A University of Louisiana at Ā鶹“«Ć½app student has discovered a āzombie fungusā thatās been off scientistsā radar for almost a century, reports this week.
Stephen Saltamachia, a senior majoring in microbiology at UL Ā鶹“«Ć½app, discovered the rare, furry fungus while working at Acadiana Park Nature Station in Ā鶹“«Ć½app. He spotted a carpenter ant queen wandering outside, which caught his attention since a queen rarely leaves her nest.
āA born naturalist, Saltamachia suspected that the ant might be parasitized by a brain-manipulating pathogen often called 'zombie fungus,' which causes infected insects to behave abnormally,ā an article posted on Newsweekās website late Monday states.
Saltmachia studied the errant ant after sterilizing it and placing it in a petri dish.
āThe dead insect gave rise to a vigorous, furry fungus that sprouted from its dead body like moldering cotton candy,ā Douglas Main writes in the .
The magazine cites David Hughes, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University who specializes in zombie ant fungi. He said the fungi had been ā āmissed by mycologists and entomologistsā ā for almost 100 years. The last time it was mentioned as a major citation in studies was in the 1920s, according to Newsweek.
Why is it called a āzombie fungusā?
āFungi in this group infects ants and other insects and often control their behavior to maximize their potential to spreadābefore ultimately killing the animal. For example, one such fungus infects ants and forces them to climb high up vegetation before perishing and giving rise to horn-like fungal growths, thus allowing the speciesās spores to spread farther than they would if released closer to the ground,ā Main explains.
Photo: A zombie fungus grows on a carpenter antās corpse. (Courtesy of David Hughes, Pennsylvania State University)