I was going with the title Crazy Animals, but today's entry is actually a fungus, so I had to broaden that to organisms ;)

The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis lives in the tropical forests mainly in Thailand and it turns ants into zombies with mind-control, so it can use their bodies to grow and spread its spores.

One thing most fungus rely on to spread their spores is wind. But those that want to survive in the dense vegetation of a tropical forest have a hard time doing that as the forest's thickness doesn't really allow for much of a breeze. That's why this particular fungus has come up with a really sophisticated but oddly efficient way to spread and survive - mind control.

When the spores of the fungus manage to infect and ant, the fungus starts spreading through the ants body quite rapidly and one of the important places that it reaches is the ant's brain. After it manages to surround it, usually within two days, the fungus starts releasing special chemicals (or toxins) that alter the ants behavior to the fungus's advantage.

After the fungus manages to turn the poor insect into a zombie, the ant leaves it's colony and starts wondering around until it finds itself on the underside of a leaf about 10 inches from the ground where the temperature and humidity would be quite suitable for the fungus's growth.

When the ant finds such a leaf, it uses its mandibles to bite down on the middle vein of the leaf so the ant can remain there after it dies. This is called a death grip as it's the last thing the ant will ever do and the exact position it is going to die in. After the ant has been secured at this favorable location, the fungus continues to grow and consumes all of the ant's internal organs with it's reproductive stem called stroma growing out of the back of the ant's head.

Please notice that most images of ant bodies and their death grips are actually upside down so they are easier to view, but the ant would always attach itself on the underside of the leaf and would remain there upside down

When the fungus matures, its stroma starts releasing its spores which can gently rain on any ant passing under while foraging. The spores falling on an ant passing by start the life-cycle of the fungus all over again.

The ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus is extremely interesting for future research as the exact way the chemicals it releases into the ant's brian affect the ant's behavior is not fully understood yet. Still, this remains a great example of how nature manages to find ingenious solutions to all kinds of problems like not having enough wind to carry your spores around efficiently.

Other Interesting Facts About Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis

• Some ants have actually started developing defense mechanism like grooming each other and carrying infected members of the colony far away so they would be less likely to spread the infection.
• The fungus suffers from a parasite of its own which attacks it at its flowering stage and limits the fungus's ability to spread to a little below 7%. It has been theorized that if it wasn't for this parasite, the fungus could have even more devastating effects on ant colonies.
• There is evidence of similar ant infections in the fossil record with a 48-million old fossilized leaf found in Germany showing the same distinct death grip bite marks around its main vein (image on the right)

All Images Credit: David Hughes, Penn State University

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You can check out the previous fascinating organism I posted about here (image below):

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Thank you for reading! :)