#006: Zombie Ants

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  1. September 8, 2017

    […] In recent years, DNA evidence has dramatically altered how Cordyceps is classified. In 2014, the Golden Thread Cordyceps was moved to its current genus, Typocladium. Before that, belonged to Cordyceps or Elaphocordyceps and many sources still use one of those two names for this fungus.2 Cordyceps has now been broken up into two distinct lineages that are closely related but different enough to be placed in two separate families. Typocladium was assigned to the family Ophiocordycipitaceae, which mostly includes insect pathogenic fungi like the “Zombie Ant” Fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (FFF#006). […]

  2. March 2, 2018

    […] controls the ants’ actions, infected ants are commonly referred to as “zombie ants” (see FFF#006).  Researchers studying the fungus made a remarkable discovery last year: the fungus doesn’t […]

  3. May 19, 2018

    […] The pathogen can be very aggressive and is capable of wiping out entire ant colonies (for more, see FFF#006).  Traditionally, mycologists believed that ant colonies dealt with the fungus using “social […]

  4. September 8, 2018

    […] bodies, and force them to climb up plants before killing them and fruiting out of their heads (see FFF#006 for more).  In the final stage of infection, the fungus directs the ants to climb up a plant and […]

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