Guadalajara, Mexico, Aug 14 (EFE).- Researchers in Mexico discovered six types of “zombie fungi” capable of infecting ants and manipulating their behavior until they die; one was named in honor of Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and his fascination with monstrous creatures.
César Ballesteros, a scientist at the University of Guadalajara, documented in the tropical forests of Jalisco the behavior of six species of fungi known as “entomopathogens,” which infect ants and spiders and take control of their behavior for nearly a year.
“When it enters the ant’s body, it begins to produce a substance, specialized metabolites, that interact with the ants’ nervous system and alter their behavior, causing the fungus to make them walk erratically,” Ballesteros explained to EFE.
By taking control of the ant’s decisions, the fungus forces it to go to places that experts call “cemeteries,” areas with light and humidity conditions conducive to infecting other insects and using the ant’s skeleton to ensure its own growth.
“These are a kind of graveyard where ant carcasses accumulate, and there the ant makes its final movement: clinging with its mandibles and legs to the substrate, which consists of the bark of certain trees, leaves, or the undersides of rocks. Then the ant dies, and the fungus begins to develop,” he explained.
