Deep in the Amazon rainforest, parasitic fungi called take over ants' bodies in order to reproduce. It's featured in National Geographic Channel's Hostile Planet episode on jungles, airing Monday, April 22 at 9 p.m. EST.
They walk among us: insects hijacked by parasitic fungi that control their every move.
The Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus has just one goal: self-propagation and dispersal. Researchers think the fungus, found in tropical forests, infects a foraging ant through spores that attach and penetrate the exoskeleton and slowly takes over its behavior.
As the infection advances, the enthralled ant is compelled to leave its nest for a more humid microclimate that’s favorable to the fungus’s growth. The ant is compelled to descend to a vantage point about 10 inches off the ground, sink its jaws into a leaf vein on the north side of a plant, and wait for death.
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