Zombie Ant Fungus: The Thread of Death

The zombie ant fungus

Chapter 1

The silent invasion

Chapter 2

The puppet master

Chapter 3

The death grip

Chapter 4

Evolutionary warfare

YOUR GOAL

Master of The zombie ant fungus

Ch 3 · The death grip

misslily The thread of death

misslily The Zombie-Ant Fungus

Up the stem, sink your jaws, hold it tight

misslily The perfect microclimate search

The thread of death

misslily Once anchored, the fungus kills the ant and begins growing out of its head.

The final locked bite

misslily At solar noon, the ant is forced to bite down hard on a leaf vein.

Zombie Ant Parade

BETA

misslily Steer zombie ants onto leaves to discover how parasitic fungi hijack host bodies.

Fun Fact

Solar noon: The fungus triggers the final, fatal bite precisely when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.

Glossary

mandible (noun)
The jaw or jaw-like mouthpart of an insect or other arthropod. Fossilized leaves in Germany show infected ants clamped these jaws onto vegetation 48 million years ago.

Gossip

What is the scariest stage?

Quiz

At what time of day does the zombie fungus typically force the ant to perform its final bite?

misslily The final locked bite

Quiz

How long does it typically take for the fungal stalk to grow and mature after the ant dies?

misslily The spore-shooting cannon

Quiz

What is the name of the thread-like structures the fungus grows to glue the dead ant's feet to the leaf?

Quiz

What humidity level does the zombie fungus require to grow, which it finds near the forest floor?

Quiz

At what specific height above the forest floor does the fungus force the ant to stop climbing?

Quiz

From which part of the dead ant's body does the fungal stalk eventually erupt?

Quiz

Which part of the leaf does the zombie ant bite during its final locked bite?

Quiz

What happens to the ant's jaw muscles during the final bite?