A carpenter ant (Camponotus leonardi) whose body has been consumed
by the fungus Ophiocordyceps. Photograph: David P Hughes
Posted on 08/17/2010 7:17:15 PM PDT by Cardhu
Earliest evidence of fungus that takes over ants' behaviour for its own ends found by scientists.
The oldest evidence of a fungus that turns ants into zombies and makes them stagger to their death has been uncovered by scientists.
The gruesome hallmark of the fungus's handiwork was found on the leaves of plants that grew in Messel, near Darmstadt in Germany, 48m years ago.
The finding shows that parasitic fungi evolved the ability to control the creatures they infect in the distant past, even before the rise of the Himalayas.
The fungus, which is alive and well in forests today, latches on to carpenter ants as they cross the forest floor before returning to their nests high in the canopy.
The fungus grows inside the ants and releases chemicals that affect their behaviour. Some ants leave the colony and wander off to find fresh leaves on their own, while others fall from their tree-top havens on to leaves nearer the ground.
The final stage of the parasitic death sentence is the most macabre. In their last hours, infected ants move towards the underside of the leaf they are on and lock their mandibles in a "death grip" around the central vein, immobilising themselves and locking the fungus in position.
"This can happen on mass. You can find whole graveyards with 20 or 30 ants in a square metre. Each time, they are on leaves that are a particular height off the ground and they have bitten into the main vein before dying," said David Hughes at Harvard University.
The fungus cannot grow high up in the canopy or on the forest floor, but infected ants often die on leaves midway between the two, where the humidity and temperature suit the fungus.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Watch for the research to soon begin on a fungus based bio weapon to infect us all so we will pay all of our taxes. We go to the closest IRS office when its terminal, clamp our mandiles around the nearest tax form rack, and prepare to die after signing a blank check to the IRS.
The Obama Health Czar has okayed the research./s
Neat little article.
Theres a fungus among us.
I think I've been infected already.....state and local got me too.
No, it happens "en masse".
L
LOL!
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Gods |
Thanks BBell. I've been enslaved by mushroom burgers. |
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Bob Hope: You mean, like Democrats?
"Ghost Breakers" (1940)
'Zombie Democrats' controlled by parasitic "fund us" demands by labor unions for at least 70 years
Time to break out my miniature chainsaw to fight the ant zombies.
D’accord monsieur, je vous remercie de votre langue francais.
Could explain a lot....
Ant/parasite model story provided for the entertainment of the rulinq class by Elite Manipulators Esq.
Any attempt by lesser beings to understand our sneering humor would be lost in their simple mindedness.
Similar modeling example can be found at
http://www.damninteresting.com/a-fluke-of-nature
So THAT’S where “liberals” come from!
I always wondered.
I do so enjoy a well written piece! Love the Stephen Kingesque ‘first and last sentence the same’ trick. Who says MENSA folks aren’t good for something besides thinking and partying?
It is a fine piece. I wonder if the ending came as a surprise for the author?
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