Photos:"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi

A stalk of the newfound fungus species Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani, grows out of a"zombie"ant's head in a Brazilian rain forest.

Originally thought to be a single species, called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, the fungus is actually four distinct species—all of which can"mind control"ants—scientists announced Wednesday.

The fungus species can infect anant, take over itsbrain, and then kill the insect once it moves to a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores.

(Relatedpictures:""Zombie"Ants Controlled, Decapitated by Flies.")

All four known fungi species live inBrazil's Atlanticrain forest, which is rapidly changing due toclimate changeanddeforestation, said study leaderDavid Hughes, an entomologist at Penn State University.

Hughes and colleagues made the discovery after noticing a wide diversity of fungal growths emerging from ant victims, according to the March 2 study in the journalPLoS ONE.

"It is tempting to speculate that each species of fungus has its own ant species that it is best adapted to attack,"Hughes said.

"This potentially means thousands of zombie fungi in tropical forests across the globe await discovery,"he said."We need to ramp up sampling—especially given the perilous state of the environment."

—Matt Kaplan

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