A 91制片厂在线观看 of Louisiana at Lafayette student has discovered a 鈥渮ombie fungus鈥 that鈥檚 been off scientists鈥 radar for almost a century, reports this week.
Stephen Saltamachia, a senior majoring in microbiology at UL Lafayette, discovered the rare, furry fungus while working at Acadiana Park Nature Station in Lafayette. He spotted a carpenter ant queen wandering outside, which caught his attention since a queen rarely leaves her nest.
鈥淎 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,鈥 an article posted on Newsweek鈥檚 website late Monday states.
Saltmachia studied the errant ant after sterilizing it and placing it in a petri dish.
鈥淭he dead insect gave rise to a vigorous, furry fungus that sprouted from its dead body like moldering cotton candy,鈥 Douglas Main writes in the .
The magazine cites David Hughes, a researcher at Pennsylvania State 91制片厂在线观看 who specializes in zombie ant fungi. He said the fungi had been 鈥 鈥榤issed by mycologists and entomologists鈥 鈥 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 鈥渮ombie fungus鈥?
鈥淔ungi in this group infects ants and other insects and often control their behavior to maximize their potential to spread鈥攂efore 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 species鈥檚 spores to spread farther than they would if released closer to the ground,鈥 Main explains.
Photo: A zombie fungus grows on a carpenter ant鈥檚 corpse. (Courtesy of David Hughes, Pennsylvania State 91制片厂在线观看)