtesy of David Attenborough.
Cordyceps is a fungal genus that is perhaps the strangest of insect predators. Over the course of its evolution, it has adopted a very strange and unsettling method of reproduction. The process starts when a spore lands on an unsuspecting insect of the correct species (each cordyceps species preys on a single species of insect; we will focus on a species that preys on ants). The spore secretes enzymes that allow it to tunnel through the insect’s tough exoskeleton and enter the body, where it feeds on the soft innards. Once the fungus has obtained enough nutrients to reproduce, it initiates the most mind blowing part of its sinister plot.
In order to ensure that its fruiting body has the largest possible “blast radius” over which it can eject its spores, the fungus enters the ant’s brain and literally takes control over it. It directs the ant to climb higher and higher until it finally dies, at which point the fruiting body bursts from the back of the insect’s head and uses its high vantage point to spew out a deadly rain of fungal spores across the forest floor, infecting any unlucky ants that happen to be foraging below. To add insult to injury, some ant colonies have become aware of this gruesome fungal predator and if one of their members is determined to be infected, the poor guy is dragged from the nest and dumped far away to die alone.
Mind control is something which humans have only dreamt about, yet insects have been victims of it since long before science was invented. Damn, nature, you scary.
